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If Feynman were accused of sexual harassment, would we have lost his insights?
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Re: If Feynman were accused of sexual harassment, would we have lost his insights?
#2Hopefully not.
In the heat of the moment certain people would have thought it necessary to disregard everything he said, but over time cooler heads would remember that a person is not a monolith. We can appreciate the good and dislike the bad.
Re: If Feynman were accused of sexual harassment, would we have lost his insights?
#3It depends on when in his life this hypothetical is supposed to have happened. Given the era he did his important work it’d have to be rape that he was accused of to have had a major impact on his employment as a professor. Sexual harassment was rampant back then. Fortunately times have changed.
What is the purpose of the question? Is there some broader point you are trying to make? The only thing that I can guess is that you are trying to point out that people can make great contributions to human knowledge and also be crappy people in certain respects. I don’t think anyone denies this as being true.
EDIT: If it happened at the beginning of his career then he possibly wouldn't have become a professor and thus not have made his discoveries. If it happened at the end of his career then the discoveries would have already been made and hence nothing lost.
Re: If Feynman were accused of sexual harassment, would we have lost his insights?
#4It depends on when in his life this hypothetical is supposed to have happened. Given the era he did his important work it’d have to be rape that he was accused of to have had a major impact on his employment as a professor. Sexual harassment was rampant back then. Fortunately times have changed. What is the purpose of the question? Is there some broader point you are trying to make? The only thing that I can guess is…
I think the point they are trying to make is that we should be careful to not completely erase someone because of crimes they may commit, sexual or otherwise.
Re: If Feynman were accused of sexual harassment, would we have lost his insights?
#5It depends on when in his life this hypothetical is supposed to have happened. Given the era he did his important work it’d have to be rape that he was accused of to have had a major impact on his employment as a professor. Sexual harassment was rampant back then. Fortunately times have changed. What is the purpose of the question? Is there some broader point you are trying to make? The only thing that I can guess is…
I think the point they are trying to make is that we should be careful to not completely erase someone because of crimes they may commit, sexual or otherwise.
We are so quick to ostracize people these days, blacklist based on even an accusation or admission of prior guilt. Imagine a university that fired someone with the potential to become the next Feynman or Einstein because of an unfortunate sexual or racial comment. I'm not justifying the comment, but it's an interesting question.
Of course this is not a new idea. Think Wagner, for example, a notorious antisemite. Or consider a utilitarian view. It is to me somewhat alarming, though, the swiftness with which we pass judgment these days, and I think it's worth considering the impact.
Re: If Feynman were accused of sexual harassment, would we have lost his insights?
#6It depends on when in his life this hypothetical is supposed to have happened. Given the era he did his important work it’d have to be rape that he was accused of to have had a major impact on his employment as a professor. Sexual harassment was rampant back then. Fortunately times have changed. What is the purpose of the question? Is there some broader point you are trying to make? The only thing that I can guess is…
I think the point they are trying to make is that we should be careful to not completely erase someone because of crimes they may commit, sexual or otherwise.
It’s an odd way of trying to make that point. Wouldn’t it be better to just directly say that? It doesn’t seem controversial. A better scenario to contemplate would be the Nazi medical experiments. Absolutely horrific in every way. Suppose they were beneficial to our understanding of some major disease. Should we use the results?
Re: If Feynman were accused of sexual harassment, would we have lost his insights?
#7Hopefully not. In the heat of the moment certain people would have thought it necessary to disregard everything he said, but over time cooler heads would remember that a person is not a monolith. We can appreciate the good and dislike the bad.
Can we? It's not looking likely that Kevin Spacey may work again, despite his clear talents as an actor. I wouldn't call Spacey's work life-changing, but it does bring a level of satisfaction and happiness to a number of people. And yet we'll now be deprived of that satisfaction. I'm saying that horrible people can make meaningful, positive contributions, but in the current politically charged environment we seem to be acting before we consider that.
Re: If Feynman were accused of sexual harassment, would we have lost his insights?
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the point they are trying to make is that we should be careful to not completely erase someone because of crimes they may commit, sexual or otherwise.
It’s an odd way of trying to make that point. Wouldn’t it be better to just directly say that? It doesn’t seem controversial. A better scenario to contemplate would be the Nazi medical experiments. Absolutely horrific in every way. Suppose they were beneficial to our understanding of some major disease. Should we use the results?
That's also a valid question, albeit with a more radical example. But we shouldn't deal in absolutes. To equate someone exposing himself to another people in an inappropriate way to Nazi war crimes is a bit of a stretch, which raises the question "where do we draw the line"? There is no right answer to the question, I suppose.
Re: If Feynman were accused of sexual harassment, would we have lost his insights?
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the point they are trying to make is that we should be careful to not completely erase someone because of crimes they may commit, sexual or otherwise.
It’s an odd way of trying to make that point. Wouldn’t it be better to just directly say that? It doesn’t seem controversial. A better scenario to contemplate would be the Nazi medical experiments. Absolutely horrific in every way. Suppose they were beneficial to our understanding of some major disease. Should we use the results?
I'd also say we should absolutely use the results in that case. But that's not the hypothetical. I was asking whether to blacklist someone who might make future contributions to humanity based on an accusation is really a reasonable sacrifice.
Re: If Feynman were accused of sexual harassment, would we have lost his insights?
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
It’s an odd way of trying to make that point. Wouldn’t it be better to just directly say that? It doesn’t seem controversial. A better scenario to contemplate would be the Nazi medical experiments. Absolutely horrific in every way. Suppose they were beneficial to our understanding of some major disease. Should we use the results?
I'd also say we should absolutely use the results in that case. But that's not the hypothetical. I was asking whether to blacklist someone who might make future contributions to humanity based on an accusation is really a reasonable sacrifice.
In an era when there were few women scientists around for someone to harrass, there is little risk employing the harrasser. Now that there are enough women in the field, the harrasser will cause more damage to the scientific output of the organization than he can contribute.
In this more enlightened age, people should call the harrasser out on their behavior before it becomes a big problem, and the harrasser should have enough awareness to stop the damaging behavior, which is not necessary for their work.