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Richard Feynman and the Connection Machine (1989)

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Re: Richard Feynman and the Connection Machine (1989)

#21

Post by JProthero »

I think this sentence from the essay does a nice job of summing up Feynman's character:

'The act of discovery was not complete for him until he had taught it to someone else.'

I'd recommend Hillis' Web of Stories interview series [1] to anyone who appreciated this piece. He shares several of the stories described in the essay in video form (e.g. 105, 106, 119, 127 & 234), and there are plenty of other anecdotes and insights worth listening to.

I think Hillis is pretty interesting in his own right, but he's crossed paths with some other people in addition to Feynman that HN readers might be interested in hearing about: Marvin Minsky, Jeff Bezos, Freeman Dyson, Steve Jobs etc.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVV0r6CmEsFzo005LM6PT...

Re: Richard Feynman and the Connection Machine (1989)

#22

Post by andyjohnson0 »

yesenadam wrote: post #16
andyjohnson0 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

James Gleick's biography of Feynman, Genius , is a good read and complements the books Feynman wrote himself. > first time I've seen his...extremely ugly sexist behaviour displayed Not to excuse it, but he was the product of a different time.

Well, why say that? Of course it's an attempt at excusing it. I almost included a sentence saying "Yes, he was a product of an earlier time, but (civilized) people didn't go around treating women like that then any more than they do nowadays, i.e. not at all."

> > Not to excuse it, but he was the product of a different time.

> Well, why say that? Of course it's an attempt at excusing it.

No it isn't. Because there's a difference between excusing something and explaining it. As my post was a recommendation for a book about Feynman's life, I felt was doing the latter not the former.

Just to be clear, then. Sexist behaviour was just as wrong during Feynman's lifetime as it is today. Unfortunately it's a fact that such attitudes were also more prevalent then than they are now. And Feynman's genius didn't, and still doesn't, excuse his sexist behaviour.

Re: Richard Feynman and the Connection Machine (1989)

#23

Post by JKCalhoun »

mywittyname wrote: post #20
yesenadam wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, why say that? Of course it's an attempt at excusing it. I almost included a sentence saying "Yes, he was a product of an earlier time, but (civilized) people didn't go around treating women like that then any more than they do nowadays, i.e. not at all."

We look up to historical figures who owned slaves. There were people who were morally opposed to slavery back then as well. The fact is, people who accomplished great things also engaged in morally questionable stuff as well. If we try to erase all of these figures from our history books, they'll end up empty. We have to accept that social mores fluctuate over the generations and read history with the appropriate per…

Don't erase them then, but present their flaws as well.

Re: Richard Feynman and the Connection Machine (1989)

#24

Post by JKCalhoun »

yesenadam wrote: post #17
yesenadam wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He wrote a few books of reminiscences which are full of them, great reads. But this was the first time I've seen his...extremely ugly sexist behaviour displayed, not just hinted about. Very odd. In his books he's just a bit of a ladies man.

What am I being downvoted for here exactly, downvoters?[0] Do people think the behaviour mentioned is at all acceptable?! Or that 'extremely ugly sexist behaviour' isn't a fair characterization? I can't see what else in what I said could cause offence. We are talking about Feynman, who believed in speaking the plain truth, pretty or not. And that story is just very creepy: "in many ways Richard was a sexist. Whenever…

I agree with you, it is creepy. And I did not downvote you.

Maybe people feel you are cherrypicking the article — drawing attention to the one creepy bit.

Re: Richard Feynman and the Connection Machine (1989)

#26

Post by Abishek_Muthian »

dang wrote: post #10
Abishek_Muthian wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't mind high quality content such as this being shared at regular intervals for the sake of new readers.

Yes! The purpose of posting those links is to point new readers (and old ones!) at the earlier threads. Just to be clear, if the repost was inappropriate we'd have marked it [dupe] above. The rules for that are at https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html .

Thanks for the clarification.

Re: Richard Feynman and the Connection Machine (1989)

#27

Post by sten »

yesenadam wrote: post #17
yesenadam wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He wrote a few books of reminiscences which are full of them, great reads. But this was the first time I've seen his...extremely ugly sexist behaviour displayed, not just hinted about. Very odd. In his books he's just a bit of a ladies man.

What am I being downvoted for here exactly, downvoters?[0] Do people think the behaviour mentioned is at all acceptable?! Or that 'extremely ugly sexist behaviour' isn't a fair characterization? I can't see what else in what I said could cause offence. We are talking about Feynman, who believed in speaking the plain truth, pretty or not. And that story is just very creepy: "in many ways Richard was a sexist. Whenever…

Don't leave out the rest of the quote.

