Bravo. This 48 second video is more motivational than all those generic 10min videos, who show people exercising while a voice narrates some nonsense , combined.
Every time I hear Feynman talk, I just cannot resist smiling. He’s the most enthusiastic person when it comes to talking about curiosity, science, questions, etc. His smile just says it all, all the wonder and curiosity provoked by our existence, you can’t help but smile and laugh, perhaps even cry at the wonder and aw of the beauty of the complexity of our reality.
I found no matter how hard I study, sometimes I just can't be bothered to solve that extra proof or problem. And some other guy who *happens* to be more interested comes along, and he can solve it. At first it feels like he's lucky and has this inherent interest which is unobtainable and he almost was born with it. I personally believe the "interest" token is actually a single event in your life, and it's like a spark. To me, it only happened when I was 17, a bit too late, went to do my A-Levels, and eventually got into a university and studied theoretical physics. But someone who had that 'spark' at age 10, well they would have 7 years head start on me. It's only now in my post graduate years that I'm really starting to get addicted and interested and thinking of maths/physics almost every hour, while that 10 year old probably was doing this 7 years ago. :'(
You can't waste time thinking about these things, you have the rest of your life to think about math and physics so use it! I'm 19 and I've practically almost just started. No time for thinking about all this 'meta' stuff, cheers :)
This not strictly true. Feynmann is a very modest person. His interest grew directly as a result of his deep understanding of physics. This came not just from study and hard work but from his superior intellect.
I love watching this whenever I feel overwhelmed and stuck on a concept. It helps me breath and gives me courage to go look at the problem again. Thanks for this!
My uncle was Abe Bader, Feynman's high school physics teacher. I remember him telling my father, when I was probably about 11, that he once had a student who could learn more physics in a weekend than he could learn if he studied all summer. He also said he had given this student some very advanced books to study I was amazed by the idea that someone could be that smart, that's probably why I have remembered that conversation all these years. I didn't know that my uncle meant Feynman until decades later, after Feynman, and my uncle, had died. I think to reach the level of accomplish Feynman reached, it takes talent plus work. I have seen this in the arts as well.
I think it still comes down to hard work and dedication. You'd be shocked at how much you could learn in a day, in any given field if you faced the material with no distractions and intense focus.
nidurnevets What you say disproves exactly what Feynman said ... There ARE people born with extraordinarily high and special and gifted faculties which the "average person" just doesn't have. Miracle is a stupid term invoking some mystical element. But Feynman seems to be denying his own genetic/neurological differentness (ie specialness) from birth which he then used through study to get ahead. He probably also had upbringing and educational opportunities which so many people with great potentialities cannot access.
This "study hard" thing is a little misleading. It sounds like you have to force yourself. But actually it means that you give yourself a lot of time and dedication for your interests such that you "study joyfully" all the time.
@@omniyambot9876 that's his point, ideally you should be enjoying it and you definitely need interest so as to have steady perseverance or you won't go far, once a few obstacles come your way that's why if it sounds hard, you might not have too much interest right now or maybe there's an underlying cause that's blocking you
@@acidset honestly when you take it as a challenge, when you're really a curious person, you'll just have an exponential amount of questions that would make you imagine, think, observe and absorb every infos you could have.
If you have the passion studying hard can actually be quite joyful. I remember when I had the passion for programming and could spend days and nights doing it. That's not possible anymore.
@S B yea even feynman had periods of burnouts and periods of time where he had the flow and could hack it till late. "Surely you're joking mr.feynman" is a great book that reveals many humbling insights of a dedicated worker and his process
It’s so motivating to hear Feynman of all people say this. I guess we’re so conditioned to idealize these people who’ve revolutionized our understanding, to think they were just born special. These were actually just everyday people with a great deal of passion and curiosity about these things.
That is what my mom said and I never listened to her. Though there is another thing that people have their own limits they may reach a point but every one takes their own time to reach there. So don't panic if you are slow or dull but you must have the interest , the hunger for your goal.
Aaaaaaand this is why I love Feynman's teaching. He treats everyone like a scientist in his lectures. When presented with an expectation from him that you will do well, you can't but help and go all in
A physics teacher once told me: "There are two kinds of physicists. The ones who, it might be said, have certain 'innate' abilities, and the ones who work hard. Of course, the ones who are both kinds, are the ones with their names inscribed in thousands of textbooks."
“Surely, you’re joking Mr Feynman” is by far my favourite book to read and a number one recommendation to all of my friends. I stress, it’s not a book about physics as many people think when they think of autobiographies about physicists. It’s a book about having fun and being curious. It’s the only book to this day that’s made me shed a tear at the thought someone like this existed while simultaneously making me cry with laughter for the antics he used to get up to, just for the hell of it. For the sake of curiosity.
It's interesting the way he puts it. I went to art school (it's certainly not anything like physics), but for illustration, we studied an amazing artist: Andrew Loomis. He had this to say about being good at art (and I'm paraphrasing): Maybe once every hundred years there might be some type of prodigy, but the reality is that real talent comes from practice and knowledge.
The reason why some people may appear smarter than others is because they have been pre-exposed to the material such as physics or chemistry before. The reason why some people can learn faster is because at a young age they developed skills that allows them to recognize patterns. They also devote countless time towards studying the subject and work hard at it everyday. It took Einstein decades to come up with the theory of special relativity, it didn't come to him in one night.
Decades ?Special relativity was published in 1905 and Einstein was 26 back then ,so since the minimum number of decades is two ,are you suggesting that he was working on it since he was six... :P Actually it was general relativity that took einstein one decade to develop and complete.
Actually, Feynman already was against political correctness. I refer to the incident where he was called a bigot and a feminist protest group stormed into one of his presentations.
Also, voting for Trump is a smart move. You wanna know something about Hitler? Everyone loved Hitler! It's the one's that everybody loves that you have to look out for. Everyone hates Trump, so statistically, he is more likely to be your true ally. I learned through running groups of over 40people that the people you initially think are your enemy turn out to be your greatest ally when you need to change something for the benefit of the group.
