3 Best Ways to Truly Understand Something
If you think you understand something, you probably don’t. This is the idea behind the Dunning-Kruger effect.
The Dunning-Kruger effect commonly occurs when someone with inadequate knowledge thinks they understand a topic.
You probably, for example, have once in school believed that you’ve thoroughly prepared for an exam. But, when the exam occurred, you realized that you’d overestimated your preparation. Moreover, the exam’s more challenging than you thought it would be. “I’m screwed,” you thought. That’s the Dunning-Kruger effect: people are unaware that they suck at something.
So, how exactly do we combat the Dunning-Kruger effect? More specifically, how do we know if we truly understand something?
Below are the three best ways that you can use to increase/test your understanding.
1. Don’t be afraid to be stupid
People don’t ask many questions because they don’t want people to think they’re dumb. It is, however, the opposite—smart people ask a lot of questions. They aren’t willing to take an answer that they don’t understand. If they don’t comprehend, for example, why the Pythagorean theorem is the way it is, then they’ll ask about it.
Richard Feynman (a brilliant person) asked many “dumb” questions when he was a child, and as an adult. As Feynman puts it:
“Some people think in the beginning that I’m kind of slow and that I don’t understand the problem, because I ask a lot of these ‘dumb’ questions ‘Is a cathod a plus or minus? Is an-ion this way or that way?’ “
By asking seemingly obvious questions, Feynman knew that he will expand his understanding of a topic even though people might think he’s slow and dumb, which is far from the truth.
You can apply this anytime something’s fuzzy. If your teacher discussed something unclearly, then ask him or her about it. If the leader of your group project asked you to do something, but you don’t understand, then ask him or her about it. We need to remember that there is no shame about asking.
Ask a lot, regardless of how dumb you think it is (and no matter how accurate you are in that opinion).
2. Connect the dots
Understanding occurs when something makes sense. If you’re able, for example, to connect or sew together a series of facts into something comprehensible and something that makes sense, you understand. As Ali Abdaal says it, you want to understand “where things fit into a bigger picture.”
Mind maps are the best way to connect a series of facts into a coherent chunk. To make a mind map, you need to choose a concept or the thing that you’re trying to understand in a circle. Then, you use lines to connect ideas that relate to that concept. Then, you use lines again to link that idea to another idea or another detail, getting more definite as you go.
Use mind maps to stitch together separate pieces of knowledge into something that makes sense. Below is an example template of a mind map from mindmeister.com:
I would recommend checking this post for more mind maps examples
3. Explain it to a 5-year-old
To apply this method, you first need to pick a concept or a thing you’re trying to understand and then explain it to an imaginary 5-year-old.
Firstly, this method works because it forces you to use simple words, metaphors, analogies, visual images, concrete examples, etc. To illustrate, you don’t want to use the word “Ectomorphic” when explaining something to a kid since they won’t understand it; therefore, you replace it with the word “skinny” to make it more understandable. This process of explaining it in simple terms and using different strategies to make something more comprehensible increases your understanding a lot.
Richard Feynman once said :
“If you cannot explain something in simple terms, you don’t understand it.”
Secondly, this method works because 5-year-olds are curious; they ask questions about why or how something is the way it is.
You might, for instance, while using the method, first explain the meaning of The Pythagorean Theorem. Then, the imaginary 5-year-old asks how to do the Pythagorean theorem. Thus, you’re forced to demonstrate an example as well as an explanation of the solution. This process will increase your understanding to a great extent.
For a more detailed explanation of this method, I would recommend checking out this post from college info geek
Knowing if you truly understand something is hard. As Richard Feynman puts it, “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool.” But, with these three methods—asking questions, making connections, and detailed and straightforward explanations—we’re able to assess our position on where we’re at our learning objectively. You can use these methods whenever you’re preparing for an exam, a quiz, teaching someone, or learning content in general.
Have fun learning! ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ♡