Surely You’re Joking Mr. Feynman (Book Discussion)

I had a recent book club discussion withScott Youngon the bookSurely You're Joking Mr. Feynman.

理查德·费曼是我的解释英雄之一。他的传记包含了几十个故事，抓住了一种好奇、敬畏的精神，以及用自己的方式解决问题的愿望。费曼的方法启发了我和斯科特的学习方法。

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Key takeaways:

Kalid:I think the first takeaway is recognizing when things make sense and it’s okay for things not to make sense. Something might click, great, if it doesn’t, maybe you can resolve it then or maybe you can write it down later.

Everyone has their own checklist or their own requirements but you should have something… Have a standard for yourself, it’s important.

I think Feynman would stop people and ask them for a plain English example if they were explaining something and he couldn’t understand it. Whatever it is for you, having that standard is important.

Scott:我想如果我说费曼做事情的最大收获是好奇，我认为这听起来真的很简单，但你可以看到(在书中)他如何让自己进入各种情况，以及你的直觉反应，比如你会下意识地做什么，实际上不是他在书中做的。

It might be his confidence or his charisma but I think a lot of it is his curiosity. He’s genuinely interested in trying to find out about things.

我觉得这似乎是在关于好奇心的讨论中提出的。很多人问:“兴趣和好奇心难道不是与生俱来的品质吗?”

You know, you can’t just snap your fingers and be as smart as Feynman so you shouldn’t be able to snap your fingers and be as curious. But, I actually disagree here.

我认为好奇心是需要培养的，因为很多让我们远离好奇心的东西都是我们内心深处的恐惧和厌恶，这些恐惧和厌恶可能来自于过去的负面曝光。特别是通过学校。

I think if you take it from the perspective that curiosity and interest is something you can cultivate to the extent that you want to tear down those barriers, I think there’s a huge benefit and possibility.

Feynman inspired our own learning techniques:

世界杯2022赛程时间表最新 - use Analogies, Diagrams, Examples, Plain-English and Technical descriptions
Feynman technique- to learn something new, attempt to teach it in simple terms (make an ELI5 explanation for yourself or another student)

It's inspiring to read about a Nobel-prize winning expert unafraid to admit their ignorance and break difficult concepts into simpler terms (“不，我不明白，你能给我举个例子吗?”). He had the humility to question his own understanding and the confidence to know he could eventually figure it out -- an approach we can all learn from.

Join Scott'sbook clubfor updates and discussions on upcoming books. Thanks again to Scott for having me on!

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