Xforeverlove21 I have tutored.College level Physics, Chemistry and Genetics for over 30 years and I can assure you that the reason some people appear smarter (at certain things) is because they are smarter, some profoundly so! Interest and hard work help to develop innate ability, but in most human populations there is great genotypic variability, and so one should not be shocked to find large phenotypic variability. Given what is known about evolutionary theory it's extremely hard to imagine otherwise.
I always say that talent is just a word invented by people without passion. if they truly had a passion, they'd know that all the people they find so talented are just people who love what they do, and work very hard to improve.
That's the flip side of the dunning kruger effect. The most competent people have a hard time really comprehending how dumb other people really are, and they're like "oh I'm not anything special, anyone could do that, it's really simple when you see it the right way". But getting those others to understand it is like teaching a cat to talk.
Reading a book won't help. " It is safe to say that nobody understands quantum mechanics." - Richard Feynman You can learn to do the calculations that allow predictions based on the principles of quantum mechanics, but understanding how and why it works that way is beyond anyone's knowledge so far.
Yeah really. It's like bart simpson said when he tried to play the guitar without practicing, who wants to put effort into something that's hard, I want it to be easy without any effort at all!
It is in part about understanding relationships, seeing the big picture, and motivation or interst.. I failed Algebra in high school, and avoided math at all cost through college. As a teenager working as a carpenter, I was cutting rafters on a hip roof for a journeyman carpenter and throwing them up to him as he would nail one and call down the next size. these were a compound angle cut with 16" spacing, it wasn't long out of boredom a light went off in my head as I realized I could calculate the next size in my head. I "saw" the pattern. I started throwing up the pcs before he yelled down the size. To my surprise he shouted down to me: " I wondered how long it would take you to figure that out' That is education.
It reminds me of back when I was a "mature" student back in school after a decade of work, working with current college students who'd only had summer jobs and the like. I was getting As, and they were getting by. And I'd try to explain the difference in our grades in terms of the hours of studying I did, and they'd just say, oh, you're just smarter than we are. That was their excuse for being happy with Cs and the occasional B.
The question is, how much is on each side of the coin. Thomas Edison said genius was 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration, but he was just a lifelong asshole trying to sound humble when he said that. What is the real percentage. It ain't 99-1, I know that much.
This is exactly why I get actually mad when people call me smart. Calling someone smart is a very easy way of discrediting all the hard work they’ve done. There is a very small line between stupid and smart. I don’t believe there is a spectrum, you’re either one or the other. The person with the better grade just so happened to try harder than you and dedicated himself more to the concept. I feel offended when people call me “smart.” And I view the person who did as “lazy” or “not as interested in it as I am.”
It’s a interesting that someone like him got hooked for whatever reason and pursued day and night for years and I bet in even his dreams QED and other physical phenomena, it’s a miracle some would say. He’s over looking that miracle that he’s part of .
One of the reasons one of his wifes divorced him was due to Feynman solving calculus problems in his head and "daydreaming". He would do it all day and all night and would keep ignoring/not listen to what the wife was saying.
As much as I respect Feynman, he's not right about this. It's hard for someone like Feynman to imagine not being someone like Feynman. I teach maths, and I know from personal experience that there are people who can't ever get above an elementary level no matter how hard they try. I've had kids burst into tears, because they worked their fingers to the bone, and still couldn't pass a test. There is such a thing as natural ability, which is probably the way the brain developed at a very young age; certain connections and processes have to be in place. I don't think you have to be a Feynman to be a successful physicist, but you have to have a certain minimum level of basic ability. After that, it's all hard work, and also a capacity to keep thinking about something with a steely determination. You have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable, so that you can keep thinking about something until you understand it. Most people don't like being outside their comfort zone for too long, so they give up or settle for an inferior solution. You have to become mayor of the discomfort zone, if you want to be a Feynman. It reminds me of something Einstein said, "It's not that I'm smarter than other people, I just stay with the problems longer". It's true, to an extent.
They can become scientists, of course. But it is simply not possible for an ordinary person to apply themselves to math and be as good at is as Feynman, he was genuinely beyond almost everyone else in the world in his time.
and how do you know its because of his talent and not his work ethic and interest? also math isnt necessarily that hard. the first attempt of university math is a bit frightening cause of the abstract approach but afterwards its mostly interest and hard work
how do you think he did it? it magically appeared? no he put a lot of effort in it and most importantly had joy doing it. you also need to add luck to that equation because of 1. education by parents etc and 2. simply have luck to find something. there are people finding something which is already discovered etc. im not denying feynman was extraordinary. he clearly was. math isnt really that hard when you get behind the basic ideas. by that i mean harder than other stuff. everything can get difficult ofc. inventing stuff, like mathematical tools, its always about trial and error, lot of experience and training. it also helps a lot to think different.
That's the half full way of thinking about it. Where are all the 123 IQ (2 in every standard classroom) Noble winners in the world? It's not just about learning, but also 'developing'. True, there are countless people who struggle learning basic math, but consider how many people actually develop to their full potential. Their was a case in the 80's of a Los Angeles teacher, Jaime Escalante, who taught a bunch of typical children from the Mexican ghetto AP Calculus (the basis for the movie Stand and Deliver). Now how many other teens from the ghetto will ever be able to learn and fluently process information at that level, especially at that age? - probably not many at all (for that matter, not all too many adolescents from affluent schools will be doing that). So Escalante was producing, for all practical purposes (and pro-IQ, tautological grounded resistance) 'gifted children'. I personally recall having trouble learning in high school, but was able to manage a 4.0 as a STEM major, well into college. My professor told me that I achieved the highest score ever recorded in Calculus class, 105% (a course where 30% of the University students have to take, and had numerous repeat), I also was one of 2 people (of 150) who passed Dr. Gilbert's infamous Chemistry II course - who's grading was so hard, it resulted in formal protests, and even graduate students complaining about it years later (see RateMyProfessor). All of this type of empirical footwork (blended with the limited faculty of my reasoning) is occurring at some significant, adult theoretical level, which should draw high brows to the validity of IQ, since I was assessed at the 44th percentile/15SD (98 IQ). Of course, I ended up developing and selling 3 computer programs as an adult in my 20's and early 30 - that type of stuff is only associated with 'high' 120ish IQs. This is what leaves me to believer, there is a finer line between education/empirical thought and intelligence proper ('intelligence proper' being true intelligence, not just IQ level), similar to the line between empiricism/rationality. So by all means, I am an empiricist, and I would hope that any teacher in modern Academia is an empiricist, as well - as those who uphold reason don't believe in change of the individual.
