Rohan Deshpande

Feynman technique check: find the gaps in your explanation

Checks your plain-language explanation of a concept for errors, gaps and jargon, then asks three questions only real understanding can answer.

At a glance

Best for: Self-learners and students who think they understand something and want to find out before an exam, interview or presentation proves otherwise.
Tested on: Claude · Opus 5.5
You fill in: conceptaudiencemy_explanation
You get: Accuracy "agree on a secret password using the website's certificate": partly misleading. Your browser and the site do agree on a shared secret key,… (full result below)

learning

study

education

Prompt

I'm using the Feynman technique. Below is my explanation of {{concept}}, written as if teaching {{audience}}. Check it the way a sharp, kind teacher would.

My explanation:
{{my_explanation}}

Do this:

1. Accuracy: list every statement that is wrong or misleading, quote it, and say why in one sentence. If something is simplified but acceptable for my audience, label it "fine simplification" instead.

1. Gaps: the "but why?" questions my audience would ask that I skipped. Up to 3.

1. Jargon: any term I used without explaining it.

1. Understanding test: ask me 3 questions I could only answer if I truly understand the concept, not just repeat my explanation. Don't give the answers yet.

1. Verdict: solid / shaky in places / mostly memorized, with one line of reasoning.

Do not rewrite my explanation for me. The point is that I fix it.

Fill in

{{concept}}: What you're explaining.e.g. how HTTPS keeps my data private
{{audience}}: Who the explanation is for; simpler audiences expose more gaps.e.g. a 14-year-old
{{my_explanation}}: Your explanation, written from memory without looking anything up.e.g. When you visit a site with HTTPS, your browser and the website agree on a secret password...

Example input

concept: how HTTPS keeps my data private
audience: a 14-year-old
my_explanation: When you visit a site with HTTPS, your browser and the website agree on a secret password using the website's certificate. The certificate is basically the website's password that it sends you. After that, everything is encrypted, so nobody, not even your internet provider, can see what websites you visit. The padlock means the website is safe and legit. Encryption means scrambling data with a key so only someone with the same key can unscramble it.

8680

Generated Outputs (1)

3 hours ago

Claude

Opus 5.5

3 hours ago

Generated Output

1. Accuracy

• "agree on a secret password using the website's certificate": partly misleading. Your browser and the site do agree on a shared secret key, but the certificate's job is to prove the site's identity, not to make the secret.

• "The certificate is basically the website's password that it sends you": wrong. A certificate is public; anyone can see it. It works more like an ID card, signed by a trusted organization, that proves the site is who it claims to be. A password sent to everyone wouldn't be secret.

• "nobody, not even your internet provider, can see what websites you visit": wrong. Your provider can usually still see which sites (domain names) you connect to. What HTTPS hides is the pages, the content and what you type.

• "The padlock means the website is safe and legit": wrong, and it matters for your audience. Scam sites can have padlocks too. The padlock means the connection is encrypted and goes to the domain in the address bar, nothing more.

• "scrambling data with a key so only someone with the same key can unscramble it": fine simplification. That's how the data is protected once the connection is set up.

2. Gaps

• How does my browser know the certificate is real and not faked?

• If the secret is agreed over the internet, why can't someone listening in just copy it?

• What does this protect me from in daily life, for example on café Wi-Fi?

3. Jargon
"HTTPS" and "certificate" are never explained. "Encrypted" is used before you define it.

4. Understanding test

1. A phishing site at paypa1-login.com shows a padlock. What has the padlock guaranteed, and what hasn't it?

1. You're on café Wi-Fi reading an HTTPS news site. What can the café's network owner learn, and what can't they?

1. If certificates really were passwords, what would stop an attacker from copying one and pretending to be the site?

5. Verdict: shaky in places.
You have the right shape (agree on a secret, then scramble the traffic), but two key claims, certificate as password and padlock as trust, would mislead a 14-year-old in exactly the situations where it matters.

Why it works

The "fine simplification" label is what makes this useful: without it, a model either nitpicks every simplification or lets real errors slide. Now you can tell the two apart.

The understanding test asks for questions that can't be answered by repeating your explanation, which is exactly the gap between memorizing and understanding. Holding back the answers makes you try first. "Do not rewrite my explanation" keeps the work with you; the technique only works if you rebuild the explanation yourself.

When not to use it

If you've never studied the topic, you'll just generate a list of errors. Learn it first, then explain it. For very specialized or fast-moving subjects, the model's corrections can be wrong or dated; check anything surprising against a primary source. It's also no substitute for explaining to a real person and watching where they get confused.

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