From wonder to wonder

“I don't know anything, but I do know that everything is interesting if you go into it deeply enough.”

-Richard Feynman

A year or so ago, a colleague shared with me a truly delightful video interview with Richard Feynman. I am unearthing it today in the spirit of celebrating the human capacity for wonder.

Feynman won a Nobel Prize for his work in quantum electrodynamics, prior to a long-time career as professor of theoretical physics at the California Institute for Technology. Such a description truly tells us nothing about the expansive, playful, fascinating mind of this man who speaks at length about “the pleasure of finding things out”. Feynman was also a prankster, juggler, painter, writer, and bongo player. He read expansively on diverse subjects, from Mayan hieroglyphics, to art, to lock picking.

In the opening discussion of the interview, Feynman recalls the misguided criticism of a friend, on the scientific way of viewing things. The friend, Feynman recalls, pointed out the beauty of a flower, which Feynman noted and recognized, and appreciated. The friend asserted that scientists failed to recognize nature’s intrinsic beauty because they insisted on studying it systematically. Feynman goes on to explain how he comes to appreciate the beauty of a flower more deeply by observing it through a scientific lens: by studying the processes, the color, the way insects respond to the color, the cell structure, the wonderful capacity for photosynthesis, etc. He speaks with excitement, and exudes an ebullient joy in being that is strangely rare in adults. In my recent readings on matters related to quantum theory, I’ve come across countless references to Feynman’s work, and I knew I liked him when I came across this quote of his, referenced in Michio Kaku’s Parallel Worlds:

“ I think we can safely say that nobody understands quantum mechanics… (which) describes nature as absurd from the point of view of common sense. And it fully agrees with experiment. So I hope you can accept nature as she is - absurd.”

What struck me most about this video, aside from Feynman’s essential beauty, was his sincere conviction about the importance of recognizing the vast difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something. This deeply-held tenet made Feynman suspicious of those who claimed to have definitive answers about the complex mysteries of our natural world. And yet, he was not disillusioned about continually looking for greater understanding. He continued to try to figure things out because, as he said, “it was fun.” Feynman died in 1988, at the age of seventy. This was the same year that Dr. Stephen Hawking published A Brief History of Time about the search for black holes and a unified theory of everything. Five years later, a junior in high school, I discovered Hawking’s book, and learned about the work of Richard Feynamn and others, and I learned, with a shocking mixture of terror and utter fascination, how limited my view of the world had been. I understood, then, that I understood absolutely nothing.

I’ve been learning ever since, and today I think that I know less than ever.

This is a long clip, but for anyone who can find the time, it's well worth it.

Feynman: "The Pleasure of Finding Things Out"

Photo provided by Alex on flickr under a creative commons license