Engineering student here, third year, a couple of weeks from finals. I have come across many people in my years as a student so far, I've seen the bad and the good of students and I have, and possibly still am, trying to figure out how to be good and effective at learning. I can tell you within this context that from what I understand, hard-work really is the backbone of it all. Some people might argue "mark zuckerberg was a prodigy, so was bill gates, einstein, feynman..." and I'll answer you. In fact, if you consider the upbringing of these bright successful individuals you will notice that they all have one thing in common: they were subjected to the domains they excelled in at a young age. That gave them what some consider to be prodigy-exclusive abilities. I like to look at it as if we are building momentum, the sooner you start running the more punch you pack along the way and it so happens these guys got the amazing luck of having the proper environment to build it up very early on. For the record, I really appreciate Mr.Feynman's way of thinking.
XenoContact im also in engineering and i agree I inundated myself with scientific thinking with documentaries and reading from like 10 and now i would say that as long as you keep exercising your brain constantly somehow, you will become more intelligent and better at learning
@Sudan Nutella well, I would worry more about your programming skills of youre looking at IT but no one is ever good at anything "now" read some books practice maths or whatever it is, youll do alright it will take a lot of time to really be good. Have patience and self discipline.
Perfect answer. You are 100% right. Feynman actually had a great father who helped him with his curiosity. His father would explain things in extremely detailed logical manner as well as made sure young Richard would repeatedly question reality. All this was done at a young age. Now imagine someone not blocking a childs curiosity and helping them figure out things. The child will of course become more and more curious. This is what helped Feynman, his early environment. A place where he was able to get the answer and question the answers themselves. His father was also quite knowledgable to a certain point until he couldnt help Feynman anymore. By then the father had laid the foundation for Feynmans curiosity.
I think you might be on to something there I think you would agree it should not be a discouragement Rather the opposite; take up interest and enthusiasm and you may be surprised how far you can get
I do not have so much interest in physics and most probably cannot understand simple concepts but I do not know why I love this man so much . I truly want this man to stay alive 😥
Though I love Richard Feynman, I have to disagree with him on this. I have a fountain of curiosity and could work very hard at physics. Though I have a PhD in it, I don't regard myself as having much understanding of anything I absorbed myself in, not even my particular field of study. At the end of 5 years I realised I was perhaps closer to being able to ask the right questions, but remained light years behind any true understanding. I suspect if I had had Feynman's mind, it would have seemed a lot more obvious.
Exactly there is no magical innate ability out there in the ether anyone is born with to just “get” maths or science, those like feynman just worked harder than everyone else and made themselves into that. Just like how bruce lee was never perfect at martial arts, why did he become a legend?, he worked harder than litteraly anyone else at his craft and he learned 23 different styles but the point is he, like feynman, never stopped challenging himself to do harder things and be better constantly.
Some People are born Geniuses, ordinary people have to work much harder, and still will probably never achieve the proficiency of a Genius. That is a Fact.
I'm currently working on a degree in math, I'm not a genius and some of the people around me are, i work harder to understand a lot of it compared to some of the natural high iq people around me, that's all I'm suggesting. If you don't believe in IQ then i can't really have a discussion with you.
Was it Einstein who was first spellbound by his father pushing a needle through a cork then floating it in water? He witnessed the creation of a simple compass, and was fascinated in the unseen forces acting upon it. His intense curiosity was sparked.
It's a beautiful video, BUT ... ... Feynman was many things, and one of those things was: he was a consummate boull-shoot artist. No, you, and your kids, cannot become world-changing physicists just by putting in a lot of time and grit. Lots of people put a lot of time and grit into what they do, and most of them don't get very far even so.
I think greatest of people in any field have above average IQ coupled with intense interest and love for the subject. But I find even if you have average IQ but intense interest you can still make it quite far and enjoy a successful career. Interest( Concsiously., Subconcsiously and passionately) thinking about one thing helps grasp even toughest concepts. Time to understand might vary.. But you will get it..
IQ is an illusion and it's bad for society to use IQ as a means of measuring someones intelligence. It basically tells the vast majority that they can't do certain things. Even if it was true, there is no meaning to justify why.
@Vsauce Micheal It depends. If you want to do research in the science field and breakthrough discoveries then yes but if you just want good grades, want to do web programming or a job, etc then no.
@@kattenelvis1778 I am not sure about IQ but I think some people are more gifted than other. Some can paint very well. Some sing like out of the world and some can understand complex things easily. I am not saying people who can solve math or physics questions are intelligent. It's just some people are good in certain skills :) P.S. and I am in none 😢
Geniuses do exist. They inhabit all areas of life from the arts to sport to science. Child prodigies without virtually any input from others have proclivities at certain tasks or have certain curiosities that other kids don't get near. Only hard work and plenty of practice are skills honed and progressed but we do have genetic as well as nurturing differences that make all the difference.
This holds true, except for poverty and lower-class people that can't afford to do all that; they got bills to pay and they don't come from a financially-strong family. Sad reality
@Adam Fraser judging by the last part of your paragraph, if anyone provides you with a merit worthy study you're going to deny it; so I'll rather show you how logically incoherent your assertion is. If you honestly think that high intelligence is purely caused by good environmental factors ( purely being the key word) then why aren't Celebrities and The Royals the most intelligent people, and why do some geniuses come from poor families?
@Adam Fraser I'm fresh out of high school. We both know you wouldn't approve of anything I give you. as a fellow crusader of knowledge and a believer of the scientific method surely you can understand that facts exist independent of our opinions. Ask yourself whether you want to know the truth or want a world where intelligence doesn't exist.
