Didnt he cheat on wife with his PhD students, had numerous flings and flirted with other peoples wives ?
I've read a lot about Feynman and have never read that. Would love to see a source.
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)
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think something you're failing to account for in peoples' reactions these figures is that the relationship between their moral transgressions and their work is not spurious. Feynman was a notable scientist but he was also one of the most famous scientists, he was a great populizer of science especially later in life. Finding out he was a sex pest or womanizer or worse has tangible consequences to that role. Was he…
> It's just these criticisms are not generally welcomed or amplified for figures in the prime of their accolades. Which is an interesting subject itself, I think. Yes, this is a fair assessment. The criticisms are given voice and spread once the person falls in disgrace. They are sometimes declared "unpersons", which I find deeply irritating. I suppose this happens to artists or scientists nearer in time; nobody care…
Then again, plenty of times they are not declared unpersons nor treated horribly. Oftentimes just mentioning that this or that person did something bad at some points is enough for everyone to get outrage over "how dare you to say that".
As in, criticism is silenced until it breaks.
Re: Love after life: Richard Feynman's letter to his departed wife (2017)
#43I 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…
How about we do away with speculating on the personal lives of public figures unless it is pertinent to some issue? So much judgement and pedestal-making.
But people will keep lopsidedly downvoting when someone veers towards the judgement-side. As if putting people on pedestals is any better.
Re: Love after life: Richard Feynman's letter to his departed wife (2017)
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
Words have meanings. > sexual predation I don't think this term is appropriate for anyone who is less than an attempted rapist. There are many existing words to describe Feynman's behavior. Pervert, philanderer womanizer, consummate cheater.... Let's use existing words that lead to the correct assumptions by those unfamiliar with his sexual behaviors. A sexual predator evokes Harvey Weinstein. AFAIK, Feynman sounds m…
I dunno, a lot of those 80s rock stars slept with their underage groupies. Harvey Weinstein used his power to pressure young Hollywood actresses, am I supposed to believe that a professor sleeping with his students is a completely different beast? I still think Harvey Weinstein is worse, like you say, but I think it's disingenuous to pretend like they're completely different types of people.
There is actual difference between threatening people livelihood and actually destroying peoples careers forever and actually using violence. Which afaik, Feynman is not accused of. He did misrepresented who he was in some of those relationships - by pretending he is undergraduate. That is exact opposite of using power, it is pretending you do not have it.
Those are completely different types of people. It is not that professors should sleep with students, it is that Weinstein went far far beyond that. Suggesting it is the same is minimizing what Weinstein did.
Re: Love after life: Richard Feynman's letter to his departed wife (2017)
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
sometimes they don’t fit into your sense of morality
You're right. I believe school children should get meals, for free in the richest country in the world. Crazy idea. They don't agree, but are somehow still good people.. lol
I suspect most people would agree with this. What they don't agree on is how it gets paid for.
Re: Love after life: Richard Feynman's letter to his departed wife (2017)
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
You're right. I believe school children should get meals, for free in the richest country in the world. Crazy idea. They don't agree, but are somehow still good people.. lol
Right, because my wife home schools and has chosen to forgo a professional career to care for our disabled daughter, depriving us of a substantial income, and I don’t think the tax dollars I do pay should subsidize the public schools we can’t even use due to our child’s medical needs? Mind you, I live in an area with middle class incomes, so the families can definitely afford the school lunches. Am I a bad person?
Interesting that you framed this not about how perhaps you and your daughter ought be eligible for some subsidies, but rather about what subsidies you feel should be taken away from others, as if their needs have no merit.
Re: Love after life: Richard Feynman's letter to his departed wife (2017)
#47Didnt he cheat on wife with his PhD students, had numerous flings and flirted with other peoples wives ?
so what?
Re: Love after life: Richard Feynman's letter to his departed wife (2017)
#48Didnt he cheat on wife with his PhD students, had numerous flings and flirted with other peoples wives ?
I've read a lot about Feynman and have never read that. Would love to see a source.
I have heard about it, but have no opinion on if it is true or false.
https://cirosantilli.com/feynman-was-a-huge-womanizer-during...
Re: Love after life: Richard Feynman's letter to his departed wife (2017)
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
> People cannot bear the thought that artists, scientists and public figures in general are real people, with flaws and all. Possibly related to the Fundamental Attribution Error in psychology: "The fundamental attribution error (also known as correspondence bias or over-attribution effect) is the tendency for people to over-emphasize dispositional or personality-based explanations for behaviors observed in others wh…
Yup. We judge others by their actions and ourselves by our intentions (Just keeping this mind helps me stay calm in traffic)
Re: Love after life: Richard Feynman's letter to his departed wife (2017)
#50Didnt he cheat on wife with his PhD students, had numerous flings and flirted with other peoples wives ?
Presumably, the allegations were during his second marriage. This letter was to his first wife.
If the love of my life were to be cut down in the prime of her life, I imagine I'd be emotionally scarred for life. Sure, I'd make every effort to move on, but I just can't imagine the amount of emotional scar tissue that would remain permanently.