>"Yes, it really annoys me," she said. "On the other hand, he is the only one who ever explained quantum mechanics to me as if I could understand it." That was the essence of Richard's charm.

Re: Richard Feynman and the Connection Machine (1989)

#28

Post by yesenadam »

sten wrote: post #27
yesenadam wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What am I being downvoted for here exactly, downvoters?[0] Do people think the behaviour mentioned is at all acceptable?! Or that 'extremely ugly sexist behaviour' isn't a fair characterization? I can't see what else in what I said could cause offence. We are talking about Feynman, who believed in speaking the plain truth, pretty or not. And that story is just very creepy: "in many ways Richard was a sexist. Whenever…

Don't leave out the rest of the quote. >"Yes, it really annoys me," she said. "On the other hand, he is the only one who ever explained quantum mechanics to me as if I could understand it." That was the essence of Richard's charm.

I "left that out" because it reminded me of how people say "Yes, my husband was a violent psychopath, but underneath he was a gentle, sensitive man." or something. Being 'charming' is how sociopaths get away with it, not a balancing, redeeming feature. So don't tell me I have to mention the "redeeming feature", thanks.

(Besides, I thought it was strange she said "as if I could understand it", not "in a way I could understand"...it sounded to me like she didn't understand.)

Re: Richard Feynman and the Connection Machine (1989)

#29

Post by yesenadam »

andyjohnson0 wrote: post #22
yesenadam wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, why say that? Of course it's an attempt at excusing it. I almost included a sentence saying "Yes, he was a product of an earlier time, but (civilized) people didn't go around treating women like that then any more than they do nowadays, i.e. not at all."

> > Not to excuse it, but he was the product of a different time. > Well, why say that? Of course it's an attempt at excusing it. No it isn't. Because there's a difference between excusing something and explaining it. As my post was a recommendation for a book about Feynman's life , I felt was doing the latter not the former. Just to be clear, then. Sexist behaviour was just as wrong during Feynman's lifetime as it i…

Ok sure, I hear you.

People who say "I don't mean to be racist, but.." almost always immediately say something racist, and never feel like it is racist. That seems exactly like "Not to excuse it, but.." - "Not to excuse it" comes out because your brain feels the need to say that, in the same way. Also I guess it's hard talking with people we don't know - assessing what to take for granted or not. Maybe you really did mean "not to excuse it"! Sorry.

I wonder what 'attitude' Feynman actually had. I've never heard of anyone actually doing what he does in that story, have you? It's not much detail to go on, but it sounds like he thought it was funny? Or enjoyed the humiliation, was turned on. He can't have thought it was appropriate. Can he? I mean, people never did that, even thousands of years ago. Just seems like an extremely gauche 'joke'...demeaning, insulting. So does that book shed any light? Was everyone like that then? (I don't think so)

[Disclosure: Besides his reminiscences, which I read as a kid, I've watched a load of his lectures, interviews and talks, (and introduced them to other people), as well as worked through as much of the 3 volumes of the Lectures on Physics as I could understand, a couple of times. He's one of my scientific heroes.]

Re: Richard Feynman and the Connection Machine (1989)

#30

Post by yesenadam »

mywittyname wrote: post #20
yesenadam wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, why say that? Of course it's an attempt at excusing it. I almost included a sentence saying "Yes, he was a product of an earlier time, but (civilized) people didn't go around treating women like that then any more than they do nowadays, i.e. not at all."

We look up to historical figures who owned slaves. There were people who were morally opposed to slavery back then as well. The fact is, people who accomplished great things also engaged in morally questionable stuff as well. If we try to erase all of these figures from our history books, they'll end up empty. We have to accept that social mores fluctuate over the generations and read history with the appropriate per…

Tell me about it, I'm vegan/non-animal-product-using. It's not just the distant past that's "morally questionable" for me.

So the problem you are fixing is that I haven't "accepted that social mores fluctuate over the generations"? And am "trying to erase" Feynman from the history books? Uh no. It sounds like you copied those bland clichés all out from your high school notes. I don't disagree with any one sentence, but put together, I wonder who benefits from hearing that speech. I'm no SJW or general hater of dead white males, don't worry. Maybe it's the standard reply to them. Sorry if this all sounds condescending - what you wrote comes over as super-condescending also. It's difficult when we have no idea who we're talking to!

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