@Adam Fraser from the whole comment that's what stood out for you🤦 😂😂😂 cringe all you want, but one day you'll look back and say I got schooled by a kid. Let's hope you learn how to use logic soon.🤦
Hindsight is twenty twenty , notice again Feynman says people can ‘understand’ , not invent or discover QD . Sure perhaps most people can understand QD If you provide them with way they understand but even the ability to teach is a gift . This guy ‘invented’ QED. He had a gift and people can’t handle it . Some people think they can do anything.
"It just happens that they got interested in this thing and they learned all of this stuff." ... ;D ... So incredibly matter of fact and to the point. This is obvious stuff but somehow it's often forgotten in the public discourse.
There is: the drive.the insatiable curiosity. The will to say, that does not satisfy me. Deeper we go. Until it becomes their way. Sadly the opposite is most prevalent in this reality. All want me, everything, now. Those three things drive us. Not the desire for deeper knowledge, or the quiet voice. Just the unquenchable thirst for more. It is like Fibonacci in that respect; maybe it can save us, the rabbit hole goes down, but it also goes up. The balance is where? The balance remains as it always has. In the question. How long will it take for us to assimilate that.
That's fully true. My calculus math prof said he is not genius. He solved 4-5 million problems in 30 years. People often think about professors to be geniuses. Because they can't imagine the hard work behind. Easier to think to ordinary people that fact professors are born to be smart, because they don't want to learn, study and exercise.
A guy in the comments says "studying hard" means studying joyfully but it's not always true. In the beginning it's all training (maybe enjoyable) but the fun comes much later. To achieve that state of flow you must work hard
Mihai Chicksent said that you automatically become interested in whatever you put in the time. So don't think you are not made for science if you aren't very curious already...
This sounds like the idea that 10,000 hours will be enough for anyone to master chess, golf, Japanese, whatever. You have to wonder how much experience Feynman had with students who could not have gotten into CalTech or MIT.
I both agree with this and I don't at the same time. The fact is that, in theory at least, he's correct that any person, given enough time and dedication, can learn quantum mechanics, electrodynamics, etc. In practice, however, different people require different amounts of time and dedication to learn that information and that's the major difference. Both the genius and the average person require work to become a master, but the difference between the average person and the genius is how much and how quickly they gain from their practice. The genius can pick up things much more quickly than the average person can. So, yes, in theory, any person given enough time and dedication and practice can learn those things, but some people will pick them up very quickly while others it could take them their entire lives just to get started. A person that is musically gifted will pick up much more quickly from their practice than a person that is tone deaf will pick up from their practice. That ability to pick things up quickly is what we call being "talented/gifted" and to be able to pick it up extremely quickly we call "genius."
True. You can work hard and gobble as much as you can but unless there is an interest that doesn't let you sleep, you will only scratch the surface about the subject. If you get the interest sparked inside, you will dig deeper about the subject. You will keep on digging until you understand that at the miniscule level and in that process you will learn so much new things that it will make you obsessed with the subject. That interest and obsession is what most of us lack where the education system just want us to gobble up and puke it in the exam.
![Tee Grizzley - Robbery 8 [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/34_vkNV6wrU/mqdefault.jpg)
Bravo. This 48 second video is more motivational than all those generic 10min videos, who show people exercising while a voice narrates some nonsense , combined.
So true
@@AlloAnder It really is.
@Lord Shrenny and what point do you intend to make?
I'm 17 and he is one of the many that inspire me to major in Physics
Every time I hear Feynman talk, I just cannot resist smiling. He’s the most enthusiastic person when it comes to talking about curiosity, science, questions, etc. His smile just says it all, all the wonder and curiosity provoked by our existence, you can’t help but smile and laugh, perhaps even cry at the wonder and aw of the beauty of the complexity of our reality.
Reminds me of every great teacher I ever had.
YESSSSS
@@c.a.g.3130 Reminds me your mom.
@@urielalbertodiazreynoso6309 seriously man? don't
Actually im reading his book and i understand nothing from the first chapter .
There is a secret ingredient. Only one, and it is VERY important.
The recipe:
Interest.
I found no matter how hard I study, sometimes I just can't be bothered to solve that extra proof or problem. And some other guy who *happens* to be more interested comes along, and he can solve it. At first it feels like he's lucky and has this inherent interest which is unobtainable and he almost was born with it. I personally believe the "interest" token is actually a single event in your life, and it's like a spark. To me, it only happened when I was 17, a bit too late, went to do my A-Levels, and eventually got into a university and studied theoretical physics. But someone who had that 'spark' at age 10, well they would have 7 years head start on me. It's only now in my post graduate years that I'm really starting to get addicted and interested and thinking of maths/physics almost every hour, while that 10 year old probably was doing this 7 years ago. :'(
You can't waste time thinking about these things, you have the rest of your life to think about math and physics so use it! I'm 19 and I've practically almost just started. No time for thinking about all this 'meta' stuff, cheers :)
This not strictly true. Feynmann is a very modest person. His interest grew directly as a result of his deep understanding of physics. This came not just from study and hard work but from his superior intellect.
einstein also says that it amazed him that curiosity could survive academia.
So don't go talkin "extra assignment problems"
Christian Larsen That's what I think man. I too just turned 19 this march.
PS. Though your comment is 11 months old but I found it to be relatable.
Gifted people are gifted with PASSION and those who use this passion to study, becomes geniuses/gifted/miraculous.
You also need that passion to overcome any anxieties, which sadly means a lot of people don't manage to reach their potential.
THIS. EXACTLY
Wth there is no such thing as gifted people..
@@swapnil8773 nah there are totally people who are just born amazing at stuff, but i consider that different, and way less common than people think
You're so right!!! It depends on the mindset of a person wether he/she will succed or not!
Every time I read something of Feynman or just look at his pic, it makes me so happy. I don't know why.
ayonbd2000 same here 😀
same here man ..i love this guy whenever in my life i feel down, i listen to his videos and read his letters
He was a completely rounded guy-he even had theories of how to pick up girls
Must be that pure greatness
Because he's overtly happy to talk about these subjects and happiness is contagious.
