1. Pick a topic you want to understand and start studying it. Write down everything you know about the topic on a notebook page, and add to that page every time you learn something new about it.
2. Pretend to teach your topic to a classroom. Make sure you’re able to explain the topic in simple terms.
3. Go back to the books when you get stuck. The gaps in your knowledge should be obvious. Revisit problem areas until you can explain the topic fully.
4. Simplify and use analogies. Repeat the process while simplifying your language and connecting facts with analogies to help strengthen your understanding.
And can we please bring back blackboards?
#2 is a technique I have used almost my entire life- mentally going through the process of explaining something to myself- winnowing down the explanation bit by bit until it was as concise as I could make it- at that point, I knew I understood a concept as well as I was ever going to.
Indeed the key is teaching it to others (or being able to). The beauty and power of the one-room school house concept was that multiple grades all interacted, thus providing the ability for more advanced students to aid in the teaching of those not up to that point yet. The ONLY true measure of your understanding of a subject is your ability to teach it to others (most certainly NOT you ability to regurgitate it back out on a test).
Yeah, well, even the brainiacs forget step 1: Read a kid’s book on the topic.
Feynman, America’s great scientist (at least since Ben Franklin) also said “Science is the belief in the ignorance of Experts.”
Here’s what I know about women:
1. They are crazy
2. They have boobs
3. Some also have a nice ass
I guess I can now go do some research to expand on my foundation. There’s all those crazy women in the bible; Delilah, Eve, etc. I can also read Little Women, DH Lawrence, Sense and Sensibility, Pygmalion, etc.
or you could do a long term,hands on research project & get married & have daughters–
that’s when you’ll curse the memory & legacy of those who granted universal suffrage–