As a software developer the hardest part of my job has nothing to do with the technical side of the job. It has nothing to do with mastering multiple programing languages and technologies, understanding computers and the Internet, or understanding a variety of engineering concepts.

These things are all trivial in comparison. The most difficult aspect of my job is actually trying to design software that takes into account the stupidity of the average idiot. They are completely unpredictable. There is no logical answer for their actions, and they never read instructions or message boxes.

Over the years I have learned a few tricks for catering to these kinds of people, not only in my professional life but in my personal life as well. The primary aim of this article is how to teach someone of an average or below average intelligence high level concepts. However, many of these tips and techniques can also be used for teaching people in general, regardless of the subject matter or intelligence of the audience involved.

In writing this article I am assuming that you are an intelligent person. I don’t intend on making a “How To Teach An Idiot For Dummies” guide. That would be too much irony for the universe to handle.

Apply Proper Motivation

The best student is a happy student who actually wants to learn and values the knowledge that you have to offer them. It’s virtually impossible to teach someone something that they have no desire to learn or understand. Intelligent, educated people usually value knowledge for its own sake and have a natural desire to learn. This is rarely the case for the average idiot though. Not only do they tend to lack the desire to learn, but in many cases they lack the motivation required to learn as well.

So how do you get around this? Well, in order to instill the desire to learn, you have to show them that what you’re teaching is valuable and beneficial. You have to show them how your knowledge will benefit them and improve their life in some way.

In a way this is almost like marketing. You are selling (teaching) your knowledge to someone else, and you have to convince them that it is worth buying (learning). The best way to do this is to show them exactly how the knowledge will benefit them in the real world. Show them why the knowledge is valuable. Show them why they should learn it.

If you fail to do this then you’re going to have an extremely difficult time making the case to them that you’re knowledge is worth learning. And so they probably won’t learn it. If what you’re teaching is actually of real value, if it is actually beneficial to the student, then this part shouldn’t be a problem. Just tell them how it will benefit them. It’s very simple.

If you can’t figure out why you’re knowledge is valuable, then the reality is that the knowledge may not be valuable. If you can’t explain how your knowledge is useful, then it is probably useless. In which case, why are you even teaching it? And so with genuine useful knowledge this process is usually easy. Just tell them how it will help them.

But even if they have a desire to learn they may still lack the motivation required to learn. While a teacher usually doesn’t fill the same role as a cheerleader, in some cases their purposes may overlap. In this case you have to provide encouragement and the right learning environment in order to provide them with the motivation and energy required to succeed.

In addition to this you also have to foster the belief in the student that they can and will learn. The first steps in a student’s success is their desire to learn the material, and the belief that they can learn the material.

Never Assume Intelligence Or Knowledge

One mistake I’ve made many times is assuming that someone knows something that they do not, or assuming someone can figure out something that they cannot. In general you should always be cautious in this regard and assume that the student doesn’t know anything. In other words, spell things out for them. They probably don’t know as much as you think they do.

It’s important to consider your audience here. If you’re speaking to a group of engineers then it is probably safe to assume that most of them have some sort of analytical skills. However, the reason you should always spell things out for the group is that you are speaking to the whole group.

This includes the smart people as well as the idiots. So you have to teach in such a manner that even the dumbest person in the group will understand, because the dumbest person in the group determines how much detail you will have to include in your presentation for the entire group to understand it.

It’s important to note here that you should never talk down to anyone. This is a false and dangerous interpretation of what I’m trying to say here. You should only strive to include all the details required for understanding, and nothing more.

Match Their Learning Style

There are several different learning styles that people have. For some people it’s easier to learn high level concepts from a book and then apply them to specific problems. For others, it is easier to learn from someone talking to them, or from pictures and diagrams. And others learn better using the hands on approach.

While an intelligent person can generally learn in a number of different ways, someone who is lacking in intellectual capacity may be confined to just one or two of the different styles of learning. For example, they may only understand something if you draw them a diagram and they can visualize it in their heard. Or, they may only understand it by taking the hands on approach.

In order to help facilitate learning, you should strive to understand how they learn best and then teach them in their ideal learning style(s).

