Feynman and Hoyle
Day 115 of the Journey
This morning I watched a series of YouTube videos made from a 1973 Yorkshire public television interview with physicist Richard Feynman, which
mentioned in a recent post. The title of this, at least when it was rebroadcast by PBS on Nova, was "Take the World From Another Point of View." Feynman talked a lot about his father's influence on his approach and then, because it was Yorkshire, he had a pint at a pub and went for a walk with Sir Fred Hoyle. It was interesting watching the two Nobel laureates chatting.One of the moments I found interesting in the discussion between Feynman and Hoyle was when Feynman talked about trying to understand (so he could replicate) the moment of discovery, when all the pieces fit together and he saw the truth. He described how he had worked out something about helium by saying to himself "it can't be this difficult" and then stepping back from the problem and just "tapping it gently". He remembered that process and then tried to apply it in other situations, but apparently with little success. So perhaps it's just one of several methods. Feynman also talked about being a bit "afraid" to speculate too much and trying whenever possible to explain anomalous observations without resorting to changing the fundamental laws of physics. He suggested that Hoyle was much more comfortable with pursuing a line of thinking even if it was wrong. Hoyle (who has pursued some strange topics such as Stonehenge and abiogenic petroleum) claimed he studied things "because they interest me" and didn't worry so much about being proven wrong.
It was also interesting that Feynman at one point answered the interviewer that he would have more in common with and find it easier to talk with another scientist of a different discipline than with an artist. Then as he was explaining his position he actually talked himself out of it. After a couple of minutes he realized (by thinking out loud) that he had several times been able to have really productive conversations with artists (and a historian). He continued to think out loud about it and finally concluded that the key to success in those conversations was that the people with whom he was talking were "not dilettantes", but had taken their pursuit of whatever they were pursuing "all the way" to a place where all that was left on all sides was mystery. Feynman suggested that the exciting thing to talk with these people about was the mystery at the edge. I imagine it was also fun to share the excitement of pushing that far.
Feynman set such a great example for me in terms of this: he never, ever accepted anything as reality without a preponderance of evidence, and he was always willing to reconsider his point of view if any new evidence or ideas were presented. In a nutshell, this is exactly how I try to live my life.
You can really see this in the video (it had the same title you mentioned when I first saw it too), where he talks himself into a different conclusion. You have to be pretty self-confident (and open!) to do that, I think.