If you thought that science was certain - well, that is just an error on your part. Richard P. Feynman More Quotes by Richard P. Feynman More Quotes From Richard P. Feynman Some people think Wheeler's gotten crazy in his later years, but he's always been crazy. Richard P. Feynman crazyyearsthinking When it came time for me to give my talk on the subject, I started off by drawing an outline of the cat and began to name the various muscles. The other students in the class interrupt me: "We *know* all that!" "Oh," I say, "you *do*? Then no *wonder* I can catch up with you so fast after you've had four years of biology." They had wasted all their time memorizing stuff like that, when it could be looked up in fifteen minutes. Richard P. Feynman catclassyears People often think I'm a faker, but I'm usually honest, in a certain way--in such a way that often nobody believes me! Richard P. Feynman sarcasticbelievethinking We are lucky to live in an age in which we are still making discoveries. Richard P. Feynman luckyagediscovery The shell game that we play ... is technically called 'renormalization'. But no matter how clever the word, it is still what I would call a dippy process! Having to resort to such hocus-pocus has prevented us from proving that the theory of quantum electrodynamics is mathematically self-consistent. It's surprising that the theory still hasn't been proved self-consistent one way or the other by now; I suspect that renormalization is not mathematically legitimate. Richard P. Feynman selfgamesclever I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it is much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers that might be wrong. If we will only allow that, as we progress, we remain unsure, we will leave opportunities for alternatives. We will not become enthusiastic for the fact, the knowledge, the absolute truth of the day, but remain always uncertain … In order to make progress, one must leave the door to the unknown ajar. Richard P. Feynman opportunitysciencethinking In fact the total amount that a physicist knows is very little. He has only to remember the rules to get him from one place to another and he is all right. Richard P. Feynman littlesrememberfacts I think we can safely assume that no one understands quantum mechanics. Richard P. Feynman mechanicassumingthinking It is scientific only to say what is more likely and what less likely, and not to be proving all the time the possible and impossible. Richard P. Feynman possible-and-impossibleproveimpossible Science is of value because it can produce something. Richard P. Feynman valuesproduce If you don't like it, go somewhere else, to another universe where the rules are simpler. Richard P. Feynman universeifssomewhere-else If it disagrees with experiment, it's wrong. Richard P. Feynman disagreeexperimentsifs If you keep proving stuff that others have done, getting confidence, increasing the complexities of your solutions - for the fun of it - then one day you'll turn around and discover that nobody actually did that one! And that's the way to become a computer scientist. Richard P. Feynman one-daydonefun I find that teaching and the students keep life going, and I would never accept any position in which somebody has invented a happy situation for me where I don't have to teach. Never. Richard P. Feynman acceptingstudentsteaching Another of the qualities of science is that it teaches the value of rational thought, as well as the importance of freedom of thought; the positive results that come from doubting that all the lessons are true... Learn from science that you must doubt the experts. As a matter of fact, I can also define science another way: Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts. Richard P. Feynman qualityignorancedoubt Mathematics is a language plus reasoning. It's like a language plus logic. Mathematics is a tool for reasoning. Richard P. Feynman logiclanguagetools I think that when we know that we actually do live in uncertainty, then we ought to admit it; it is of great value to realize that we do not know the answers to different questions. This attitude of mind - this attitude of uncertainty - is vital to the scientist, and it is this attitude of mind which the student must first acquire. Richard P. Feynman valuegreatmindattitude Trying to understand the way nature works involves a most terrible test of human reasoning ability. It involves subtle trickery, beautiful tightropes of logic on which one has to walk in order not to make a mistake in predicting what will happen. The quantum mechanical and the relativity ideas are examples of this. Richard P. Feynman walknaturemistakebeautiful The fact that the colors in the flower have evolved in order to attract insects to pollinate it is interesting; that means insects can see the colors. That adds a question: does this aesthetic sense we have also exist in lower forms of life? Richard P. Feynman colorsaestheticflowerlife If I could explain it to the average person, it wouldn't have been worth the Nobel Prize. Richard P. Feynman explainworthpersonprize