I love watching this whenever I feel overwhelmed and stuck on a concept. It helps me breath and gives me courage to go look at the problem again. Thanks for this!
My uncle was Abe Bader, Feynman's high school physics teacher. I remember him telling my father, when I was probably about 11, that he once had a student who could learn more physics in a weekend than he could learn if he studied all summer. He also said he had given this student some very advanced books to study I was amazed by the idea that someone could be that smart, that's probably why I have remembered that conversation all these years. I didn't know that my uncle meant Feynman until decades later, after Feynman, and my uncle, had died. I think to reach the level of accomplish Feynman reached, it takes talent plus work. I have seen this in the arts as well.
wow, that's pretty awesome
Wow, thanks for sharing the interesting anecdote. That gives a precious glimpse into Feynman's young years.
I think it still comes down to hard work and dedication. You'd be shocked at how much you could learn in a day, in any given field if you faced the material with no distractions and intense focus.
nidurnevets
What you say disproves exactly what Feynman said ...
There ARE people born with extraordinarily high and special and gifted faculties which the "average person" just doesn't have. Miracle is a stupid term invoking some mystical element. But Feynman seems to be denying his own genetic/neurological differentness (ie specialness) from birth which he then used through study to get ahead. He probably also had upbringing and educational opportunities which so many people with great potentialities cannot access.
S. Saraswati everyone has them
Just need to want to access them
This "study hard" thing is a little misleading. It sounds like you have to force yourself. But actually it means that you give yourself a lot of time and dedication for your interests such that you "study joyfully" all the time.
Really? It doesn't seem hard. It's my entertainment.
@@omniyambot9876 that's his point, ideally you should be enjoying it and you definitely need interest so as to have steady perseverance or you won't go far, once a few obstacles come your way
that's why if it sounds hard, you might not have too much interest right now or maybe there's an underlying cause that's blocking you
@@acidset honestly when you take it as a challenge, when you're really a curious person, you'll just have an exponential amount of questions that would make you imagine, think, observe and absorb every infos you could have.
If you have the passion studying hard can actually be quite joyful. I remember when I had the passion for programming and could spend days and nights doing it. That's not possible anymore.
@S B yea even feynman had periods of burnouts and periods of time where he had the flow and could hack it till late. "Surely you're joking mr.feynman" is a great book that reveals many humbling insights of a dedicated worker and his process
It’s so motivating to hear Feynman of all people say this. I guess we’re so conditioned to idealize these people who’ve revolutionized our understanding, to think they were just born special. These were actually just everyday people with a great deal of passion and curiosity about these things.
That is what my mom said and I never listened to her. Though there is another thing that people have their own limits they may reach a point but every one takes their own time to reach there. So don't panic if you are slow or dull but you must have the interest , the hunger for your goal.
His smile at the beginning is so infectious! Richard Feynman is my all time favorite
Aaaaaaand this is why I love Feynman's teaching. He treats everyone like a scientist in his lectures. When presented with an expectation from him that you will do well, you can't but help and go all in
A physics teacher once told me: "There are two kinds of physicists. The ones who, it might be said, have certain 'innate' abilities, and the ones who work hard. Of course, the ones who are both kinds, are the ones with their names inscribed in thousands of textbooks."
I'm a simple man......
I see Feynman,I click.
Listening these words from a genius like Feynman is very comforting it gives a sense of hope to me.
“Surely, you’re joking Mr Feynman” is by far my favourite book to read and a number one recommendation to all of my friends. I stress, it’s not a book about physics as many people think when they think of autobiographies about physicists. It’s a book about having fun and being curious. It’s the only book to this day that’s made me shed a tear at the thought someone like this existed while simultaneously making me cry with laughter for the antics he used to get up to, just for the hell of it. For the sake of curiosity.
It's interesting the way he puts it. I went to art school (it's certainly not anything like physics), but for illustration, we studied an amazing artist: Andrew Loomis.
He had this to say about being good at art (and I'm paraphrasing):
Maybe once every hundred years there might be some type of prodigy, but the reality is that real talent comes from practice and knowledge.
passion = interest + motivation + willingness to put in the hard work
The reason why some people may appear smarter than others is because they have been pre-exposed to the material such as physics or chemistry before. The reason why some people can learn faster is because at a young age they developed skills that allows them to recognize patterns. They also devote countless time towards studying the subject and work hard at it everyday. It took Einstein decades to come up with the theory of special relativity, it didn't come to him in one night.
Decades ?Special relativity was published in 1905 and Einstein was 26 back then ,so since the minimum number of decades is two ,are you suggesting that he was working on it since he was six... :P Actually it was general relativity that took einstein one decade to develop and complete.
He read Euclid's Elements when he was a teen.So in a way it took him time.
Actually, Feynman already was against political correctness. I refer to the incident where he was called a bigot and a feminist protest group stormed into one of his presentations.
Also, voting for Trump is a smart move.
You wanna know something about Hitler?
Everyone loved Hitler!
It's the one's that everybody loves that you have to look out for. Everyone hates Trump, so statistically, he is more likely to be your true ally. I learned through running groups of over 40people that the people you initially think are your enemy turn out to be your greatest ally when you need to change something for the benefit of the group.
Xforeverlove21 I have tutored.College level Physics, Chemistry and Genetics for over 30 years and I can assure you that the reason some people appear smarter (at certain things) is because they are smarter, some profoundly so! Interest and hard work help to develop innate ability, but in most human populations there is great genotypic variability, and so one should not be shocked to find large phenotypic variability. Given what is known about evolutionary theory it's extremely hard to imagine otherwise.
I always say that talent is just a word invented by people without passion. if they truly had a passion, they'd know that all the people they find so talented are just people who love what they do, and work very hard to improve.
I agree.I wish you all the best.Thats the truth,hard work is the key
That's the flip side of the dunning kruger effect. The most competent people have a hard time really comprehending how dumb other people really are, and they're like "oh I'm not anything special, anyone could do that, it's really simple when you see it the right way". But getting those others to understand it is like teaching a cat to talk.
Exactly
As Richard says here, make the effort! Effort is the daily blessing on a road to who know where. Happy trails, friends!
