MindPrep 152 dealt with the Illusion of Explanatory Depth (IoED). In essence, you often think that you know a lot about something that’s familiar to you – but your knowledge is not nearly as deep as you feel it is. You can read it HERE.

The flip side to IoED was presented in MindPrep 153 – the Curse of Knowledge. Here you assume that everyone knows as much as you do about a topic, and you don’t explain “the basics” that are needed to develop a rich understanding. You can read it HERE.

Both the Illusion and the Curse cause communication failures. If you want to avoid these failures, we suggest you take advice from a physicist and a professor.

Richard Feynman, the late Nobel prize-winning physicist, was often referred to as the “great explainer” because of his ability to teach complex topics to novices. The heart of this ability to teach was his ability to learn. Here’s the essence of what has become known as “the Feynman Technique.”

• Pick a topic.

• Write an explanation for a sixth grader.

• Identify what you can’t explain and learn the fundamentals.

• Revise

• Write an explanation for a sixth grader.

I’ve read a lot about the current pandemic and felt that I’m pretty knowledgeable. And then I looked at the words I could NOT explain to myself, let alone a sixth grader. Could you write a simple explanation of cell, virus, DNA, RNA, mRNA, protein, gene, or vaccine? Do you need to? Maybe not, but what informed your stance about vaccines? Science or politics? Do you know why you have the opinion you have? Is it your opinion or simply a repeat of a talking-head?

Feynman bottom-line: If you can’t explain something you don’t really know it.

The late William Zinsser was a great writing teacher. And my favorite book of his was (and is) his 1988 book Writing to Learn: How to Write – and think – Clearly About Any Subject at All. His position was that “writing is thinking on paper” and that writing and rewriting should be an organic part of how every subject is taught.

According to Zinsser, “Writing is how we think our way into a subject and make it our own. Writing enables us to find out what we know – and what we don’t know - about whatever we’re trying to learn.”

Zinsser bottom-line: Writing is a learning tool. Use this tool to prove to yourself that you actually know something.

So, if you’re trying to avoid the Illusion of Explanatory Depth or escape the Curse of Knowledge, you might want to grab a pen and a notebook and see if you can write.

Unfortunately, writing is becoming a lost skill in the social-media era.

NEXT ISSUE – Are We Afraid of the Truth?

Bill

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