A Guide to Breaking Down Difficult Topics

Here are some of the most consistently effective techniques people actually use to break down complex subjects (ranked roughly by real-world usefulness across domains):

Rank	Technique	Power Level	Best For	Difficulty to Apply	Speed of Initial Understanding
1	Feynman Technique	★★★★★	Almost everything	Medium	★★★★
2	First Principles + Layers	★★★★½	Technical/Scientific/Strategic topics	High	★★★
3	The 5–12-Year-Old Explanation	★★★★	Finding real understanding gaps	Low–Medium	★★★★½
4	Progressive Disclosure / Zooming	★★★★	Systems, codebases, big theories	Medium	★★★★
5	Analogy Chain / Metaphor Ladder	★★★½–★★★★	Abstract & conceptual topics	Medium–High	★★★★
6	Table of Abstractions	★★★½	Very broad or multi-level subjects	Medium	★★★
7	Question Tree / Interrogation	★★★	When you're stuck & angry	Low	★★★★

Quick Practical Guide – The Top 3 Most People Should Use

1. Feynman + Child Version (The killer combo most people underestimate) Steps in 2025–2026 style:

1. Open blank page / new note

2. Write the topic at the top

3. Pretend you're explaining it to a clever 11-year-old who is impatient and slightly sarcastic

4. Use only words a bright middle-schooler would understand (this is the magic filter)

5. When you get stuck → that's your real knowledge gap (mark with sticker.)

6. Go study ONLY the sticker parts

7. Repeat until the sarcastic 11-year-old would say "ok… makes sense, next"

2. The Layer Cake / Progressive Zoom Method (Excellent for systems)

• Level 0 – Grandma level (1 sentence)
• Level 1 – Smart high-school student (3–5 sentences)
• Level 2 – College junior (one good paragraph)
• Level 3 – Professional practitioner (key mechanisms + trade-offs)
• Level 4 – Researcher/PhD level (current frontiers, open problems)
• Most people jump from Level 0 → Level 4 and get destroyed.
• Disciplined people climb one floor at a time.

3. First Principles + Build-Up Chain (Elon/Physics style – brutal but very powerful) Example for "How does a blockchain actually work?"

1. What is trust?

2. What is double-spending?

3. What problem does a ledger solve?

4. Why can't we just use a normal database?

5. What happens if someone controls >50% of computing power?

6. Why does proof-of-work cost energy?

7. What alternatives exist? (PoS, DPoS, etc.)

Each answer becomes the foundation for the next question.

Quick cheat-sheet people print and stick above monitor:

Most Effective Order of Attack (2026 meta)

1. Stupid-child version (find the real gaps fast)

2. One-page map / table of layers (see the whole elephant)

3. Best 8–12-minute YouTube explainer (steal good analogies)

4. Feynman explanation to imaginary friend

5. First principles rebuild (only if still confused)

6. Primary sources / code / papers (very last)

Pick any two from the top 4 and you'll crush 90% of complex topics much faster than most people.

Which complex topic are you currently fighting with?