6 ms·
Who smeared Richard Feynman? (2014)
- FrankWilhoit 9mo agoPlausible; also marginal. We already knew that Edward Teller made these kinds of accusations against a lot of people and thereby did much greater harm.
- srean 9mo agoTeller would misspell Fermi and Fuchs' names ? That would be strange.
- gerikson 9mo agoWould Teller have had to mail Hoover though? Or just let the concerned people know that Feynman was unsuitable.
- KPGv2 9mo agoAre you alleging that the FBI interviewer unknowingly interviewed Teller who was posing, with a high degree of skill, as a woman known to be closely associated with Feynman? Because the FBI interviewer refers to the interviewee with feminine pronouns.
- nemomarx 9mo agoadmittedly it would be really funny if Teller could just do that
- sigwinch 9mo agoI don’t think Teller worked with Feynman.
- deleted 9mo ago[deleted]
- mellosouls 9mo ago(2014) Relevant because since then it's become quite trendy to throw mud at men like him.
- chrismatic 9mo agoNot entirely without reason though. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwKpj2ISQAc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwKpj2ISQAc
- ecshafer 9mo agoThat video is such an extremely weak argument. Sure Feynman probably has more fame than he is merited. But he is still one of the most influential physicists. He just also happened to be entertaining and wrote some books. Personality and self-marketing makes a difference, welcome to society.
- niggernagger 9mo ago[flagged]
- chrismatic 9mo agoI'd recommend that you watch the entire video, because the point is that he did not even write any of those books.
- srean 9mo agoI would say read up a little so that you are in a position to make up your own mind. Also compare the video recordings and published book to figure out whose material it was. It's easy to throw muck at someone who is not around to defend. And you seem to be saying that it is a reasonable thing to do in this particular case.
- ecshafer 9mo agoSo someone took recordings of his stories and compiled them into a text....? What does that matter I have seen that entire video in the past, its unsubstantiated garbage that fails mild skepticism. Every point can be explained away trivially. They have an axe to grind against Fenyman / Men generally, and since this goes against the established narrative its therefore heralded as being correct and people blindly follow it.
- jackie293746 9mo ago[dead]
- an0malous 9mo agohell hath no fury
- deleted 9mo ago[deleted]
- rurban 9mo agoI thought it's known for a long time already that it was his second wife, from Boise, Idaho.
- crazygringo 9mo agoThis is actually kind of hilarious. That your ex-wife would write to the FBI to denounce your character a couple of months after the divorce. I did really enjoy this detail: > It was an extremely ugly, long (2 years!) divorce hearing: it made the newspapers because of Bell’s allegations of “extreme cruelty” by Feynman, including the notion that he spent all of his waking hours either doing calculus and playing the bongos. Brilliant guy... but it is funny to think how nonstop bongos could definitely drive a spouse crazy.
- ricardo81 9mo agoThe problem with extremely smart people is not many people understand them. They're typically going to be non-conformist in any event, and may come across as arrogant if they have an intricate belief system that you may not take the time to understand. I'd think one of the greatest scientists of a generation would have the kind of depth of thinking that few would understand. Having listened to many of his interviews (unfortunately I'm too young to have witnessed these things in real time) he comes across as one of the most eloquent people I can think of. While reading through that I was suspecting it was perhaps a peer that was envious of Feynman, but an ex (scorned?) partner is extremely plausible.
- abtinf 9mo ago> The problem with extremely smart people is not many people understand them. They're typically going to be non-conformist in any event, and may come across as arrogant if they have an intricate belief system that you may not take the time to understand. This is the bucket Ayn Rand falls into. Her philosophy is radically different, revolutionizing the entire field, to the point that most people can’t even grasp that the things she questions are open to debate.
- esseph 9mo agoLMAO Ayn Rand could get rolled up by an 8th grader. No idea about how social systems actually work, or how real humans act. If there's one thing that was real about Rand it was that ego. There's few people that can make an ass of themselves to multiple fields so quickly, but if you stuck an artist, an economist, and an anthropologist in the room with Rand, after 15 minutes they could have all left with a laugh on Rands behalf. It's also so funny to me the modern US libertarians that claim to love her so much. Rand hated libertarians! She thought they were crybabies and had no moral or logical foundation.
- jcranmer 9mo ago> The problem with extremely smart people is not many people understand them. I know this is a common trope in many media portrayals, but it's really not my experience. The "insufferable genius" stereotype tracks most not for the extremely smart people but the kinda-smart people who are absolute jerks but try to defend their jerkassery on the basis of their intelligence.
- LePetitPrince 9mo ago[dead]
- dang 9mo agoRelated. Others? Who Smeared Richard Feynman? (2014) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23418130 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23418130 - June 2020 (56 comments) Who smeared Richard Feynman? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8024982 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8024982 - July 2014 (54 comments)