What is the Feynman technique, and where does the name come from?

Named for physicist Richard Feynman: explain a concept in plain language as if teaching a curious 12-year-old; wherever you stumble or reach for jargon, that's a gap — relearn it and re-explain.

Feynman was famous for demystifying hard physics in ordinary words. The technique bearing his name turns that into a study loop: pick a concept, explain it simply and completely as though teaching a bright child, and watch for the moments you get stuck, wave your hands, or retreat into technical terms. Each of those moments marks something you don't actually understand. You go back to the source, patch the gap, and explain again — repeating until the whole explanation is smooth and jargon-free.