fbpx

Disrespect for the Respectable [Richard Feynman Video]

feynman
Richard Feynman

“If you know the name of a bird in all of the human languages, you will still know absolutely nothing about the bird.  My father taught me the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing about that something.” Richard Feynman

Earlier this week, my father sent me 2 short video interviews of Nobel Physicist Richard Feynman.  Feynman speaks of his intense dislike of “honours”.  He speaks about valuing his work for the intrinsic value of his work: “I enjoyed physics because I used to play with it, I do it for the fun of it”.  He speaks of the need to “disrespect the respectable”.

Disrespect for the Respectable

What’s the difference between the king and the subjects?  The difference is epaulets, uniform, position:  it has nothing to do with something intrinsic of that person.

Science in 1 Minute

Richard Feynman explains science in under 60 seconds:

  • Step 1) Guess…
  • Step 2) Check if your guess can predict nature,
  • Step 3) If not, your guess is wrong.

It doesn’t matter who made the guess, the beauty of the guess, how much you would like the guess to be right, the simplicity of the equations…  it only matters whether it can predict nature.

More like this?

Do you know any other great minds that we can find their interviews on youtube?  I would welcome ideas in the comments below 😉

More from Richard Feynman:

5 responses to “Disrespect for the Respectable [Richard Feynman Video]”

  1. […] Disrespect for the Respectable [Richard Feynman Video] (conorneill.com) […]

  2. […] Disrespect for the Respectable [Richard Feynman Video] (conorneill.com) […]

  3. […] Disrespect for the Respectable [Richard Feynman Video] (conorneill.com) […]

  4. […] Disrespect for the Respectable [Richard Feynman Video] […]

  5. I have loved this interview and Feynman’s style ever since I discovered it a year ago. He is an inspiration that backs up my theory “The reward is not the award”.
    Another great interview is David Foster Wallace. This interview he did for German TV a few years before he took his own life. I suggest watching the complete interview not the highlights. I find it fascinating to watch how he scours the amount of sources going through his head, trying to tame an answer that has infinite threads to it and be as succinct as possible. But he is so intelligent and well read, and bursting with his own quirky take on the world, that we see him struggle to limit his thoughts enough to present his take on them.
    http://www.openculture.com/2012/02/david_foster_wallace_the_big_uncut_interview_2003.html

Leave a Reply to UNCURB ME Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: