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Too few engineers eschew ego - this is Feynman's point. Most people are not Feynman. Most engineers today think they have the capability of being Feynman one d

Too few engineers eschew ego - this is Feynman's point. Most people are not Feynman. Most engineers today think they have the capability of being Feynman one day - of course, statistics dictates that most will not be. This is why Feynman's advice is powerful - The worthwhile problems are the ones you can really solve or help solve, the ones you can really contribute something to. Feynman here is instructing someone with too much ego, not too little. Koichi Mano thinks the problems he's working on are beneath him - that he should already be working on Feynman level problems! This is why he writes with shame to Feynman about his "humble" problem. Feynman demonstrates to him that no, no problem is too small, and backs it up with how he chipped away at "lesser" problems for a long time to build up confidence and competence. Finally, he closes with advice that could be ported to a middle manager at the smallest bureaucratic company who thinks they don't do anything important - 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. If you do not have too lofty of an opinion of yourself (less ego, not more), then you will not be ashamed of the problems you succeed in, and only then might you have the chance to do something important.

amelius 6y ago
> Most people are not Feynman. Most engineers today think they have the capability of being Feynman one day - of course, statistics dictates that most will not be. But Feynman, at least in his written works, was more a reverse engineer than an actual engineer.
- fsloth 6y ago
  Feynman had a key role in engineering the computations of Manhattan Project. I have no idea what could be more like engineering than this. "With Stanley Frankel and Nicholas Metropolis, he assisted in establishing a system for using IBM punched cards for computation." But, on the other hand, physics could be described as a way to reverse engineer nature. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman#Manhattan_Project https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman#Manhattan_Proj...
ChrisMarshallNY 6y ago
Problems can be quite humbling. Taking on big stuff isn't necessarily a "big ego" thing, but getting upset that we didn't solve the problem might be. In my experience, big problems get solved by teams. It's important to be a good team member, even if we are "close to the gods." From what I understand, Feynman seemed to work well in teams, but I never worked with him, so I don't know. False humility isn't helpful either. I have worked with, and known, many truly brilliant folks. Some were unbearable, and getting on their team meant you drew the short straw. Others were so self-effacing that it was actually embarrassing. It was difficult to be on a team with them, as we often accidentally treated them disrespectfully, or ignored their input. I think it was Mandela that said: "You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you."
- beckingz 6y ago
  That is a powerful quote. Apparently the author (Marianne Williamson, not Mandela) was flabbergasted and honored that her words were being attributed to Mandela. [0] 0 https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/our-deepest-fear/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/our-deepest-fear/
  - ChrisMarshallNY 6y ago
    Ah. Thanks for the correction. I will note that. Yeah, that's why I said "I think." LOTS of misattributed quotes out there. My fave is "Don't believe everything you read on the Internet." -Abraham Lincoln. UPDATED TO ADD: I preface my Medium posts[0] with quotes, and those, I tend to research a bit more exhaustively. One of my entries[1] is prefaced by the quote "A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for." The quote is by John A. Shedd[2], but is often attributed to Grace Hopper, who used it one of her speeches. [0] https://medium.com/chrismarshallny https://medium.com/chrismarshallny [1] https://medium.com/chrismarshallny/thats-not-what-ships-are-built-for-595f4ae2c284 https://medium.com/chrismarshallny/thats-not-what-ships-are-... [2] https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Augustus_Shedd https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Augustus_Shedd
BolexNOLA 6y ago
It kind of reminds me of how many people remember some particular middle school or high school teacher who had a big impact on them. It’s not like they literally saved their lives, but the way they taught and the lessons learned just stuck with folks.
LordHumungous 6y ago
I had a physics professor who liked to point out that Feynman (who we all idolized as college students studying physics) used to solve hundreds and hundreds of classical mechanics problems for fun, in his spare time. These were the same homework problems that we hated doing and always complained about. The professor's point was, being great at something isn't just a matter of having a big powerful brain, it's also a result of putting in the work, and that work is not glamorous. A lot of people want to go straight to the big, fun, "important" problems, the big job titles and pay checks, while skipping all the toil that gets you to that level.
- a1369209993 6y ago
  > used to solve hundreds and hundreds of classical mechanics problems for fun, in his spare time. [emphasis added] You kind of missed your own (or possibly your professor's) point there: being great at something is a matter (in part) not just of putting in the work, but of having the inclination and motivation to put in so much work. If you think of it as "all the toil that gets you to that level", you're not the kind of person who is going to become great in that field.
  - LordHumungous 6y ago
    Sure, I guess that's one way to look at it.
  - eldavido 6y ago
    A lesson I learned too late. You have to be willing to do the work, yes, but also figure out what you really, really like doing, and then do it -- a lot. Over, and over, and over, for years or even decades.
    - dhruvparamhans 6y ago
      A lot of times its simply difficult to find what one really likes doing. But I agree that ones who do end up "succeeding" really follow the template you propose here. That being said, running after high remuneration in and of itself isn't bad. Sometimes its just what you have to do because a lot of other people depend on it.

