4 ms·

"You say you are a nameless man. You are not to your wife and to your child. You will not long remain so to your immediate colleagues if you can answer their si

"You say you are a nameless man. You are not to your wife and to your child. You will not long remain so to your immediate colleagues if you can answer their simple questions when they come into your office. You are not nameless to me. Do not remain nameless to yourself – it is too sad a way to be. Know your place in the world and evaluate yourself fairly, not in terms of your naïve ideals of your own youth, nor in terms of what you erroneously imagine your teacher’s ideals are." Something I am going to share with my engineering/science related friends. You can't be shy forever as long as you are going to be a responsible father.

jonahx 6y ago
As I read it, this letter isn't about the problem of shyness. It's about feeling unsuccessful and unknown ("nameless") because of the small scope of what you're working on.
082349872349872 6y ago
It took me a while to realise that following Dijkstra's dictum "do only, what only you can do" not only means tackling intellectual problems that one is uniquely suited to address, but also means being the husband and the father. (the latter being unique up to isomorphism, but if we're not willing to accept a strict equality, it leads us into Ship of Theseus questions about personal identity...) TIL Al was not only Feynman's student but also a possible inspiration for the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eudaemons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eudaemons , upon reading the wonderful: https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/10/24/dressing-up-science-richard-feynman-and-the-costume-parties-of-al-hibbs/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/10/24/dres...
- unkulunkulu 6y ago
  > "do only, what only you can do" This also reminds me of the famous Theodore Roosevelt’s quote “do what you can with what you have wherever you are”. This ties quite well with the letter too, it doesn’t make much sense to dream about bigger deeds, problems and achievements instead of really applying yourself to the things at hand.

jonahx 6y ago

As I read it, this letter isn't about the problem of shyness. It's about feeling unsuccessful and unknown ("nameless") because of the small scope of what you're working on.

082349872349872 6y ago

It took me a while to realise that following Dijkstra's dictum "do only, what only you can do" not only means tackling intellectual problems that one is uniquely suited to address, but also means being the husband and the father. (the latter being unique up to isomorphism, but if we're not willing to accept a strict equality, it leads us into Ship of Theseus questions about personal identity...) TIL Al was not only Feynman's student but also a possible inspiration for the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eudaemons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eudaemons , upon reading the wonderful: https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/10/24/dressing-up-science-richard-feynman-and-the-costume-parties-of-al-hibbs/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/10/24/dres...

unkulunkulu 6y ago
> "do only, what only you can do" This also reminds me of the famous Theodore Roosevelt’s quote “do what you can with what you have wherever you are”. This ties quite well with the letter too, it doesn’t make much sense to dream about bigger deeds, problems and achievements instead of really applying yourself to the things at hand.