I don't know what I know.
I am not saying I am dumb. What I'm talking about is the process of learning.
There is a way to test what you know. The man who came up with this test is Richard Feynman, a Nobel Prize-winning theoretical physicist who is remembered by many for how he explained complex concepts in simple terms.
The "Feynman Technique" begins with this basic step: "Force yourself to explain complex concepts in plain, jargon-free language as if teaching an 8-year-old. When you stumble, you instantly identify the gaps in your knowledge."
Many of us experience what psychologists call the "illusion of explanatory depth" — our tendency to believe we understand complex things far better than we actually do. For example, you know how a zipper works, right? Now ... can you explain it to an 8-year-old?
Never stop questioning, Feynman said. Ask the how and why. He suggested rediscovering the basic principles used to build the formulas and rules we accept and follow. If you rebuild a bit of knowledge from its source, then you own it, he said.
So I could test my own beliefs, those things that guide my life, my choices, my politics, my faith. I should be able to explain clearly and simply what I believe and answer the most important question: Why?
I think what I will end up discovering is not what I know ... but what I don't know.
I’m Lonny Cain … and that’s my Perspective.
