4 ms·

The sham legacy of Richard Feynman [video]

15 points by nabla9 2y ago

nabla9 2y ago
John Carlos Baez comments: https://mathstodon.xyz/@johncarlosbaez/113590461035268587 https://mathstodon.xyz/@johncarlosbaez/113590461035268587 >If you love Richard Feynman you've got to watch this video... >... where Angela Collier will ruthlessly dissect the mythology he built around himself. You probably won't agree with everything she says, and you may hate some of it, but it will still be thought-provoking.
- slater 2y ago
  Third time's a charm? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42310360 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42310360 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42276170 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42276170 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42268976 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42268976
  - zeristor 2y ago
    Don’t you mean fourth? If a HN post doesn’t catch it won’t catch, it might explode in a month for no real reason.
Isamu 2y ago
I enjoyed this video although I didn’t think I would. It is similar to other videos she’s made wondering why pop physics culture is so out of step with actual physics culture.
barbequeer 2y ago
I had so many recommendations for "Surely you're joking Mr Feynman" that I had to read it. I gave up halfway through. It seemed awfully self-serving.
- nabla9 2y ago
  On the other hand the books intended to teach physics for lay audience are really good. Feynman had teaching skills. QED is maybe the best of these. The Character of Physical Law is also good.
- jfengel 2y ago
  I read it as a teenager, which is exactly when his stories seem most plausible and exciting. But there was one that bugged me even at the time. He talked about an advanced biology class, in which he was unable to participate because he hadn't done any of the required reading. He castigated them for having wasted so much time on things he could look up, like anatomical diagrams. He expected the entire class to stop while he looked up each and every word they used. They couldn't possibly make any progress under those conditions. Biology students spend a lot of time memorizing stuff so that they can have a common language. There are just a lot of different individual things inside a body. It doesn't surprise me that a lot more of his stories have some aspect that I missed as a teenager, and don't reflect nearly as well on him in context.
aaron695 2y ago
[dead]
sevensor 2y ago
“Feynman Bro” is a great label for a real, observable phenomenon. Occasionally charming, vicious when his intellectual superiority is threatened, misogynistic, generally a jerk when he’s drunk, Feynman Bro shows up in physics departments and adjacent fields like EE and aerospace engineering. Quoting liberally from Surely you Jest is a red flag.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

15 points by nabla9 2y ago

John Carlos Baez comments: https://mathstodon.xyz/@johncarlosbaez/113590461035268587 https://mathstodon.xyz/@johncarlosbaez/113590461035268587 >If you love Richard Feynman you've got to watch this video... >... where Angela Collier will ruthlessly dissect the mythology he built around himself. You probably won't agree with everything she says, and you may hate some of it, but it will still be thought-provoking.

slater 2y ago
Third time's a charm? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42310360 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42310360 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42276170 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42276170 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42268976 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42268976
- zeristor 2y ago
  Don’t you mean fourth? If a HN post doesn’t catch it won’t catch, it might explode in a month for no real reason.

Isamu 2y ago

I enjoyed this video although I didn’t think I would. It is similar to other videos she’s made wondering why pop physics culture is so out of step with actual physics culture.

barbequeer 2y ago

I had so many recommendations for "Surely you're joking Mr Feynman" that I had to read it. I gave up halfway through. It seemed awfully self-serving.

nabla9 2y ago
On the other hand the books intended to teach physics for lay audience are really good. Feynman had teaching skills. QED is maybe the best of these. The Character of Physical Law is also good.
jfengel 2y ago
I read it as a teenager, which is exactly when his stories seem most plausible and exciting. But there was one that bugged me even at the time. He talked about an advanced biology class, in which he was unable to participate because he hadn't done any of the required reading. He castigated them for having wasted so much time on things he could look up, like anatomical diagrams. He expected the entire class to stop while he looked up each and every word they used. They couldn't possibly make any progress under those conditions. Biology students spend a lot of time memorizing stuff so that they can have a common language. There are just a lot of different individual things inside a body. It doesn't surprise me that a lot more of his stories have some aspect that I missed as a teenager, and don't reflect nearly as well on him in context.

aaron695 2y ago

[dead]

sevensor 2y ago

“Feynman Bro” is a great label for a real, observable phenomenon. Occasionally charming, vicious when his intellectual superiority is threatened, misogynistic, generally a jerk when he’s drunk, Feynman Bro shows up in physics departments and adjacent fields like EE and aerospace engineering. Quoting liberally from Surely you Jest is a red flag.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]