My favorite excerpts from the book - "The Pleasure of Finding Things Out" on Richard Feynman.
(Pg 11) They [must have] expected me to be wonderful to offer me a job like this and I wasn't wonderful, and therefore I realized a new principle, which was that I'm not responsible for what other people think I am able to do; I don't have to be good because they think I'm going to be good.
(Pg 24) I think it is much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong.
(Pg 86) And the one thing that Von Neumann gave me was an idea that he had which was interesting. That you don't have to be responsible for the world that you're in, and so I have developed a very powerful sense of social irresponsibility as a result of Von Neumann's advice.
(Pg 146) We have found it of paramount importance that in order to progress we must recognize the ignorance and leave room for doubt. Scientific knowledge is a body of statements of varying degrees of certainty - some most unsure, some nearly sure, none absolutely certain.
(Pg 179) I finally figured out a way to test whether you have taught an idea or you have only taught a definition. Test it this way: You say, "Without using the new word which you have just learned, try to rephrase what you have just learned in your own language."
(Pg 182) I learned then what science was about. It was patience.
(Pg 187) Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts.
(Pg 231) And that's one thing I did learn, that if you have some reason for doing something that's very strong and you start working at it, you must look around every once in a while and find out if the original motives are still right.
(Pg 245) In this age of specialization, men who thoroughly know one field are often incompetent to discuss another.
Posts
