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Do not remain nameless to yourself (1966)

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Re: Do not remain nameless to yourself (1966)

#101

Post by sukilot »

coeneedell wrote: post #13
aazaa wrote: post #9

> ... Feynman replied with an enquiry about Mano’s current job, to which Mano responded that he was “studying the Coherence theory with some applications to the propagation of electromagnetic waves through turbulent atmosphere […] a humble and down-to-earth type of problem.” Feynman responded with this letter. I must be missing something. Feynman's letter is full of good advice about the crucial importance of choosin…

I think the error was that Mano referred to his coherence theory problem as "humble and down-to-earth". Feynman sought to correct the implicit assumption that there is some natural dividing line between "humble" and "great" problems. I think he would reject that such a thing as a humble problem does not exist.

In one of Feynman's books he talks about being dispirited and in a rut in his career, and breaking out of it by working on a toy problem inspired by something like plates in a cafeteria.

Re: Do not remain nameless to yourself (1966)

#102

Post by BeetleB »

tropdrop wrote: post #100
mysterypie wrote: post #75

I’d like to know what the modern substitute is for long personal letters like Feynman’s? It’s not just Feynman; look at this list from the featured website: > written correspondence includes letters from: Jane Austen, Richard Burton, Helen Keller, Alan Turing, Albus Dumbledore, Eleanor Roosevelt, Henry James, Sylvia Plath, John Lennon, Gerald Durrell, Janis Joplin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Hunter S. Thompson, C. G. J…

Like a couple others in this thread, I have a hand-written correspondence with a small handful of people that I cherish. I used to do the same like you did - email, with similar results - but I discovered there is something cathartic about sitting down and taking the time to let one's hand fly across the page, stroke after stroke. Because I write in ink, I can't take a stroke back - so I sometimes have to pause and t…

I started writing letters to a friend and former coworker some years ago - and we live in the same city! This while we occasionally would get together for lunch, etc. He then moved elsewhere but we kept it up.

Definitely worth it.

Edit: Should add that for now we've reverted to email to limit the possibility of transmitting COVID-19 ;-)

Re: Do not remain nameless to yourself (1966)

#103

Post by sukilot »

elygre wrote: post #60
aazaa wrote: post #9

> ... Feynman replied with an enquiry about Mano’s current job, to which Mano responded that he was “studying the Coherence theory with some applications to the propagation of electromagnetic waves through turbulent atmosphere […] a humble and down-to-earth type of problem.” Feynman responded with this letter. I must be missing something. Feynman's letter is full of good advice about the crucial importance of choosin…

Yes, this! Saying that your work is “Humble and down to earth” doesn’t necessarily days that it’s beyond yourself. Haven’t we all been told that it’s good to be humble? To me, the reply goes way beyond what this statement warrants.

You don't know the entirety of what Mano wrote.

Re: Do not remain nameless to yourself (1966)

#104

Post by sukilot »

z5h wrote: post #66

“The worthwhile problems are the ones you can really solve or help solve, the ones you can really contribute something to.” The ones we can solve right now? Or the ones we might solve eventually... if we make the right choices and exert the right effort?

Start small and work your way up and around.

No way to know the optimal path, so don't stress about finding it.

Re: Do not remain nameless to yourself (1966)

#105

Post by dorkwood »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #59
tropdrop wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Too few engineers eschew ego - this is Feynman's point. Most people are not Feynman. Most engineers today think they have the capability of being Feynman one day - of course, statistics dictates that most will not be. This is why Feynman's advice is powerful - The worthwhile problems are the ones you can really solve or help solve, the ones you can really contribute something to. Feynman here is instructing someone w…

Problems can be quite humbling. Taking on big stuff isn't necessarily a "big ego" thing, but getting upset that we didn't solve the problem might be. In my experience, big problems get solved by teams. It's important to be a good team member, even if we are "close to the gods." From what I understand, Feynman seemed to work well in teams, but I never worked with him, so I don't know. False humility isn't helpful eith…

> Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

Is this really true? I've always felt that people are more likely to open up and be themselves if I demonstrate that I'm a bit unsure of myself, too.

