the sham legacy of Richard Feynman

Link to Patreon — one exclusive video per month:

Link to Feynman’s released FBI file (pg 64):

Surely You’re a Creep, Mr. Feynman by Leila McNeill:

Why do I Curate for ‘Prof Feynman’ by Sunny Labh

Gell-Mann on Feynman:

Feynman Teeth Brushing:

Growing up Feynman:

Oral History with Jenijoy La Belle

Feynman Super-Projection at Caltech:

Robert Leighton Oral History:

Feynman’s Lost Lecture (ft. 3Blue1Brown) @MinutePhysics :

Inside the Mind of Richard Feynman @SciShow :

Feynman Computer science lecture:

Ralph Leighton playing drums with Feynman:

00:00:00 the sham legacy of Richard Feynman
00:04:13 the legend of Richard Feynman
00:16:18 physicists are weird about Richard Feynman
00:20:58 anatomy of a LEGEND
00:34:45 internet people are weird about Richard Feynman
00:45:10 the myth of Richard Feynman
00:55:37 the myth of Richard Feynman Part II
01:23:30 the Ralph Leighton of it all
01:45:08 selling anything a genius touched for cash
01:56:45 an unsatisfying ending
01:59:45 Richard Feynman the man
02:28:38 Richard Feynman in physics
02:41:32 Credits
02:44:38 Bonus: Richard Feynman on crackpots

[neilchatterjeegenerate]

There's a lot of mocking, snarky messages here but I want to write something sincere and from the heart. First off, this video is excellent, but watching the video was very challenging and harrowing for me. I a man of nearly 50, and when I was about 15 I read "Surely you're joking..." and "What do you care..." and the books were really transformative to me. I used to think that that was because Feynman helped me feel like being a bookish nerd was also a way to be a contrarian rebel. I started your video with trepidation, but your arguments are all totally sound and correct. After some reflection, I realize that the reason I liked Feynman's books so much is it showed me what it would be like to have a supportive and engaged father, which I did not have. Anyways, thanks for your hard work, this video moved me deeply for a lot of personal reasons, but I really appreciate everything you put into it.

[MegaCrazyhand]

"Feynman was super good with the ladies" said Richard Feynman, surely the most trustworthy source on the matter

[Eager_Face]

I can’t believe the first physicist to work on the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise would lie like this

[eagle-from-aut]

"I'm afraid to study, because what if i try really hard and still fail" is something i've been thinking about a lot in the last couple days, because its such a brutally incisive commentary on my character. Thanks Angela.

[htilden]

I was honestly expecting the final twist to be that Richard Feynman never actually existed and was just the result of authors quoting each other.

[Tom-gpoy]

Thank God for Richard Feynman. He saved my life as a child. Pulled me out of a river, I just had to solve a brief physics problem first. The other kids couldnt do it though.

[Aliyen]

This is my favorite video by Richard Feynman. It's amazing how he's still able to produce fresh content.

[Strogman]

After he was hand-picked by Miyamoto to work on Sonic, he convinced the whole team that he spoke fluent Japanese for the 2 years of development by making vaguely Asian noises and squinting.

[jacquiecotillard]

“I started out trying to understand this person on a simple level… now I’m here how did I get here?!” — a demonstration of what, in music, we might call “The Tallerico Effect.”

[husamismael]

As Gell-mann said, "His preoccupation with himself and his own image began to get on my nerves. He was a very good scientist but he spent a great deal of effort generating anecdotes about himself." I'm suprised you didn't include that interview

[SomeGuyWithAFace]

my favorite part was when feynman said "oppa physics style!" and everyone on the bus clapped

EDIT: I am now significantly further in the video, i must amend my comment;
my favorite part was when ralph leighton said that feynman said "oppa physics style!" and everyone on the bus clapped

[riotprrl]

I was a female "Feynman bro" in the sense that I idolised him and his books were inspirational to me as a teenager. In a roundabout way, they taught me that all sorts of people could be physicists, not just this image I had of a genius theoretician whose sole hobby was sitting inside and physics-ing all day. That was definitely not me, and while I clearly wasn't a Feynman either, to me he was a relatable, flawed figure in a way other visible physicists weren't.

The whole "Feynman bro" personality cult thing seems a little alien to me as someone from Australia - we didn't seem to have that here, or at least not at my university. Alas, we had all of the exact same "Feynman bro" behaviour you described, just minus the Feynman part.

I don't really have a point in sharing this. Just thought I'd add to the conversation from a slightly different cultural background.

[DanGRV]

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. - Richard Feynman” - Ralph Leighton

[hisham_hm]

1:39 that "Newton. Einstein. Feynman" list in the book continues with Kaku and Sheldon Cooper, so maybe the point of the list was to plot a curve more like 1/x

[joelcroteau]

I used to think Richard Feynman was the Socrates of physics. But it turns out he was the Socrates of physics.

[brianpoe]

Thanks for creating this excellent tour de force. A debunking, a biography, a fact-finding masterpiece. Entertaining, poignant, and highlighting potentially life-saving information. Thanks and best wishes to you!

[WallebyDamned]

I feel smarter knowing I've read every book written by Richard Feynman

[suveruzgar]

Lol those "pretending to speak foreign languages and actually fooling the natives" stories reek so much of "how difficult can languages be if they aren't studied in STEM departments?"

[estrelaniawilliams]

This video made me remember the time one of my male medical school classmates asked to come over one night and I said no, I’m tired, already in bed. Then he showed up and banged on my door for a long time (he knew I was home alone) and then called me a bitch and other things via text message when he realized I wasn’t going to let him in. I did feel scared and unsafe, but it didn’t feel like something I could report. It never occurred to me that anyone would take it seriously because it wasn’t “bad enough”. I felt like maybe I did something to encourage him like it was my fault. We were friends in school for years. I Am a pretty friendly person and had dated a couple other people in the school. I just ignored him for the rest of my last year of medical school and thankfully nothing happened. I’m pretty sure he’s now a psychiatrist. So that’s weird. I have at least 2 other similar medical school stories involving different men. Thank you for talking about this topic and making me feel less alone.

[EVILVAMPKITTY]

Hey, I went to UCSB and when you mentioned Zee wrote the QED introduction I SCREAMED. All the students avoid taking his classes because he is a KNOWN sexist. He has an article published in a literary journal titled "On Fat Deposits around the Mammary Glands in the Females of Homo Sapiens." (2001) He does not do biophysics and, in case it isn't obvious, this is not a scientific article in the least. Just thought it was kind of a funny (if rather disturbing) tie-in to the video and your point about Feynbros haha