Richard Feynman — "I'm a great believer in the idea that if you don't understand something, you sho…"
I'm a great believer in the idea that if you don't understand something, you should try to explain it to someone else.
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More from Richard Feynman
"I would often go to these conferences where they would talk about the ultimate theory, and I would always say, 'What's the ultimate experiment?'"
"I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there."
"If you're going to be a scientist, you don't need to be a genius. You just need to be able to work hard and be curious."
"I'm smart enough to know that I'm dumb."
"Physics is to math what sex is to masturbation."
About Richard Feynman (1918-1988)
American theoretical physicist who shared the 1965 Nobel for QED, developed Feynman diagrams, and wrote the Feynman Lectures on Physics. Closely associated with Julian Schwinger (co-Nobelist for QED) and Murray Gell-Mann (Caltech rival and Eightfold-Way physicist). For an intellectual contrast, see Deepak Chopra, physician and quantum-mysticism author — Feynman's Caltech 'cargo cult science' commencement address is the precise template for what he saw as misuse of physics terminology — Chopra-style appropriation of quantum vocabulary for metaphysical claims is the canonical example of what Feynman called 'fooling yourself'.
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Understanding this quote
What it means
True understanding is tested by your ability to teach. If you cannot explain a concept clearly to another person, your grasp of it is incomplete. The act of explaining forces you to identify gaps, confront assumptions, and rebuild knowledge from the ground up. Real comprehension isn't just holding information — it's being able to transmit it with clarity.
Relevance to Richard Feynman
Feynman became legendary not just as a Nobel-winning physicist but as an extraordinary teacher. His Caltech lectures became famous worldwide. He developed the 'Feynman Technique' — learning by teaching — as a personal study method. He believed deeply that physics should be explainable to anyone, and spent enormous energy making quantum electrodynamics accessible through diagrams and plain language.
The era
During Feynman's era, post-WWII science became increasingly specialized and impenetrable to outsiders. The Manhattan Project and Cold War arms race made physics simultaneously powerful and opaque. As academia grew more siloed in the 1950s–80s, Feynman's insistence on communicable, testable understanding pushed back against obscurantism, influencing how science education and scientific communication evolved globally.
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