Map To Preexisting Concepts

If you can relate a new concept to something that they already know it can make the learning process a lot easier. By mapping the new concept to several preexisting concepts you are also reinforcing the learning process. Now they understand how what you’re teaching fits in with their current model of reality. This also has the side effect of making the new concept easier to recall later, as the new memory has several ‘connections’ to previous memories and concepts.

Some popular ways of doing this include using examples and analogies. For example, I’ve used several examples in this article in order to show you how these concepts map to concrete, real world situations.

This helps you to understand the concept better because you can see the context in which the concept would be used in the real world. This also helps you to recall the concept better because next time you are in that situation you may think, “hey this simple philosopher guy wrote about this in such and such article” and then you would remember this article.

Repeat Critical Information

No one pays attention 100% of the time. Unless a task requires your complete and absolute focus, your mind is probably wandering around thinking about other stuff as well. “What am I having for dinner? Who was that sexy blonde at the reception desk? I wonder why they painted the walls green for?” etc, etc.

During these moments it’s pretty easy to just miss something important, even if you’re reading it. By repeating key concepts you increase the likelihood that someone will catch them and remember them. This is why I’ve repeated many critical concepts in this article.

What, you didn’t notice the repetition? Aha! I’ve done my job well then. One of the keys to being able to do this well is to do be able to do it without the audience noticing. Say the same thing in a different manner. Say the same thing at a different time. Yes, this is where the whole “tell them what you’re gonna tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you’ve told them” idea came from. If you repeat the core concepts they are more likely to understand and remember.

Whatever you do though don’t repeat the same concept in exactly the same manner over and over again. This will make your presentation boring and repetitious.

Fulfill Expectations

Everyone has a certain mental model of reality that they go by. In many cases they will actually consult their internal expectations before they consult reality, and in some cases they will ignore reality all together.

I originally discovered the significance of this in the computer world. If you design software that behaves in a manner that is inconsistent with user’s expectations, the user will get confused. Even if you provide documentation, even if you provide messages to the user, they will still get confused.

Not only will they get confused, but they will assume that the message meant to provide them with instructions and clear up their confusion says what they expect it to say without ever reading it. I’ve received emails from users who say something along the lines of, “the program is messing up, even though this message says xyz”. And I have to respond, “dude, there’s no message that says xyz. And if you would’ve read the xyz message, you would understand that the program is not messing up!”

Not only do they expect certain behavior from the program, but they assume that the program matches their expectations. The user does this to such an extent that they literally see imaginary messages that are in line with their expectations!

In the teaching world, this has more to do with your presentation style, teaching manner, and environment than the actual teaching itself.

For example, at college I always expect to receive a syllabus for every class. If I didn’t receive a syllabus it would reduce my ability to learn because I’m so used to going to the syllabus to see when tests are, when homework is due, and other important information about the class. The syllabus has almost become a part of my learning style.

I’m also used to being taught in a classroom that has neutral colors. If I walked into a classroom that had two pink walls, two blue walls, and a black ceiling, I’m not sure how much I would take away from that class. 

So it’s important that your presentation and teaching style are in line with what people are used to. This helps to eliminate distractions and make the learning process a lot smoother.

Dealing With Prideful Idiots

Ironically, there are a lot of idiots who are also very prideful as well. These are perhaps the hardest people to teach because to even accept that they need taught or are being taught by someone else is seen as some sort of personal weakness. What’s even more ironic is that this kind of behavior actually encourages their ignorance and weakness because they actively refuse to learn anything.

You have to teach such people without ever being a teacher and without ever doing any teaching. Instead you have to guide them to what they should be learning, and at the same time make it appear that they are just discovering things on their own as they go along. In this manner you don’t ever have to face their crazy ego. 

This is sort of like the Socratic Method if you’re familiar with that. It generally involves asking a serious of focused questions or gently guiding them in the direction that will best encourage them to come to achieve understanding of some subject or concept.

In reality you aren’t really “teaching” them anything. At least in the traditional sense of the word. Instead you are acting more like a catalyst that speeds up their capacity to understand things. The end result of this is usually to get them to a point where they can be taught using more traditional methods.

Final Thoughts

You are always teaching people in one way or another. Even if you aren’t a formal teacher, you are still teaching others by example and explaining things to other people in your day to day life. If you keep these things in mind your audience, whoever they may be, should be able to understand you better.

If you have any questions or comments regarding this article feel free to email me.

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