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What Would Feynman Do? (2011)

ericlippert.com

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Re: What Would Feynman Do? (2011)

#3
The weakness of this sort of article is that the character of Feynman is being played by someone who clearly isn't Feynman (indeed, based on what I've seen of him there is a decent chance he would really enjoy this puzzle and engage with the desired solution quite quickly).

This is recruiter vs creative interviewee who just doesn't get the puzzle. There isn't anything that screams "Feynman" here.

Re: What Would Feynman Do? (2011)

#4
post #3

The weakness of this sort of article is that the character of Feynman is being played by someone who clearly isn't Feynman (indeed, based on what I've seen of him there is a decent chance he would really enjoy this puzzle and engage with the desired solution quite quickly). This is recruiter vs creative interviewee who just doesn't get the puzzle. There isn't anything that screams "Feynman" here.

I think the article would've worked better if it hadn't purported to be the character of Feynman. It didn't seem to be him.

Re: What Would Feynman Do? (2011)

#5
post #3

The weakness of this sort of article is that the character of Feynman is being played by someone who clearly isn't Feynman (indeed, based on what I've seen of him there is a decent chance he would really enjoy this puzzle and engage with the desired solution quite quickly). This is recruiter vs creative interviewee who just doesn't get the puzzle. There isn't anything that screams "Feynman" here.

I think it's a little bit of fun implying there's more than one solution to a given problem

Re: What Would Feynman Do? (2011)

#6
post #5
post #3

The weakness of this sort of article is that the character of Feynman is being played by someone who clearly isn't Feynman (indeed, based on what I've seen of him there is a decent chance he would really enjoy this puzzle and engage with the desired solution quite quickly). This is recruiter vs creative interviewee who just doesn't get the puzzle. There isn't anything that screams "Feynman" here.

I think it's a little bit of fun implying there's more than one solution to a given problem

Agreed, but that is why I'm ... basically complaining, I suppose. Feynman's reputation was never "dude who comes up with lots of solutions". Invoking Feynman is for when:

* There is a difference between the name of the thing and what it does (very much his style).

* When bureaucracy is disconnected from physical reality (alluding to the Challenger incident).

* When a blisteringly intelligent person can just get it right by thinking from first principles (dude was wicked smart).

Which is why the original article cited [0] worked so well. Feynman's name was being invoked for someone who immediately and insightfully tore the pro-forma question apart as having a faulty premise where the name of the thing didn't imply it was round. It is still words in his mouth, but that is on character for Feynman stereotypes.

Throwing out lots of ideas that don't quite work isn't really a good time to invoke the name.

[0] http://sellsbrothers.com/12395

Re: What Would Feynman Do? (2011)

#7
post #6
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's a little bit of fun implying there's more than one solution to a given problem

Agreed, but that is why I'm ... basically complaining, I suppose. Feynman's reputation was never "dude who comes up with lots of solutions". Invoking Feynman is for when: * There is a difference between the name of the thing and what it does (very much his style). * When bureaucracy is disconnected from physical reality (alluding to the Challenger incident). * When a blisteringly intelligent person can just get it ri…

Maybe a bit overdone, but I think in between lines the interviee well knows the intended solution to the question and is just toying with the interviewer to make a point, much like a cat playing with a barely dead mouse

Re: What Would Feynman Do? (2011)

#9
I wasn’t aware of the article but I do ask myself this question, especially when faced with an “explanation problem”. I wrote a little about it here, perhaps of interest to those working in cyber security or curious about it. I used a bit of inspiration from the great Feynman to come up with a new form of breach diagram.

https://blog.eutopian.io/documenting-breaches-with-h-diagram...

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