-
Ask a question and get free supportUnlock new privileges and see hidden discussionsWin prizes and earn reputation
-
Question of the day ~ How often do you braai?
-
Afristay giveaway.Win a 2-night stay for two people at an establishment of your choice with R1,000 in spending money. Enter here.
Sign up with GoogleFeynman on why analogies are dangerous when used by the laymen
- Thread starter Geriatrix
- Start date
Don't understand what he says so you suggest we burn him. Are you religious?
You dare question me you unbelieving philistine?!? *runs to collect fire wood*
UnUnOctium
Expert Member
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2005
- Messages
- 3,127
Burn all the things!Best troll/irony 'creator' ever
I picked up and followed an idea in his post. Try to keep up.Easiest trollfodder ever
Last edited:
UnUnOctium
Expert Member
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2005
- Messages
- 3,127
Burn all the things!
I picked up and followed an idea in his post. Try to keep up.
Hey, it was number 10 for this week so whatever gets me that prize
Heres your prize! An explanation of how magnets work!Hey, it was number 10 for this week so whatever gets me that prize
medicnick83
Paramedic
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2006
- Messages
- 21,005
Oh! That made me laugh!
So basically he's invoking a form of infinite regression as a way of avoiding the question as he deems the interviewer as too 'dumb' too understand the answer; and he himself can't find a way to explain it in more simpler terms. Hope he wasn't a teacher..
Einstein had something to say regards that: "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."
Einstein had something to say regards that: "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."
Last edited:
What is simply?
Been watching some of his lectures this week - http://research.microsoft.com/apps/tools/tuva/index.html
FlatspinZA
Expert Member
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2008
- Messages
- 1,630
Fark, and I thought he was a Mormon. Then it turns out he was a brilliant physicist, mmmm. It's a pity he uses such a circumlocutive way to not answer the original question. I'm glad my teachers just got to the effing point. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman
FrankCastle
Executive Member
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2010
- Messages
- 8,337
I remember watching a movie with Mathew Broderick playing Feynman.
Interesting character.
Interesting character.
Understandable to the layman I guess.
"It should be possible to explain the laws of physics to a barmaid."
He's correctly trying to find analogies. That's part of getting concepts across to people. And he does answer the original question. Of course with Feynman he also gets excited about all this stuff, wants to talk about it all. So he goes off on tangents. Those are the best teachers.
It is possible. Just as here Feynman explains why magnets repel each other.
FlatspinZA
Expert Member
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2008
- Messages
- 1,630
He waffled so much I fell asleep.
That's why you aren't a brilliant physicist. You want quick answers by analogy and leave it at that. He wants to keep on searching for the truth and he's not satisfied with crude comparisons. That's what he was trying to explain.
Well first off it has nothing to do with complacency; "crude comparisons" as you put it are essential to human understanding and learning. We all start from a point of ignorance at some stage in our lives and to begin to understand it's critical to simplify complex concepts.
Is that what he would've said to his grandson had asked that very same question. I don't think so.