Feynman's 12 Favorite Problems
Updated 2026-08-22
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
Richard Feynman reportedly kept a list of twelve favorite unsolved problems in his notebook, and whenever he learned something new he asked whether it helped with any of them. The core proposition is that a standing set of questions, not a curriculum, organizes learning: knowledge that has somewhere to attach actually sticks, and stray facts find their place.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Question list: write your own persistent questions instead of collecting isolated and disconnected notes. - New-fact test: ask of every idea whether it advances one of your questions. - Traction filter: spend study time on material that touches a listed question.
Anchor fast decisions
Learning without a hook decays, while a question creates an active slot waiting to be filled. Each new fact tested against the list is either absorbed into an ongoing inquiry or discarded, and repetition along the same questions builds depth instead of breadth, which is why a personal question set outperforms any borrowed syllabus.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- zh.wikipedia.orghttps://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%88%AB%E9%97%B9%E4%BA%86%EF%BC%8C%E8%B4%B9%E6%9B%BC%E5%85%88%E7%94%9Fverified
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