Love after life: Richard Feynman's letter to his departed wife (2017)
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Love after life: Richard Feynman's letter to his departed wife (2017)
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Re: Love after life: Richard Feynman's letter to his departed wife (2017)
#2I never knew how to square this with stories about Feynman’s sexual predation. Were these two distinct phases of his life?
Re: Love after life: Richard Feynman's letter to his departed wife (2017)
#3I never knew how to square this with stories about Feynman’s sexual predation. Were these two distinct phases of his life?
This is a good summary example of something I find distinctly dangerous about the way people think of figures they don't personally know (i.e. how people on the social web treat public figures, or even just any stranger they see on the web). We see snapshots and assemble a person in our head. We can barely do that with any degree of fidelity regarding people we personally know, much less public figures.
People do good and evil things. But a person, in virtually all cases, is not "good" or "evil". Even if Feynman was engaging in the two behaviors you are thinking of at the same time (whatever those behaviors are - I'm not commenting), it still doesn't make him some kind of paradox. It does so much damage to think like this. This false dichotomy is especially prevalent for sexual topics, because they trigger stronger emotions and push us towards our "that guy good, that guy bad" instincts.
Re: Love after life: Richard Feynman's letter to his departed wife (2017)
#4I never knew how to square this with stories about Feynman’s sexual predation. Were these two distinct phases of his life?
It's been many years since I read his memoirs but I remember feeling that he came off as a barely-sympathetic womanizer in them. He had more or less absolute control over his own portrayal of himself so I assume the truth was significantly worse.
Re: Love after life: Richard Feynman's letter to his departed wife (2017)
#5I never knew how to square this with stories about Feynman’s sexual predation. Were these two distinct phases of his life?
People are complex and multifaceted.
Re: Love after life: Richard Feynman's letter to his departed wife (2017)
#6I never knew how to square this with stories about Feynman’s sexual predation. Were these two distinct phases of his life?
This is a good summary example of something I find distinctly dangerous about the way people think of figures they don't personally know (i.e. how people on the social web treat public figures, or even just any stranger they see on the web). We see snapshots and assemble a person in our head. We can barely do that with any degree of fidelity regarding people we personally know , much less public figures. People do go…
In addition to your comment, what I find mind-boggling is how easily people swing between the two extremes of opinion: it seems every public figure must either be adored and admired, or reviled and ostracized. People (myself included, I don't exclude myself from being human!) do not want to contemplate public figures as complex individuals with dark and bright aspects. It's always all or nothing.
So Woody Allen went from being an adored auteur to someone who not only was declared guilty of a horrible crime in public opinion, but also people felt entitled to declare his cinema was never good to begin with (where were these people before Allen fell in disgrace? Nowhere. They only declared his movies trash once he fell in disgrace).
Same with Feynman. Same with Asimov. Same with Picasso. And the list goes on forever.
People cannot bear the thought that artists, scientists and public figures in general are real people, with flaws and all.
Re: Love after life: Richard Feynman's letter to his departed wife (2017)
#7I never knew how to square this with stories about Feynman’s sexual predation. Were these two distinct phases of his life?
This is a good summary example of something I find distinctly dangerous about the way people think of figures they don't personally know (i.e. how people on the social web treat public figures, or even just any stranger they see on the web). We see snapshots and assemble a person in our head. We can barely do that with any degree of fidelity regarding people we personally know , much less public figures. People do go…
When you take their actions and consider them as a whole, it clearly paints some as good or evil. Sure, no one is movie villain evil or saint-level good, but when a preponderance of their actions have outcomes that are bad for others, then I think it's pretty clear who they are.
Re: Love after life: Richard Feynman's letter to his departed wife (2017)
#8Re: Love after life: Richard Feynman's letter to his departed wife (2017)
#9Re: Love after life: Richard Feynman's letter to his departed wife (2017)
#10I never knew how to square this with stories about Feynman’s sexual predation. Were these two distinct phases of his life?
It's been many years since I read his memoirs but I remember feeling that he came off as a barely-sympathetic womanizer in them. He had more or less absolute control over his own portrayal of himself so I assume the truth was significantly worse.
You never considered the possibility he was just being honest?