Feynman :: Rules of Chess

Richard Feynman on the rational scientific method; increments and revolutions and castling.

71 Comments

  1. I miss this man, he was brilliant.

    RIP Feynman

  2. It is so rare in history that we see someone who could explain things the way RF did. Greatest teacher and explainer.

  3. brilliant, brilliant and one million times brilliant!!!!!

  4. this man gave me a new angle on how science works in under three minutes. it's one of those things where you sort of know it but lack the words or analogies to fully express it. that's what he did for me, with the bishop analogy.

    the bishop moving on a diagonal EXPLAINS why it preserves its color, just like newton's law of gravitation or einstein's explanation of curved space-time EXPLAIN why planetary orbits sweep out equal areas in equal times.

    but in physics, the rules get simpler.

    *sniff*

  5. O man, just how i wish he is still with us today. Just look at the joy and fire he has when he talked about physics, you can tell that he really enjoy science.
    Feynman is always my favorite physicist and scientist.
    Good job Mr. Feynman.

  6. It's funny — my friends in college all love Feynman because he's so easy to understand and because he explains things so elegantly. For the same reason, my physics professor is a bit intimidated by Feynman because he knows it takes A LOT knowledge and skill to be able to explain something so complex so easily.

  7. Feynman's careful discussion of complex topics sets an absolute standard for truth, clarity, and respect for his listeners.

  8. "I will tell you about quantum electrodynamics without math, so my explanation will be necessarily incomplete. But I promise that my simplified explanation will not tell you anything that I would need to retract in a more detailed explanation." ~ Richard Feynman, opening a Cornell University on QED for a general audience.

  9. I think it was Feynman who said (something along the lines of), if you can't explain it to your grandmother, then you don't truly understand it.

  10. I thought it was, if you can't explain it to a freshman class, then it's not understood.

  11. haha he's just explained so easily what i often tried to put into good words, that what seems to be a complete formed law, is actually just say, a symptom on the surface of something infinitely more complex.

  12. People who say Youtube is just stupid videos should see that. I get so much interesting information just browsing this site! + I can watch funny puppies doing funny stuff (-;

  13. I think only Feynman could use chess as an analogy which is supposed to be simpler than the concept you are discussing and then at the end tell you it's really the other way around and it actually makes sense.

  14. Very elegant for even those who don't play chess can get i!

  15. i guess the world is more like go than like chess 🙂

  16. A man with a great mind using his brilliance and imagination and comparing his thoughts to a chess game. Feynman was called in to investigate the 1986 Challenger Shuttle disiaster. He often had 'seminars' with ordinary people just to hear their ideas, expand his mind and challenge science. He was one of these people who had incredible intelligence and yet could explain the most complicated of subjects in a way that anyone could understand. True genius and a lesson to us all. Sadly RIP.

  17. If any actor chooses to play the part it should be Clint Eastwood. They have such similar mannerisms and that sly grin just grabs me. What a genius and such a great sense of real humor, too.

  18. what he said is true its reality of humans life….

  19. Had I watched this video some 6 odd years ago, the likelihood that I would have chosen physics as my major would certainly be higher.

    Physicists of the world, you have my envy and admiration. Keep on trucking!

  20. This is why it always makes me angry when scientists are accused of ignoring facts that don't fit their theories. Sure, it happens sometimes, but it's contrary to the very nature of science. For a true scientist, the thing that doesn't fit is the most interesting one of them all.

  21. perhaps that the rules don't seem to change implies that the game has been fully defined. if that is so, then perhaps that implies that the entire rule set can be known. in this case we will most likely one day know the entire rules set of (the universe) chess.

    alternatively, if the game is still being defined, then we should expect the rules to constantly be changing (which they are not).

  22. >Listening to Feynman
    >He starts talking about laws of physics
    >Makes this analogy
    >Motherfu…..(jaw-dropped)

  23. Scientists figure out the rules… engineers get to play the game.

  24. An excellent exposition of Scientific method by a brilliant scientist.What I loved most about Richard Feynman was his playful sense of humor and practical joking:safecracking at Los Alamos and deliberately leaving classified documents lying around for a laugh.Must have been a headache for Security folk.The safecracking mullarkey just cracks me up.

  25. @enijize1234 it was Albert Einstein who said that!!!!

  26. I think it was Dirac who originally used the chess metaphor.

  27. i like watching all these casual Feynman interviews, but now i have ran out of them, will have to turn to his lectures to continue listening to him :/

  28. You and me both. I've started on Richard Feynman on Quantum Mechanics (Parts: 4). Sure would've loved to have had him as a lecturer.

  29. There's a BUNCH of Feynman audio around — look for Los Alamos From Below and the audio of "Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Norm," — letters, wonderfully read. Tuva Trader has Ralph Leighton's recordings of Feynman telling stories and both drumming together on 4 CDs (and you should read the books that came out of those sessions, "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman," & "What Do You Care What Other People Think, whether you think you like to read or not!"

  30. feynamn.. One of the greatest men to ever live.

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