There is a difference between knowing the name and truly understanding

A friend of mine asked me some time ago why I really ask so many questions? My immediate answer was because I want to understand. But after having pondered the question, I also realize that I don’t want to be mislead. Some people make profound sounding statements which, after all, are entirely meaningless.

Richard Feynman, the famous theoretical physicist, once gave the following advice: “Without using the new word which you have just learned, try to rephrase what you have just learned in your own language.“ ¹ If you cannot rephrase it, then you probably only know the word and don’t really understand the idea.

Feynman’s test is a good way to check whether we have really learned something. It’s also a good way of testing what others are saying. If someone cannot explain something in plain language, then maybe, they really don’t understand themselves.

There’s a difference between knowing the name of something and truly understanding it. ² That’s why I am asking so many questions!

Notes:
¹ Richard Feynman gave this advice in his lecture on What is Science? in 1966.
² John Milton wrote: “Do not fall in the trap of thinking you know what something is just because you have learned its name. Names mean nothing. Names get in the way of the truth. If you learn the name of a tree or a flower, you fall into the illusion that you think you know that thing.” See John Milton, Sky Above, Earth Below, p.141.