Richard Phillips Feynman (May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988) was an American… Read Full Bio ↴Richard Phillips Feynman (May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988) was an American theoretical physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics (he proposed the parton model). For his contributions to the development of quantum electrodynamics, Feynman, jointly with Julian Schwinger and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965. He developed a widely used pictorial representation scheme for the mathematical expressions governing the behavior of subatomic particles, which later became known as Feynman diagrams. During his lifetime, Feynman became one of the best-known scientists in the world. In a 1999 poll of 130 leading physicists worldwide by the British journal Physics World he was ranked as one of the ten greatest physicists of all time.
He assisted in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II and became known to a wide public in the 1980s as a member of the Rogers Commission, the panel that investigated the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. In addition to his work in theoretical physics, Feynman has been credited with pioneering the field of quantum computing, and introducing the concept of nanotechnology. He held the Richard Chace Tolman professorship in theoretical physics at the California Institute of Technology.
Feynman was a keen popularizer of physics through both books and lectures, notably a 1959 talk on top-down nanotechnology called There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom, and the three-volume publication of his undergraduate lectures, The Feynman Lectures on Physics. Feynman also became known through his semi-autobiographical books Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! and What Do You Care What Other People Think? and books written about him, such as Tuva or Bust!.
He assisted in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II and became known to a wide public in the 1980s as a member of the Rogers Commission, the panel that investigated the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. In addition to his work in theoretical physics, Feynman has been credited with pioneering the field of quantum computing, and introducing the concept of nanotechnology. He held the Richard Chace Tolman professorship in theoretical physics at the California Institute of Technology.
Feynman was a keen popularizer of physics through both books and lectures, notably a 1959 talk on top-down nanotechnology called There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom, and the three-volume publication of his undergraduate lectures, The Feynman Lectures on Physics. Feynman also became known through his semi-autobiographical books Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! and What Do You Care What Other People Think? and books written about him, such as Tuva or Bust!.
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Why Two Magnets Repel Each Other?
Richard Feynman Lyrics
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Bernd Wechner
@Murray Guitar Pickups No. Is there some problem with your comprehension? Read my comment and try again. The nearest interpretation to your effort might be: If you tried to explain the extremely complex idea of a god to me, keep it in simple terms that I understand already and there is a chance I may understand you.
How does explanation relate to proof? That was my first question. And the answer is "not at all". I commented about explaining, you raised the unrelated question of proof.
How does understanding relate believing? Again, not in any way I can see, you raised the nonsensical idea of believing here. I will repeat my comment:
"Richard makes it clear that if he can explain why, in terms of something you're familiar with, he can and will. Only if that's not possible do you need a long story on what "why" is looking for and the role of our accepted truths in that."
no mention of proof, no mention of belief. he reference to accepted truths is in terms of simplification. If I understand your accepted truths and I can explain something to you in terms of those, then the chance that you will hear and understand me good. When that is not possible only then do we need to labour a long explanation.
Yasmeen Hayat
This was one of the most humble and honest responses. Feynman didn’t have the arrogance to say he could explain something as complex as magnetic repulsion in simple terms without also explaining very detailed physics that would take hours of lectures to go into.
Anyone comparing feynman’s response to this interviewer to what degrasse Tyson did to joe rogan is missing the point.
Feynman understands his limitations and can foresee the consequences of any answer he gives. He also made sure he never shamed the interviewer for asking - in fact, it truly is an excellent question it’s just un-answerable in the time Feynman had and with the understanding of physics the interviewer had.
Elrond Hubbard
@DiscoVolante allg man. I really should have broken it up into paragraphs.
DiscoVolante
@Elrond Hubbard im not gonna lie, i only read some of what you typed.
Elrond Hubbard
@DiscoVolante I think the problem is that what the interviewer was asking was too fundamental. Like, if you asked why tides go in and out, someone could give you a very detailed explanation involved with tidal gravitational gradients and Newtonian physics, and it would be complicated and you might not understand it, but you'd know there was an answer like you said.
But asking why magnets repel each other is like asking why gravity exists. The simplest answer would just be to say 'it just does', which was what Feynman did at the start he just repeated 'because magnets repel each other'. Magnetism and electricity are a combined force called electromagnetic force which is just a force that exists within all matter.
Even the fundamental particles that make up atoms have this electromagnetic charge. It's involved in everything that happens almost. Chemistry itself only happens because the differently charged atoms interact with each other in certain ways and make bonds and molecules which includes all of life including you. That's why he also said 'you think magnets are weird but you're not all all disturbed by the fact that your arm doesn't just go through the chair'. This electromagnetic force is what stops atoms from just sliding past each other. The universe itself wouldn't work like it does if there wasn't this force in it. But to ask why something like this exists, it's kind of a pointless question in a way. There are actually theories about how the fundamental forces began as a single force at the beginning of time and then split up into separate forces after the first nanosecond or something but that's probably a disappointing answer for someone who asked why magnets repel.
BladeOfLight16
Feynman's answer is actually even deeper than that. He's not saying it's too complicated to explain. He's saying that magnetism is fundamental. We actually can't break it down into something else (or at least haven't figured out how to). Our equations just describe how it behaves; none of them answer the question of what underlying cause brings it about. He could say that moving charges generate the magnetic force on other charges, but that doesn't actually say anything about why moving charges generate a force. It's just saying that they do. (And I'm not even sure that's the case in quantum.) Any elaboration he could give about magnetism would just distract from the actual answer: they just do, and we don't really know why. And that at some level of any topic, you have to be willing and able to accept that some things just are to reason and understand at all.
DiscoVolante
i think i would rather somebody tried to explain it to me, even if i didnt understand the explanation i would at least know that there is an answer
M. Scott Veach
My favorite part of this clip is how the interview thinks for a moment that Feynman finds the question too pedestrian to answer and yet it turns out to be quite the opposite.
Callutts
When I go to my physics professor's office to ask one homework question...
Valeria
You guys have professors that answer your questions? 🙂 lol
Jeffrey Mbelu
🤣🤣🤣🤣☠️