4 ms·
Feynman tells an intriguingly similar story from another angle. When he moved from Cornell to Caltech, he had a sort of Buridan's Ass situation where each one
by Bartweiss 7y ago
Feynman tells an intriguingly similar story from another angle.
When he moved from Cornell to Caltech, he had a sort of Buridan's Ass situation where each one would beat the other's offer and leave him with no way to make a decision. Even the weather wouldn't cooperate, with the snow driving him out of Cornell and smog driving him out of Caltech. He eventually landed at Caltech, basically arbitrarily, and realized the solution to the problem:
"But I decided then never to decide again. Nothing—absolutely nothing—would ever change my mind again. When you’re young, you have all these things to worry about—should you go there, what about your mother. And you worry, and try to decide, but then something else comes up. It’s much easier to just plain decide. Never mind—nothing is going to change your mind."
So when Chicago came calling later, trying to recruit him, he refused. Didn't listen to the offer, didn't consider it when they told him, just refused outright over his prior condition. Interesting to see how many people have decided that formal analysis is a hopeless way of approaching this problem.
- gowld 7y agoYoung people are experimental and open to novelty. Old people are conservative and prefer the status quo. The combination selects for a robust society. That's an evo-bio trope
- yeahitslikethat 7y agoIs because of memory. Old people remember how things were and want those memories to be continuously valuable. If everything changes they have nothing over the younger competition.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- naasking 7y agoExplore/exploit tradeoff in a nutshell.
- rramadass 7y agoRead somewhere (attributed to Mark Twain); "The Old know too much to not take any risks; the Young do not know enough to not take any risks; and what amazes me is how they achieve it time after time." Paradoxically, I think that the "Dunning–Kruger effect" (within limits) is actually necessary for us to evolve. Think about it; if you don't jump into the unknown with confidence, you won't learn/do anything. It is important to assess risk but also know when to stop obsessing over risk.
- loco5niner 7y ago> Paradoxically, I think that the "Dunning–Kruger effect" (within limits) is actually necessary for us to evolve. Think about it; if you don't jump into the unknown with confidence, you won't learn/do anything. It is important to assess risk but also know when to stop obsessing over risk. This resonates with me. I spend so much time doubting my ability to make the right decision (or whether I have the skills to accomplish X), I end up doing nothing. This applies to buying a car, or even jumping into a new project at work.
- wazoox 7y agoThat's what irks me so much with the vogue of utilitarianism, and all the silly articles about "what a self-driven car should do if a one-legged man crosses the street with an old lady and a pair of young dogs". This just doesn't work, people.