"The more you teach a subject, the better you grasp it. The more you grasp it, the better you become at teaching. What’s less obvious, though, is how to do both effectively."

"study, teach, identify gaps and simplify"

"Step 1: Study the Subject"

"part of the original Feynman Technique is not just to mindlessly jot down facts. The idea is to break down and categorise what we learn. That’ll help us structure our studying and prioritise some aspects over others."

"Limit the initial scope of what you intend to learn (and teach). Prioritise the most important aspects and break down the domains into a curriculum of some sort, with modules and lessons."

"Set learning objectives for each module and lesson. After each session, what is the student supposed to know they didn’t know before?"

"Step 2: Teach the Subject"

"Consider who you’re teaching. How motivated are they, what do they already know and how much simplification is appropriate?"

"Step 3: Identify Knowledge Gaps"

"Distinguish between knowledge gaps in terms of the subjects as well as your teaching."

"Don’t underestimate your unconscious incompetence, the unknown unknowns when it comes to knowledge discovery."

"Step 4: Simplify Further"

"overall, your goal is to unclutter your mind and simplify a subject so you can make it as easy to understand as possible."

"It forces us to not only take responsibility for our own learning but also for that of others. Having this kind of skin in the game forces us to truly understand a topic in its simplest terms."

"The whole challenge is not very practical in an everyday situation. I think it’s best suited for emotional high-stakes topics. When you’re in the business of getting it right."

"He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them… John Stuart Mill, On Liberty"

"Steelmanning is all about helping your counterpart by crafting the best possible version of their argument."

"The steel man argument is the opposite of strawmanning, the (wilful) misrepresentation of a position to make it easier to attack. As such, steelmanning is a seemingly selfless act. The whole point of it is to polish up the very position you do not hold. Or at least think you don’t."

"Steelmanning, on the other hand, takes an existing counter position with the intent to make it as strong as possible. While devil’s advocacy can be a fun contrarian exercise, the steel man requires a bit more – shall we say – willpower."

"1. Create the Best Version of Your Counterpart’s Argument"

"if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion…"

"Treat a contentious subject as if you were getting to know a new person or discovering a new culture."

"the more we feel disagreement with what we discover, the more our views are challenged, the more we‘re getting closer to the full picture."

"Putting it in writing also helps structure our thoughts and discover any holes in our argumentation."

"2. Help Your Counterpart Steelman Their Argument"

"Nor is it enough that he should hear the opinions of adversaries from his own teachers, presented as they state them, and accompanied by what they offer as refutations. He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them…"

"Note that we still don’t have to agree with anything the other person says. We’re just helping them to make the best possible case for whatever they believe. At the same time, we’ve seen the world through their eyes, which gets us another step closer to the truth."

"3. Argue On Your Counterpart’s Behalf"

"He must know [the reasons on the opposite side] in their most plausible and persuasive form; he must feel the whole force of the difficulty which the true view of the subject has to encounter and dispose of; else he will never really possess himself of the portion of truth which meets and removes that difficulty."

"Motivated reasoning describes our tendency to justify the position that suits our emotional desire – even when it goes against the evidence."

"Easier on the ego, less effort and time-saving. But it doesn’t get us closer to the truth."

"t took “great talent or skill to conceal one’s talent or skill,” the French moralist François VI, Duc de La Rochefoucauld once noted."

"The Curse of Knowledge is a cognitive bias that arises from having a greater understanding of a particular topic."

"Once acquired, your knowledge has cursed you so to speak. The better you get the harder it is to imagine what not knowing basic chess was like."

"This curse can affect any type of relationship, from personal to professional, and can have far-reaching consequences."

"Those with greater knowledge may be so focused on the details of the topic that they’re unable to explain the basics in a way that is accessible to those with less knowledge."

"Especially masters in their field possess something akin to unconscious competence. Their expertise has become intuitive. They don’t think anymore. They just do."

"The downside of this level of mastery is the inability to teach others to do the same."

"Additionally, the fateful curse can cause feelings of alienation among those with less knowledge, leading to feelings of exclusion and low morale."

"hose who know more can take steps to make sure that their conversations with others remain clear and accessible. This includes avoiding jargon and being open to answering questions."

"The idea is to “get out of your own perception and into someone else’s perspective”."

"The Feynman Technique is a method that promotes learning through teaching and simplicity."

"Feynman’s way of learning not only prompts us to understand instead of memorise. Relating to layman also becomes part of the process of acquiring new knowledge."

"This requires a combination of intellectual humility and empathy."

"hat if I also told you that memorising facts is not the same as learning?"

"However, part of the original Feynman Technique is not just to mindlessly jot down facts. The idea is to break down and categorise what we learn."

"Since the next step involves the teaching of what you learned, it pays out to undergo the first step with step two already in mind."

"Limit the initial scope of what you intend to learn (and teach)."

"Prepare learning material."

"If you’re doing well, your experience will be interactive and your study results will be challenged."

"Ideally, teachers teach because they know their subject well, not because they want to learn it."

"Consider who you’re teaching."

"Like a good story, a lesson consists of a beginning, a main part and an ending."

"While you should limit the scope of a session, make sure you know more than you’re actually going to teach."

"If you did quite well, go beyond knowledge gaps and ask yourself what’s next to learn and teach."

"Involve an actual expert to verify what you learn and teach makes sense."

"But overall, your goal is to unclutter your mind and simplify a subject so you can make it as easy to understand as possible."

"Review your makeshift curriculum from the beginning to think more in learning progressions."

"Think of a mechanism to evaluate whether your students actually learned it successfully."

"If you feel the need to go through another round of teaching, consider writing essays at various levels of difficulty to solidify your understanding instead."

"While there’s almost no limit to how far we could take this method, there are limits to its practicality. Interactivity is one of them."