Honestly this is so encouraging, and relieving.
Dammit! I want to understand quantum mechanics watching a 3 minute video, not reading books.
good news, Feynman also says you can't learn quantum by reading books. You have to do the math.
Reading a book won't help.
" It is safe to say that nobody understands quantum mechanics." - Richard Feynman
You can learn to do the calculations that allow predictions based on the principles of quantum mechanics, but understanding how and why it works that way is beyond anyone's knowledge so far.
@@coachafella maybe you can help discover it someday, ain't that amazing,
@@HaydenHatTrick that sounds like bad news
Yeah really. It's like bart simpson said when he tried to play the guitar without practicing, who wants to put effort into something that's hard, I want it to be easy without any effort at all!
It is in part about understanding relationships, seeing the big picture, and motivation or interst.. I failed Algebra in high school, and avoided math at all cost through college. As a teenager working as a carpenter, I was cutting rafters on a hip roof for a journeyman carpenter and throwing them up to him as he would nail one and call down the next size. these were a compound angle cut with 16" spacing, it wasn't long out of boredom a light went off in my head as I realized I could calculate the next size in my head. I "saw" the pattern. I started throwing up the pcs before he yelled down the size. To my surprise he shouted down to me: " I wondered how long it would take you to figure that out' That is education.
To me every child is a magical child, and every human being a living, breathing, walking miracle. Thanks for this!
Interested in research startup 917259293140
Excellent video, thanks for posting, much appreciated : )
The blank slate just won't die.
A true giant. Brilliance in simplicity. Thanks for posting :)
It reminds me of back when I was a "mature" student back in school after a decade of work, working with current college students who'd only had summer jobs and the like. I was getting As, and they were getting by. And I'd try to explain the difference in our grades in terms of the hours of studying I did, and they'd just say, oh, you're just smarter than we are.
That was their excuse for being happy with Cs and the occasional B.
though i have also experienced the inverse, “you can make no mistakes and still lose thats life” happened to me once
Thank you so much
I am happy now
I was hoping that someone would post this video someday.
I use a chrome extension call "Site Blocker". I adjust it so that every time I try to enter to Facebook or Instagram it send me here.
While IQ and potential are inherently gifts. This guys statement hold the other half of the coin that leads to success.
The question is, how much is on each side of the coin. Thomas Edison said genius was 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration, but he was just a lifelong asshole trying to sound humble when he said that. What is the real percentage. It ain't 99-1, I know that much.
I had a teacher a long time ago who reminded me a good deal of Feynman. I wonder how he's doing today
Why not try to find it out? :)
A Genius is a person who never lost interest.
Only video I have ever had on loop here
This is exactly why I get actually mad when people call me smart. Calling someone smart is a very easy way of discrediting all the hard work they’ve done. There is a very small line between stupid and smart. I don’t believe there is a spectrum, you’re either one or the other. The person with the better grade just so happened to try harder than you and dedicated himself more to the concept. I feel offended when people call me “smart.” And I view the person who did as “lazy” or “not as interested in it as I am.”
It’s a interesting that someone like him got hooked for whatever reason and pursued day and night for years and I bet in even his dreams QED and other physical phenomena, it’s a miracle some would say. He’s over looking that miracle that he’s part of .
One of the reasons one of his wifes divorced him was due to Feynman solving calculus problems in his head and "daydreaming". He would do it all day and all night and would keep ignoring/not listen to what the wife was saying.
As much as I respect Feynman, he's not right about this. It's hard for someone like Feynman to imagine not being someone like Feynman. I teach maths, and I know from personal experience that there are people who can't ever get above an elementary level no matter how hard they try. I've had kids burst into tears, because they worked their fingers to the bone, and still couldn't pass a test. There is such a thing as natural ability, which is probably the way the brain developed at a very young age; certain connections and processes have to be in place. I don't think you have to be a Feynman to be a successful physicist, but you have to have a certain minimum level of basic ability. After that, it's all hard work, and also a capacity to keep thinking about something with a steely determination. You have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable, so that you can keep thinking about something until you understand it. Most people don't like being outside their comfort zone for too long, so they give up or settle for an inferior solution. You have to become mayor of the discomfort zone, if you want to be a Feynman. It reminds me of something Einstein said, "It's not that I'm smarter than other people, I just stay with the problems longer". It's true, to an extent.
They can become scientists, of course. But it is simply not possible for an ordinary person to apply themselves to math and be as good at is as Feynman, he was genuinely beyond almost everyone else in the world in his time.
and how do you know its because of his talent and not his work ethic and interest?
also math isnt necessarily that hard. the first attempt of university math is a bit frightening cause of the abstract approach but afterwards its mostly interest and hard work
Most people can learn math, Feynman invented mathematical tools. You can't learn how to do that.
how do you think he did it? it magically appeared? no he put a lot of effort in it and most importantly had joy doing it.
you also need to add luck to that equation because of 1. education by parents etc and 2. simply have luck to find something. there are people finding something which is already discovered etc.
im not denying feynman was extraordinary. he clearly was. math isnt really that hard when you get behind the basic ideas. by that i mean harder than other stuff. everything can get difficult ofc.
inventing stuff, like mathematical tools, its always about trial and error, lot of experience and training. it also helps a lot to think different.
