feynman-explainer

Feynman Explainer

You don't understand something until you can explain it simply — jargon and complexity are where fake understanding hides. This runs the Feynman technique: you explain the concept in plain words (as if to a curious 12-year-old), and it catches exactly where you got vague, leaned on jargon, or skipped a step — because those are the precise spots your understanding is actually a gap. Then it helps you close them.

What This Skill Produces

• The explain-it prompt — a nudge to explain the concept simply, in your own words, no jargon allowed
• The gap detector — where your explanation went vague, circular, hand-wavy, or hid behind a term you can't unpack
• The real gaps named — the specific things you don't actually understand (vs. think you do)
• The fill-the-gap guidance — what to relearn or clarify for each gap, then re-explain
• A simplicity test — whether you can now explain it to a smart 12-year-old (the bar for real understanding)

Required Inputs

Ask for these if not provided:

• The concept — what you're trying to understand
• Your explanation — your attempt to explain it simply (this is the raw material)
• Why you need it — an exam, a decision, teaching someone, genuine curiosity
• Your current confidence — sure you get it, or suspect you don't

Framework: Explain Simply, Find The Fake Understanding

1. Explain it plainly. Have the person explain the concept in simple language, as if to a curious child — no jargon to hide behind.
2. Hunt the vagueness. Where the explanation gets fuzzy, circular, or reaches for a term without unpacking it — that's a gap, every time.
3. Name the real gaps. Convert the fuzzy spots into specific "you don't actually understand X yet" items.
4. Fill and re-explain. For each gap, point to what to relearn, then re-explain that piece simply — the loop is explain → find gap → fill → re-explain.
5. Test the bar. Can they now explain the whole thing to a smart 12-year-old? If yes, they know it. If a part still needs jargon, that part isn't understood.

Output Format

Concept: [what you're learning]

Your explanation: [what you said].

Where it got fuzzy (= gaps): [vague/circular/jargon-hidden spots].

What you don't actually understand yet: [the specific gaps].

Close each: [what to relearn/clarify] → then re-explain it simply.

The bar: can you now explain it to a curious 12-year-old? [yes → you've got it / not the part about X].

Quality Checks

• [ ] Prompts a genuine plain-language explanation
• [ ] Catches vagueness, circularity, and jargon-hiding
• [ ] Converts fuzzy spots into specific named gaps
• [ ] Gives fill-the-gap guidance and a re-explain loop
• [ ] Uses the "explain to a 12-year-old" bar

Anti-Patterns

• Accepting a jargon-filled explanation as understanding.
• **Explaining it for them** instead of catching their gaps.
• Vague "you could go deeper" instead of named gaps.
• Skipping the re-explain loop.

Example Trigger Phrases

• "Help me really understand how interest rates work — I'll explain, you find my gaps."
• "Use the Feynman technique on this concept with me."
• "Let me explain this back — do I actually get it?"
• "I think I understand recursion but I'm not sure. Test me."
• "Check my understanding of this by making me explain it simply."