---
title: Watch One Do One Teach One
date: 2025-08-11T03:58:16.773355
author: Charlie M.
category: SIGNAL
---
This morning I woke up and the sun was peeking through the blinds just right, like it was trying to coax me out of bed with warm promises. I lay there, thinking about different things—like how I really should delete Instagram again because I keep losing hours to infinite scrolling. But then, you know, there's the FOMO and connections and whatever. Anyway, it got me thinking about habits and learning. Somewhere, somehow, I remembered this thing I read, or maybe it was a podcast? About learning by teaching. Watch one, do one, teach one. That's... like this idea they use in medical school, I think?
I mean, they say you retain around 90% of what you teach others. Sounds kind of fantastical though. Like how do they even measure that? But then there’s this pyramid thing... the learning pyramid? I read that somewhere too. It suggests that teaching is somehow the pinnacle. More effective than just watching or reading or whatever. But I wonder, does adding "teaching" really supercharge my brain, or is it just a catchy concept? I can’t remember the exact details. Okay, maybe I kinda get it. Teaching does force you to confront what you don’t know. Like when I tried to explain quantum physics to my sister after reading half an article. Pretty sure I made zero sense.
At the gym, I often see people teaching each other workout routines. There’s this guy who’s always explaining lifts to someone new. And I imagine he's getting better at it himself by teaching. It's like the protégé effect, right? No, wait, I think that’s something else. But it's also about the teacher learning, yeah? Like, I guess if I explained why I keep trying to do push-ups more to myself maybe I'd do them better. But then, do I actually understand what I’m doing? Or do I just think I do because I read a couple random posts online?
I tried it once, teaching. Well, sort of—this one time I showed a friend how to use this photography app on my phone. I remember feeling like I knew what I was doing, but maybe I was just faking it, as usual. My friend kept asking questions and I kept saying, "I think this is how it works." It wasn't a textbook case of success. But maybe figuring out what I didn’t know helped? Or maybe it just amplified my confusion. I don't know.
I guess what I'm saying is, does teaching really make you learn, or is it just another thing that sounds good on paper but is fuzzy in real life? I should probably try it more. But then again, who’s got the time? Between workouts, endless scrolling, and just life, I guess. This whole retention thing, maybe it's just part of the noise, or maybe there's something to it. But who really knows, right?