I think this is missing the point. The article isn't saying that Feynman always disregarded others. He'd hit a wall in his career, and the way to break out of i

I think this is missing the point. The article isn't saying that Feynman always disregarded others. He'd hit a wall in his career, and the way to break out of it was to employ this psychological trick, consciously or not, to regain self confidence. And clearly it worked.