amelius 6y ago

> Most people are not Feynman. Most engineers today think they have the capability of being Feynman one day - of course, statistics dictates that most will not be. But Feynman, at least in his written works, was more a reverse engineer than an actual engineer.

fsloth 6y ago
Feynman had a key role in engineering the computations of Manhattan Project. I have no idea what could be more like engineering than this. "With Stanley Frankel and Nicholas Metropolis, he assisted in establishing a system for using IBM punched cards for computation." But, on the other hand, physics could be described as a way to reverse engineer nature. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman#Manhattan_Project https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman#Manhattan_Proj...

ChrisMarshallNY 6y ago

Problems can be quite humbling. Taking on big stuff isn't necessarily a "big ego" thing, but getting upset that we didn't solve the problem might be. In my experience, big problems get solved by teams. It's important to be a good team member, even if we are "close to the gods." From what I understand, Feynman seemed to work well in teams, but I never worked with him, so I don't know. False humility isn't helpful either. I have worked with, and known, many truly brilliant folks. Some were unbearable, and getting on their team meant you drew the short straw. Others were so self-effacing that it was actually embarrassing. It was difficult to be on a team with them, as we often accidentally treated them disrespectfully, or ignored their input. I think it was Mandela that said: "You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you."

beckingz 6y ago
That is a powerful quote. Apparently the author (Marianne Williamson, not Mandela) was flabbergasted and honored that her words were being attributed to Mandela. [0] 0 https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/our-deepest-fear/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/our-deepest-fear/
- ChrisMarshallNY 6y ago
  Ah. Thanks for the correction. I will note that. Yeah, that's why I said "I think." LOTS of misattributed quotes out there. My fave is "Don't believe everything you read on the Internet." -Abraham Lincoln. UPDATED TO ADD: I preface my Medium posts[0] with quotes, and those, I tend to research a bit more exhaustively. One of my entries[1] is prefaced by the quote "A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for." The quote is by John A. Shedd[2], but is often attributed to Grace Hopper, who used it one of her speeches. [0] https://medium.com/chrismarshallny https://medium.com/chrismarshallny [1] https://medium.com/chrismarshallny/thats-not-what-ships-are-built-for-595f4ae2c284 https://medium.com/chrismarshallny/thats-not-what-ships-are-... [2] https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Augustus_Shedd https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Augustus_Shedd

BolexNOLA 6y ago

It kind of reminds me of how many people remember some particular middle school or high school teacher who had a big impact on them. It’s not like they literally saved their lives, but the way they taught and the lessons learned just stuck with folks.

LordHumungous 6y ago

I had a physics professor who liked to point out that Feynman (who we all idolized as college students studying physics) used to solve hundreds and hundreds of classical mechanics problems for fun, in his spare time. These were the same homework problems that we hated doing and always complained about. The professor's point was, being great at something isn't just a matter of having a big powerful brain, it's also a result of putting in the work, and that work is not glamorous. A lot of people want to go straight to the big, fun, "important" problems, the big job titles and pay checks, while skipping all the toil that gets you to that level.

a1369209993 6y ago
> used to solve hundreds and hundreds of classical mechanics problems for fun, in his spare time. [emphasis added] You kind of missed your own (or possibly your professor's) point there: being great at something is a matter (in part) not just of putting in the work, but of having the inclination and motivation to put in so much work. If you think of it as "all the toil that gets you to that level", you're not the kind of person who is going to become great in that field.
- LordHumungous 6y ago
  Sure, I guess that's one way to look at it.
- eldavido 6y ago
  A lesson I learned too late. You have to be willing to do the work, yes, but also figure out what you really, really like doing, and then do it -- a lot. Over, and over, and over, for years or even decades.
  - dhruvparamhans 6y ago
    A lot of times its simply difficult to find what one really likes doing. But I agree that ones who do end up "succeeding" really follow the template you propose here. That being said, running after high remuneration in and of itself isn't bad. Sometimes its just what you have to do because a lot of other people depend on it.