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What Problems to Solve (1966)

genius.cat-v.org

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Re: What Problems to Solve (1966)

#31

Post by nevertoolate »

cocoa19 wrote: post #8

This echoes what I have thought about my career. What to work on. I've been blessed to have a good paying career in software engineering, but I've never really felt passionate about the products I work on. At the end of the day, my job is a paycheck. I do feel joy solving problems for others, improve society, be able to answer colleagues questions when they "come to my office". My family is happy that I can provide a…

I was surprised that after “closer to god” comes the “build the next kubernetes”. How do you connect these two things?

E.g. I’ve found the “closer to god” in my yoga practice. And how I now realize that through words I can’t connect that much as through practice (e.g. just eating my lunch being fully present). I still think I can help through my software product building skills, but also know that if I can help people find a more joyful life / build a less painful body is closer to my purpose than “only” building software.

Re: What Problems to Solve (1966)

#32

Post by alganet »

smath wrote: post #27
alganet wrote: post #12

His words and advice are truly inspiring and I agree with him. However, things have changed a lot. Nowadays we're bombarded with ideas and incredible "opportunities" of stuff we can make. It's almost like ideas are shoved into people's heads. So, I have to add to Mr. Feynman's words an update: _Be sure that the thing you want to solve is really the thing YOU want to solve_ This is specially true for software developm…

I agree. IMO understanding what one really wants to work on, leads to an important line of philosophical questioning to understand 'who am I'. There is a surprising amount of clutter and external influence in our minds.

> to understand 'who am I'

I don't worry much about that. I can be lots of things, change my mind, etc.

Re: What Problems to Solve (1966)

#33

Post by svat »

dang wrote: post #28

Related. Others? Do not remain nameless to yourself (1966) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23808400 - July 2020 (122 comments) What Problems to Solve - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8030010 - July 2014 (45 comments)

Do not remain nameless to yourself (1966) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23808400 - July 2020 (123 comments)

Re: What Problems to Solve (1966)

#34

Post by bravesoul2 »

Beautiful. Tear to my eye!

I think this is a rare mix of deep humanity and intellectual thinking in one essay.

Lol then... I saw who wrote it!

Good advice for all HN. Often you see a comment and bio shows an amazing career. However they couldnt be amazing without rest of us being average (average of something...). Can't have a max without a median.

Re: What Problems to Solve (1966)

#35

Post by William_BB »

cocoa19 wrote: post #8

This echoes what I have thought about my career. What to work on. I've been blessed to have a good paying career in software engineering, but I've never really felt passionate about the products I work on. At the end of the day, my job is a paycheck. I do feel joy solving problems for others, improve society, be able to answer colleagues questions when they "come to my office". My family is happy that I can provide a…

It depends on what "working on those problems" means to you. If you want to work on those problems as a software engineer, that sounds like an achievable goal.

To me, the interesting, fulfilling bits of building the next Google/ChatGPT/AI/climate change lie in the theory. Arguably with the exception of Kubernetes, this theory does not come from software engineering. As much as I enjoy software engineering, it's a trade. It's a tool to get the job done. And recently, I realized I like building things just as much as I like "the theory".

To me, that was a bitter pill to swallow. I'm not an ML engineer, but I suspect this is also the reason why you can find so many posts about ML engineers trying to pivot to ML scientist roles.

Re: What Problems to Solve (1966)

#36

Post by renhanxue »

kunley wrote: post #23
blks wrote: post #22

[flagged]

citation needed

Astrophysicist Angela Collier's video essay "the sham legacy of Richard Feynman" [0] is a good introduction. Her accounts of her own encounters with "Feynman bros" are heart-wrenching.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwKpj2ISQAc

Re: What Problems to Solve (1966)

#38

Post by hammock »

sky2224 wrote: post #24

Man while Feynman was a genius, I think it's underappreciated just how articulate and philosophical he was. I've always loved reading his work because he just knew how to say things the right way. This letter really allows that side of him to shine through.

That is the main reason why he is appreciated imo

Re: What Problems to Solve (1966)

#40

Post by rixed »

bbkane wrote: post #25
kunley wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

citation needed

I can't comment on the behavior of his students, but his ex-wife told the FBI that Feynman flew into violent rages and choked her on several occasions ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman#Personal_and_p... ). I've always felt a bit queasy on reading that.

Interesting link.

Another quote from that same link, from that same hateful person whose first grievance was that Feynman was just interested in calculations and playing the drum :

  "I do not know—but I believe that Richard Feynman is either a Communist or very strongly pro-Communist—and as such is a very definite security risk."
I had read many books from and about Feynman, probably even more than the average HNer; first time I encounter such a claim. I do not believe in heroes and like to have my beliefs questioned, but in this instance I will still stand with Feynman. This case does not look like it is about violence.
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