Feynman: FUN TO IMAGINE 4: F*****' magnets, how do they work?

New! See also Feynman MAGNETS EXTRA on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdA-l_... Here, physicist and Nobel laureate Richard Feynman explains to a non-scientist just how difficult it is to answer certain questions in lay terms! A classic example of Feynman's clarity of thought, powers of explanation and intellectual honesty - and his refusal to 'cheat' with misleading analogies... Water, fire, air and dirt Fucking magnets, how do they work? And I don't wanna talk to a scientist Y'all motherfuckers lying, and getting me pissed. - Insane Clown Posse, Miracles (2009)

From the BBC TV series 'Fun to Imagine'(1983). You can now watch higher quality versions of some of these episodes at www.bbc.co.uk/archive/feynman/

• Category

  Science & Technology

[AZZippy]

Feynman avoided nothing. He made a judgment that he would have to get too technical to properly answer Christopher's question. Was he correct? I have no idea. If this was posted by the same Christopher Sykes, perhaps he can answer that.

[Christopher Sykes]

Yes, he was correct! And I agree that he avoided nothing - I think he explained very clearly why he was unwilling to give the kind of answer that I, a non-scientist, thought I wanted because I didn't understand the nature of question I was asking. But for what it's worth, I'm really glad I asked him because I think what he does say is so beautiful and profound.

[Zoe TheCat]

You don't know him very well. He knew the mathematics that describe the "how," as well as any competent physicist. He's not going to attempt that answer because he knows it will be lost on the interviewer.

He received the Nobel Prize for QED in '65, He came up with the correct mathematical theory that describes HOW light and matter interact. But he always maintained he "doesn't understand WHY nature behaves this way." No one understands the 'why' for most physical theories - only the 'how'

[richie9634]

YEA but WHY

[DogTag1993]

So technically what he is saying is that trying to explain deeper into why things function as they do is like trying to explain what colors are to a blind man.

[jonny7748]

Teleology is stupid is what he was saying.

[David Fox]

absolute genius....

[m0nkeyfinger]

I feel I've been cheated...I thought he was going to explain how fanny magnets work!

[MathDoobler]

Are you retarded?

[viralarchitect]

Magic everywhere in this b****.

[matt vt]

no you dont. that hypothesis has bee disproven. We still do not know why ice is slippery.

[DuTriDu]

Incidentally, one of the interesting words used in the statement is one you left out, "Some". It includes Feynman.

[vlogmansam]

He avoided the question beautifully.