Are all famous scientists this creepy?
My high hopes for Richard Feynman's 'Surely You're Joking' were reduced to two letters: ew.
Feynman is an oft-quoted example in many other popular scientific and nonfiction books, so my expectations for this memoir were high. Unfortunately Feynman does not come off well in the first person. A product of his times? Absolutely. But with an intellect like Feynman’s, one might expect more in the way of personal development. This brief and often grating memoir had me rolling my eyes at several points.
Feynman’s treatment of women (including underage female students) is bafflingly and humorously detailed (why not just leave this out?). His self-deprecation is hard to take at face value, as he clearly knows he’s the smartest person in the room: “I was always dumb in that way. I never knew who I was talking to. I was always worried about the physics. If the idea looked lousy, I said it looked lousy. If it looked good, I said it looked good.”
I did wonder at some point if I was hallucinating or somehow reading an entirely different book to the one that garnered 4.5 stars on Amazon. Some frantic Googling (“is Feynman gross???”) led me to a compatriot. Laura McNeill’s Surely You’re a Creep, Mr. Feynman! hit on everything that was bothering me about this self-aggrandising little memoir. What did I get out of this book? Hairs raised on my neck, and little more.
Actually, that’s not entirely true. I did appreciate Feynman’s brief (if not condescending) opinions on the learning process and the problem with modern education. I appreciated Feynman’s nod to having a strong mental “box of tools” (read: mental models) that allows you to think differently and solve problems creatively.
Although I’m not convinced of the man’s character, I’m certainly intrigued by his myth. I’d still read more about Feynman from other authors, but I’m not sure where I’ll start yet. Feynman’s memoir truly gave me the ick, so it’ll be a while before I return to this scientist for reading material.
Bye bye, Mr. Feynman.
Author: Richard P. Feynman
About: A memoir of a life in science, academia, and topless bars
Rating: 2/5
Favourite quote: “So I have just one wish for you—the good luck to be somewhere where you are free to maintain the kind of integrity I have described, and where you do not feel forced by a need to maintain your position in the organization, or financial support, or so on, to lose your integrity. May you have that freedom.”
Mental models
Consensus is not truth
Some ideas can be made more accurate by collecting and averaging the opinions of many. Other more fundamental truths will never change no matter how many opinions you get in either direction. If you are collecting opinions, be sure it’s not for a fundamental truth. Says Feynman: “When you have a very wide range of people who contribute without looking carefully at it, you don’t improve your knowledge of the situation by averaging.”
Did you read “Surely You’re Joking, Mr Feynman!”? Let me know what you thought.