Problem: Learning effectively is hard.
Solution: Richard Fyenman was an American theoretical physicist known for his work in quantum electrodynamics (for which he received a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965 jointly with Julian Schwinger and Shin'ichirō Tomonaga). As a theoretical physicist he also contributed work in path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, and the parton mode of particle physics. In short, he was a physics specialist with generalist knowledge and learning that put him in the category of an all-around knowledgeable physicist.
This past weekend, the Farnam Street blog wrote a detailed 20-minute description of The Feynman Learning Technique (fs.blog). Based on the method Richard Feynman originally used, this technique focuses on teaching as a method of learning. The steps (as adapted by Farnam Street) are as follows:
Pretend to teach a concept you want to learn about to a student in the sixth grade.
Identify gaps in your explanation. Go back to the source material to better understand it.
Organize and simplify.
Transmit (optional; writing or presenting to an actual audience).
The business would play in the Education Technology space by making it even easier to apply the Feynman technique. It would allow you to teach a concept to strangers (or to a machine) and receive feedback on the quality of your teaching and understanding. This would immediately tackle step 1 of the method, as described by Farnam Street:
It turns out that one of the ways we mask our lack of understanding is by using complicated vocabulary and jargon. The truth is, if you can’t define the words and terms you are using, you don’t really know what you’re talking about. If you look at a painting and describe it as “abstract” because that’s what you heard in art class, you aren’t displaying any comprehension of the painting. You’re just mimicking what you’ve heard. And you haven’t learned anything. You need to make sure your explanation isn’t above, say, a sixth-grade reading level by using easily accessible words and phrases.
When you write out an idea from start to finish in simple language that a child can understand, you force yourself to understand the concept at a deeper level and simplify relationships and connections between ideas. You can better explain the why behind your description of the what.
This process helps to quickly identify what you actually know and parse out actionable steps for how to discover what topics you do not know. In short, it helps you in Understanding your Circle of Competence. The purpose of this platform would be to map out exactly what you know vs what you think you know (but actually do not know). Feynman’s explanations—on why questions, why trains stay on the tracks as they go around a curve, how we look for new laws of science, or how rubber bands work—are simple and powerful. This business would help anyone develop similarly powerful explanations and simple explanations for whatever they are learning.
See below as well for a video of Feynman explaining magnetic forces in this 1983 classic on why magnets work.
How could we make a platform to mimic, if not induce, this sort of learning? The business would focus on answering this hard question of education and provide it through a subscription platform or a la carte offering.
As described by Bezinga in estimating the market, “Smart Education and Learning market size is estimated to reach $142.4 billion in 2027. Spending in educational technology crossed USD 20 billion in 2019. North American EdTech industry has grown at a higher pace in last few years. Key factor driving the market growth is adoption of eLearning solutions, proliferation of connected devices in the education sector, and requirement of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence in overall market.”
Monetization: Fees from service.
Contributed by: Michael Bervell (Billion Dollar Startup Ideas)