That's the half full way of thinking about it. Where are all the 123 IQ (2 in every standard classroom) Noble winners in the world? It's not just about learning, but also 'developing'. True, there are countless people who struggle learning basic math, but consider how many people actually develop to their full potential. Their was a case in the 80's of a Los Angeles teacher, Jaime Escalante, who taught a bunch of typical children from the Mexican ghetto AP Calculus (the basis for the movie Stand and Deliver). Now how many other teens from the ghetto will ever be able to learn and fluently process information at that level, especially at that age? - probably not many at all (for that matter, not all too many adolescents from affluent schools will be doing that). So Escalante was producing, for all practical purposes (and pro-IQ, tautological grounded resistance) 'gifted children'. I personally recall having trouble learning in high school, but was able to manage a 4.0 as a STEM major, well into college. My professor told me that I achieved the highest score ever recorded in Calculus class, 105% (a course where 30% of the University students have to take, and had numerous repeat), I also was one of 2 people (of 150) who passed Dr. Gilbert's infamous Chemistry II course - who's grading was so hard, it resulted in formal protests, and even graduate students complaining about it years later (see RateMyProfessor). All of this type of empirical footwork (blended with the limited faculty of my reasoning) is occurring at some significant, adult theoretical level, which should draw high brows to the validity of IQ, since I was assessed at the 44th percentile/15SD (98 IQ). Of course, I ended up developing and selling 3 computer programs as an adult in my 20's and early 30 - that type of stuff is only associated with 'high' 120ish IQs. This is what leaves me to believer, there is a finer line between education/empirical thought and intelligence proper ('intelligence proper' being true intelligence, not just IQ level), similar to the line between empiricism/rationality. So by all means, I am an empiricist, and I would hope that any teacher in modern Academia is an empiricist, as well - as those who uphold reason don't believe in change of the individual.
Engineering student here, third year, a couple of weeks from finals. I have come across many people in my years as a student so far, I've seen the bad and the good of students and I have, and possibly still am, trying to figure out how to be good and effective at learning. I can tell you within this context that from what I understand, hard-work really is the backbone of it all. Some people might argue "mark zuckerberg was a prodigy, so was bill gates, einstein, feynman..." and I'll answer you. In fact, if you consider the upbringing of these bright successful individuals you will notice that they all have one thing in common: they were subjected to the domains they excelled in at a young age. That gave them what some consider to be prodigy-exclusive abilities. I like to look at it as if we are building momentum, the sooner you start running the more punch you pack along the way and it so happens these guys got the amazing luck of having the proper environment to build it up very early on.
For the record, I really appreciate Mr.Feynman's way of thinking.
XenoContact im also in engineering and i agree I inundated myself with scientific thinking with documentaries and reading from like 10 and now i would say that as long as you keep exercising your brain constantly somehow, you will become more intelligent and better at learning
@Sudan Nutella well, I would worry more about your programming skills of youre looking at IT but no one is ever good at anything "now" read some books practice maths or whatever it is, youll do alright it will take a lot of time to really be good. Have patience and self discipline.
@Sudan Nutella I mean even for me, it took a couple months to get all of calculus understood to the depth that I do now and I still practice.
Perfect answer. You are 100% right. Feynman actually had a great father who helped him with his curiosity. His father would explain things in extremely detailed logical manner as well as made sure young Richard would repeatedly question reality. All this was done at a young age. Now imagine someone not blocking a childs curiosity and helping them figure out things. The child will of course become more and more curious. This is what helped Feynman, his early environment. A place where he was able to get the answer and question the answers themselves. His father was also quite knowledgable to a certain point until he couldnt help Feynman anymore. By then the father had laid the foundation for Feynmans curiosity.
I think you might be on to something there
I think you would agree it should not be a discouragement
Rather the opposite; take up interest and enthusiasm and you may be surprised how far you can get
finally i have started gaining interest in learning nowadays.
Hats off to the great explainer of science Richard Phillip feynman on his birthday.
Beautiful person he was
I do not have so much interest in physics and most probably cannot understand simple concepts but I do not know why I love this man so much . I truly want this man to stay alive 😥
Dileep, Feynman passed away in 1988, he was born in 1918.
thank you so much
The secret ingredients are: 1. energy. 2. love of a subject 3. a strong mind that can process quickly 4. great memory. As rare as a four leaf clover.
So many gifted children likely labelled as dorks/nerds that go unnoticed.
Tears in my eyes
I love how the word Interested can capture so many things under its umbrella, like passion, intrigue, or devotion for a purpose. Thanks Mr. Feynman.
Amazing Feynman
Though I love Richard Feynman, I have to disagree with him on this. I have a fountain of curiosity and could work very hard at physics. Though I have a PhD in it, I don't regard myself as having much understanding of anything I absorbed myself in, not even my particular field of study. At the end of 5 years I realised I was perhaps closer to being able to ask the right questions, but remained light years behind any true understanding. I suspect if I had had Feynman's mind, it would have seemed a lot more obvious.
The parable of the talents
yes i do like him
we would definitely get along
some ppl just need to work harder/struggle more than others thats it
this man is a genius...
Exactly there is no magical innate ability out there in the ether anyone is born with to just “get” maths or science, those like feynman just worked harder than everyone else and made themselves into that. Just like how bruce lee was never perfect at martial arts, why did he become a legend?, he worked harder than litteraly anyone else at his craft and he learned 23 different styles but the point is he, like feynman, never stopped challenging himself to do harder things and be better constantly.
Jarid Williams all human behaviour is heritable.
Some People are born Geniuses, ordinary people have to work much harder, and still will probably never achieve the proficiency of a Genius. That is a Fact.
I'm currently working on a degree in math, I'm not a genius and some of the people around me are, i work harder to understand a lot of it compared to some of the natural high iq people around me, that's all I'm suggesting. If you don't believe in IQ then i can't really have a discussion with you.
@{Delete this} Difference in intelligence isn't a matter of belief, it's a fact that exists independent of anyone's opinion.
2 ingredients required IMHO: interest to subject and ability to focus/concentrate.
Feynman ❣️
Was it Einstein who was first spellbound by his father pushing a needle through a cork then floating it in water? He witnessed the creation of a simple compass, and was fascinated in the unseen forces acting upon it. His intense curiosity was sparked.
It's a beautiful video, BUT ...
... Feynman was many things, and one of those things was: he was a consummate boull-shoot artist.
No, you, and your kids, cannot become world-changing physicists just by putting in a lot of time and grit. Lots of people put a lot of time and grit into what they do, and most of them don't get very far even so.
살아계셨다면 꼭 한번 만나 뵙고 싶습니다
20세기 최고의 물리학자 리처드 파인만님
Psychology also has a lot to do with it. If you are encouraged it makes a big difference.
Love you, Sir feynman
Thank you
So refreshing.
