3 ms·

I’m pretty sure the way people like Feynman “ponder about” things is very different from how normal people (like an average physicist) ponder about things. Prob

by p1esk 4y ago

I’m pretty sure the way people like Feynman “ponder about” things is very different from how normal people (like an average physicist) ponder about things. Probably similar to how we could compare me playing tennis and Roger Federer playing tennis. No matter how much I practice I will not approach that level.

082349872349872 4y ago
Federer didn't get there alone, btw. He originally wanted to play some other sport (football?) but when he got to the national training centre, somebody there said "you know, you'd make a decent $(SPORT)er, but you'll make an excellent tennis player".
sigmoid10 4y ago
That's what a lot of people believe who don't know how he actually does it. But in his book he describes it pretty well. He doesn't think in different, contrived ways or is somehow able to visualize higher dimensions or whatever. He just spent a lot of time working on problems until he could break them down to easily understandable components. This is like thinking a computer algebra system is wicked smart for being able to solve tricky undergrad integrals. But if you ever learn how it works, it turns out that it's not superhuman at all. It just a huge accumulation of basic knowledge and heuristics - i.e. a result of hard work. For sports this is a bit different, since you will hit genetic limits pretty fast once you approach the top. A 5'5 volleyball player will never be competitive on standard net heights. But from experiments by people like Polgár, we know that e.g. a chess prodigy is mostly about starting early and then keeping motivation and persistence. Some would argue that genetics still play a big role through IQ, but even here Feynman serves as a counter-example: As a student he was denied membership in Mensa for not passing their IQ test. Success is a combination of hard work and luck. It is certainly not "magic." That's just a lazy fallback and rationalization used by people for things they do not understand.
- p1esk 4y ago
  It’s not just “people who don’t know how he actually does it”, it’s people who themselves are distinguished physicists (like Mark Kac in my quote) - they call Feynman “a magician“. There have been a lot of smart people who work hard at physics. Most achieve some degree of success, but very few reach the genius level. I agree luck is important (being born in the right family, having right teachers in school, etc), but the main ingredient is a raw talent. Again, no amount of luck and hard work would turn you into a genius if you weren’t born with the necessary mental capacity.

by p1esk 4y ago

082349872349872 4y ago

Federer didn't get there alone, btw. He originally wanted to play some other sport (football?) but when he got to the national training centre, somebody there said "you know, you'd make a decent $(SPORT)er, but you'll make an excellent tennis player".

sigmoid10 4y ago

That's what a lot of people believe who don't know how he actually does it. But in his book he describes it pretty well. He doesn't think in different, contrived ways or is somehow able to visualize higher dimensions or whatever. He just spent a lot of time working on problems until he could break them down to easily understandable components. This is like thinking a computer algebra system is wicked smart for being able to solve tricky undergrad integrals. But if you ever learn how it works, it turns out that it's not superhuman at all. It just a huge accumulation of basic knowledge and heuristics - i.e. a result of hard work. For sports this is a bit different, since you will hit genetic limits pretty fast once you approach the top. A 5'5 volleyball player will never be competitive on standard net heights. But from experiments by people like Polgár, we know that e.g. a chess prodigy is mostly about starting early and then keeping motivation and persistence. Some would argue that genetics still play a big role through IQ, but even here Feynman serves as a counter-example: As a student he was denied membership in Mensa for not passing their IQ test. Success is a combination of hard work and luck. It is certainly not "magic." That's just a lazy fallback and rationalization used by people for things they do not understand.

p1esk 4y ago
It’s not just “people who don’t know how he actually does it”, it’s people who themselves are distinguished physicists (like Mark Kac in my quote) - they call Feynman “a magician“. There have been a lot of smart people who work hard at physics. Most achieve some degree of success, but very few reach the genius level. I agree luck is important (being born in the right family, having right teachers in school, etc), but the main ingredient is a raw talent. Again, no amount of luck and hard work would turn you into a genius if you weren’t born with the necessary mental capacity.