Feynman’s Most Arrogant Statements
Richard Feynman, no doubt, was a prolific thinker of his time and is one of the greatest physicists of all time. His contributions to the development of QED, and our overall understanding of quantum mechanics were immense. He was a great teacher, a great explainer, and a hell of a joyful personality with a delightful expressive character. I’ve written several stories about Feynman, Feynman’s contributions to science, Feynman’s method of learning, and his invaluable lessons and lectures. In this story, I shall share some of the most brutal and straightforward statements by the great late physicist.
“God was always invented to explain the mystery. God is always invented to explain those things that you do not understand.”
as mentioned in Paul Davies’ 1988 Publication Superstrings: A Theory of Everything?
The above statement clearly indicates that Feynman was an atheist. He never considered himself to be a believer in God or even an agnostic. According to him, humans always leave something to God if they cannot explain them. I have explained Feynman’s thoughts about God in a separate story that you can read here,
“I don’t know what’s the matter with people: they don’t learn by understanding; they learn by some other way — by rote or something. Their knowledge is so fragile!”
as mentioned in Feynman’s autobiographical account, Surely You’re Joking Mr. Feynman!
While the above statement might sound a little arrogant in itself it kind of gives off a great lesson and a sad truth about modern teaching and learning methodologies. It’s a reflection of the modern education system where the custom of memorizing is more focused rather than critical thinking and understanding.
The fact that Feynman occasionally used to visit strip clubs and nightclubs is not hidden. He himself mentions all these things in his autobiography. In the very same book in one of the chapters, You Just Ask Them?! p. 184 he writes about one incident at a nightclub. He mentions,
“those bar girls are all bit*ches, that they aren’t worth anything, and all they’re in there for is to get you to buy them a drink, and they’re not going to give you a goddamn thing; I’m not going to be a gentleman to such worthless bit*ches, and so on.”
While Feynman was a great thinker, no doubt, he was also a bit of a misogynist and a womanizer as indicated by many documented sources. This aspect of Feynman’s character is very well covered by this piece by Leila McNeill
I always admire Feynman and take him as an inspiration due to this lessons on teaching, learning, and physics. His way of explaining things and breaking down complicated concepts into simpler forms gained him immense popularity across the globe as the great explainer.
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