I think greatest of people in any field have above average IQ coupled with intense interest and love for the subject. But I find even if you have average IQ but intense interest you can still make it quite far and enjoy a successful career. Interest( Concsiously., Subconcsiously and passionately) thinking about one thing helps grasp even toughest concepts. Time to understand might vary.. But you will get it..
IQ is an illusion and it's bad for society to use IQ as a means of measuring someones intelligence. It basically tells the vast majority that they can't do certain things. Even if it was true, there is no meaning to justify why.
Yes, Interest can make people above average if he is just average in certain skills.
@Vsauce Micheal It depends. If you want to do research in the science field and breakthrough discoveries then yes but if you just want good grades, want to do web programming or a job, etc then no.
IQ is bullshit, don't even mention it. In one study people were paid $10 if they reached a certain IQ score and the IQ average became 120.
@@kattenelvis1778 I am not sure about IQ but I think some people are more gifted than other.
Some can paint very well. Some sing like out of the world and some can understand complex things easily.
I am not saying people who can solve math or physics questions are intelligent.
It's just some people are good in certain skills :)
P.S. and I am in none 😢
Hard Work is directly proportional to success
Nope.
not only willing but able
Wow... This guy!
Also, it helps to have a large prefrontal cortex.
Like all humans then
@@kattenelvis1778 Yes, but it’s larger in some people than in others.
Geniuses do exist. They inhabit all areas of life from the arts to sport to science. Child prodigies without virtually any input from others have proclivities at certain tasks or have certain curiosities that other kids don't get near. Only hard work and plenty of practice are skills honed and progressed but we do have genetic as well as nurturing differences that make all the difference.
This holds true, except for poverty and lower-class people that can't afford to do all that; they got bills to pay and they don't come from a financially-strong family.
Sad reality
"and then *he* becomes a scientist"
I clicked this thinking it would be a meme. Not unhappy
Some people are more predisposed to intelligence than others though.
@Adam Fraser judging by the last part of your paragraph, if anyone provides you with a merit worthy study you're going to deny it; so I'll rather show you how logically incoherent your assertion is.
If you honestly think that high intelligence is purely caused by good environmental factors ( purely being the key word) then why aren't Celebrities and The Royals the most intelligent people, and why do some geniuses come from poor families?
@Adam Fraser I'm fresh out of high school.
We both know you wouldn't approve of anything I give you.
as a fellow crusader of knowledge and a believer of the scientific method surely you can understand that facts exist independent of our opinions.
Ask yourself whether you want to know the truth or want a world where intelligence doesn't exist.
@Adam Fraser from the whole comment that's what stood out for you🤦 😂😂😂
cringe all you want, but one day you'll look back and say I got schooled by a kid. Let's hope you learn how to use logic soon.🤦
seems like this dude is an honorable guy, props to him
Hindsight is twenty twenty , notice again Feynman says people can ‘understand’ , not invent or discover QD . Sure perhaps most people can understand QD If you provide them with way they understand but even the ability to teach is a gift . This guy ‘invented’ QED. He had a gift and people can’t handle it . Some people think they can do anything.
I love this video
"It just happens that they got interested in this thing and they learned all of this stuff." ... ;D ... So incredibly matter of fact and to the point. This is obvious stuff but somehow it's often forgotten in the public discourse.
There is: the drive.the insatiable curiosity. The will to say, that does not satisfy me. Deeper we go. Until it becomes their way. Sadly the opposite is most prevalent in this reality. All want me, everything, now. Those three things drive us. Not the desire for deeper knowledge, or the quiet voice. Just the unquenchable thirst for more. It is like Fibonacci in that respect; maybe it can save us, the rabbit hole goes down, but it also goes up. The balance is where? The balance remains as it always has. In the question. How long will it take for us to assimilate that.
most inspirational teacher in STEM ever, imho
That's fully true. My calculus math prof said he is not genius. He solved 4-5 million problems in 30 years. People often think about professors to be geniuses. Because they can't imagine the hard work behind. Easier to think to ordinary people that fact professors are born to be smart, because they don't want to learn, study and exercise.
A guy in the comments says "studying hard" means studying joyfully but it's not always true. In the beginning it's all training (maybe enjoyable) but the fun comes much later. To achieve that state of flow you must work hard
It’s astonishing how he could be so blind to the obvious fact that talent exists.
Mihai Chicksent said that you automatically become interested in whatever you put in the time. So don't think you are not made for science if you aren't very curious already...
Doesn't Feynman just make you smile. What a huge loss he was.
Good
True words
He is spitting straight up facts with are 100% valid
Everything he said is right. The difference is only the memory one can keep though. Then it can workout from there.
This sounds like the idea that 10,000 hours will be enough for anyone to master chess, golf, Japanese, whatever. You have to wonder how much experience Feynman had with students who could not have gotten into CalTech or MIT.
Legend.
I both agree with this and I don't at the same time. The fact is that, in theory at least, he's correct that any person, given enough time and dedication, can learn quantum mechanics, electrodynamics, etc. In practice, however, different people require different amounts of time and dedication to learn that information and that's the major difference. Both the genius and the average person require work to become a master, but the difference between the average person and the genius is how much and how quickly they gain from their practice. The genius can pick up things much more quickly than the average person can. So, yes, in theory, any person given enough time and dedication and practice can learn those things, but some people will pick them up very quickly while others it could take them their entire lives just to get started. A person that is musically gifted will pick up much more quickly from their practice than a person that is tone deaf will pick up from their practice. That ability to pick things up quickly is what we call being "talented/gifted" and to be able to pick it up extremely quickly we call "genius."
True. You can work hard and gobble as much as you can but unless there is an interest that doesn't let you sleep, you will only scratch the surface about the subject. If you get the interest sparked inside, you will dig deeper about the subject. You will keep on digging until you understand that at the miniscule level and in that process you will learn so much new things that it will make you obsessed with the subject. That interest and obsession is what most of us lack where the education system just want us to gobble up and puke it in the exam.
❤️❤️❤️
"There are no miracle people" ~Miracle Person
There are desire and luck
Dnt knw why this makes me cry sometimes. Love him, of course.
God I wish I was interested in and studied more useful things when I was younger...Oh well. I enjoy learning about it now.