Don't get me wrong, I _hate_ when someone presents their work by saying "here's my poor attempt at X, it isn't very good" (which is especially enraging if their work is, in fact, good). But helping to bring more quiet members of the team out of their shell by sharing a bit of my own humanity, a bit of my own weakness? That seems like it does serve the world to me.

Re: Do not remain nameless to yourself (1966)

#106

Post by 317070 »

_xnmw wrote: post #83
mysterypie wrote: post #75

I’d like to know what the modern substitute is for long personal letters like Feynman’s? It’s not just Feynman; look at this list from the featured website: > written correspondence includes letters from: Jane Austen, Richard Burton, Helen Keller, Alan Turing, Albus Dumbledore, Eleanor Roosevelt, Henry James, Sylvia Plath, John Lennon, Gerald Durrell, Janis Joplin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Hunter S. Thompson, C. G. J…

Long letters are not dead. I have a short list of old friends whom I communicate via the infrequent long email only. These are old acquaintances with whom I have no regular business with, and they have moved far away in life, so short texting conversations are irrelevant. Usually I initiate these "pen pals" by reaching out on Christmas or Eid, several years after we have lost contact, and I make it clear to them that…

I'm curious though, what DO you talk about as general topics?

Re: Do not remain nameless to yourself (1966)

#107

Post by dr_kiszonka »

rattray wrote: post #78
krastanov wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Feynman, like everyone, has his virtues and vices, but humility is definitely not among his strong points. The majority of the stories he tells about himself are anecdotes in which he is the smart person in the room making (maybe lighthearted and friendly) fun of others with a cheaply superficial pretence of humility.

I just finished reading _Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman!_ and I agree - the word that described most of his stories to me was "boastful". Most of his stories involve him being more clever than everyone else around him, rather pointedly. However, whenever he talks about getting recruited or being tasked with something important, he always claimed to be astonished that anyone thought "little Feynman" worthy of such…

I remember reading that people who are insecure about something, criticize or make fun others having that quality to feel better about themselves.

If this is true, then maybe Feynman really was insecure about his intelligence ("humble"), and his "boastful" stories were to make him feel better about himself and to cover up this insecurity.

(I am not a psychologist, so I can be completely wrong here.)

Re: Do not remain nameless to yourself (1966)

#108

Post by rattray »

dr_kiszonka wrote: post #107
rattray wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just finished reading _Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman!_ and I agree - the word that described most of his stories to me was "boastful". Most of his stories involve him being more clever than everyone else around him, rather pointedly. However, whenever he talks about getting recruited or being tasked with something important, he always claimed to be astonished that anyone thought "little Feynman" worthy of such…

I remember reading that people who are insecure about something, criticize or make fun others having that quality to feel better about themselves. If this is true, then maybe Feynman really was insecure about his intelligence ("humble"), and his "boastful" stories were to make him feel better about himself and to cover up this insecurity. (I am not a psychologist, so I can be completely wrong here.)

I think over the course of his life he became more confident as accolades and successes grew

Re: Do not remain nameless to yourself (1966)

#110

Post by a1369209993 »

LordHumungous wrote: post #74
tropdrop wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Too few engineers eschew ego - this is Feynman's point. Most people are not Feynman. Most engineers today think they have the capability of being Feynman one day - of course, statistics dictates that most will not be. This is why Feynman's advice is powerful - The worthwhile problems are the ones you can really solve or help solve, the ones you can really contribute something to. Feynman here is instructing someone w…

I had a physics professor who liked to point out that Feynman (who we all idolized as college students studying physics) used to solve hundreds and hundreds of classical mechanics problems for fun, in his spare time. These were the same homework problems that we hated doing and always complained about. The professor's point was, being great at something isn't just a matter of having a big powerful brain, it's also a…

> used to solve hundreds and hundreds of classical mechanics problems for fun, in his spare time. [emphasis added]

You kind of missed your own (or possibly your professor's) point there: being great at something is a matter (in part) not just of putting in the work, but of having the inclination and motivation to put in so much work. If you think of it as "all the toil that gets you to that level", you're not the kind of person who is going to become great in that field.

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