4 ms·

> But to have more successes we must necessarily have more failures I'm not sold on this. There's seems to be the popular belief that the ratio of failure:succ

by tjpick 16y ago

> But to have more successes we must necessarily have more failures I'm not sold on this. There's seems to be the popular belief that the ratio of failure:success is fixed, so to get more success, you have to get more fail too. Along with the "fail fast" technique that always reminds me of "the tortoise and the hare" fable. There seems to be an obsession with going as fast as you can, and not worrying if you fail. Feynman's problem solving algorithm just seems more sensible: 1. write down the problem 2. think very hard 3. write down the answer

groby_b 16y ago
Doesn't fit with the popular belief that "if you just apply yourself enough, you too are going to succeed". It's a rather common delusion :)
lesterbuck 16y ago
Do you have a reference to Feynman's problem solving algorithm? I've never heard of it. One counter example is Feynman's Rule: "If the sign is wrong, change it." There is a long story behind that, about Feynman heading off to present a big paper, asking a grad student to "check the equations", grad student calls with terrible news that there is an incorrect sign in the middle section, Feynman says "I feel it is right." and delivers the paper, and grad student finds a correcting error a few pages (and a few days) further on. Basically, if you understand the physics, you know the final sign, and (after the first time) there is no real need to verify every sign in every equation along the way. That story is really far from "a miracle occurs" and the answer is written down. Feynman also was extremely interested in how he came up with breakthroughs, almost obsessed about it, and did some meta-research about creativity. He told one story about a solution to a superfluidity problem he came up with while walking down the street. It was apparently bubbling up in his subconscious, and suddenly he stops in his tracks. He raises his hands like holding an imaginary picture frame, and makes a motion with one hand: "If I just tap it here - Yes! The answer fell into place." It drove him nuts that he could not ever do that again. He said many times after that he held his hands up, tapped the problem he was working on, and ... nothing.
- tjpick 16y ago
  > Do you have a reference to Feynman's problem solving algorithm? I've never heard of it. Hmmm, just googling for it associates the algorithm with Feynman. You know, I'm not sure if I actually read it in a Feynman book or if it's random trash I read on the internet. Wikiquotes attributes it to "a fellow physicist".
- winestock 16y ago
  Murray Gell-Mann came up with it. http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?FeynmanAlgorithm http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?FeynmanAlgorithm

by tjpick 16y ago

groby_b 16y ago

Doesn't fit with the popular belief that "if you just apply yourself enough, you too are going to succeed". It's a rather common delusion :)

lesterbuck 16y ago

Do you have a reference to Feynman's problem solving algorithm? I've never heard of it. One counter example is Feynman's Rule: "If the sign is wrong, change it." There is a long story behind that, about Feynman heading off to present a big paper, asking a grad student to "check the equations", grad student calls with terrible news that there is an incorrect sign in the middle section, Feynman says "I feel it is right." and delivers the paper, and grad student finds a correcting error a few pages (and a few days) further on. Basically, if you understand the physics, you know the final sign, and (after the first time) there is no real need to verify every sign in every equation along the way. That story is really far from "a miracle occurs" and the answer is written down. Feynman also was extremely interested in how he came up with breakthroughs, almost obsessed about it, and did some meta-research about creativity. He told one story about a solution to a superfluidity problem he came up with while walking down the street. It was apparently bubbling up in his subconscious, and suddenly he stops in his tracks. He raises his hands like holding an imaginary picture frame, and makes a motion with one hand: "If I just tap it here - Yes! The answer fell into place." It drove him nuts that he could not ever do that again. He said many times after that he held his hands up, tapped the problem he was working on, and ... nothing.

tjpick 16y ago
> Do you have a reference to Feynman's problem solving algorithm? I've never heard of it. Hmmm, just googling for it associates the algorithm with Feynman. You know, I'm not sure if I actually read it in a Feynman book or if it's random trash I read on the internet. Wikiquotes attributes it to "a fellow physicist".
winestock 16y ago
Murray Gell-Mann came up with it. http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?FeynmanAlgorithm http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?FeynmanAlgorithm