Subject: Re: [extropy-chat] Feynman's 1963 Lecture - The Uncertainty of Science

From: Robin Hanson <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 22:50:23 -0500

On 1/20/2005, Brett Paatsch wrote:
>[When reading Feynmans lecture over the holidays I was struck by how
>many of his themes resonated with recent discussions on the Exi-chat list. ...
>
>Richard Feynman's lecture - The Uncertainty of Science
>
>April 1963.
>-----------
>... So in science we are not interested in where an idea comes from.
>There is no authority who decides what is a good idea. We have lost the need
>to go to an authority to find out whether an idea is true or not. We can
>read an authority and let him suggest something; we can try it out and find
>out if its true or not. If it is not true, so much the worse - so the
>"authorities" lose some of their "authority". ...
>In  physics there are so many accumulated observations that it is almost
>impossible to think of a new idea which is different from all the ideas that
>have been thought of before and yet that agrees with all the observations
>that have already been made.  And so if you get anything new from anyone,
>anywhere, you welcome it, and you do not argue why the other person says it
>is so. ...
>Most people find it surprising that in science there is no interest in the
>background of the author of an idea or in his motive in expounding it. You
>listen, and if it sounds like a thing worth trying, a thing that could be
>tried, is different, and is not obviously contrary to something observed
>before, it gets exciting and worthwhile. You do not have to worry about how
>long he has studied or why he wants you to listen to him. ...

Dear Richard had to be pretty caught up in his rhetoric to say these whoppers.
Scientists most definitely pay attention to the people pushing an idea,
including how long they have studied.  There are in practice more ideas
proposed than people have time to evaluate in much detail.  So most are
rejected (regarding publication, funding, jobs) without knowing whether
those ideas conflict with observations or not.  There are definitely
authorities who decide to reject or not, and they most certainly pay
attention to where the advocate comes from when making this decision.
And dear Richard knew this full well.

Robin Hanson  [email-masked]  http://hanson.gmu.edu
Assistant Professor of Economics, George Mason University
MSN 1D3, Carow Hall, Fairfax VA 22030-4444
703-993-2326  FAX: 703-993-2323 

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From: Robin Hanson <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 20:42:46 -0500

I just wrote:
>Feynman was a great physicist, as well as a great salesman and entertainer.
>He sold many on an idealized vision of himself and his social institution.
>As a graduate student at Caltech, where Feynman talk for many years, I learned
>that many quite unflattering tales of him are told there.

I had meant to add:  While I enjoyed the Feynman Lectures along with everyone
else, those people I have known who have tried to use it as their primary text
had found themselves stumped when they actually try to solve concrete problems.
There's a reason the standard textbooks are structured the way they are.