Douglas_Knight comments on No One Knows What Science Doesn't Know - Less Wrong

37 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 25 October 2007 11:47PM

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Comment author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 11 February 2010 09:07:50PM 8 points [-]

Apparently the full quote from Richard Feynman is:

"I think I can safely say that nobody understands quantum mechanics."

This was in 1965. Everett's first paper was in 1957 IIRC. So not only was Feynman mistaken about nobody at that time understanding quantum mechanics, but he thought this could be said safely? When there are billions of people in the world, and all ignorance and confusion is a property of the map rather than the territory?

Feynman was one of the great Traditional Rationalists, but sometimes he really does manage to get it completely wrong. Einstein was much worse in the same department: "You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother"!?

Comment author: Douglas_Knight 12 February 2010 05:37:42AM 8 points [-]

This was in 1965. Everett's first paper was in 1957 IIRC. So not only was Feynman mistaken about nobody at that time understanding quantum mechanics, but he thought this could be said safely?

Why are you so sure Feynman is ignorant of Everett, rather than talking about him?

I'd expect that Wheeler, who liked Everett's work enough to write a companion piece, would have told his other students about it. Steve Hsu points to a 1957 conference where Wheeler talked about Everett and Feynman made it clear he was interested in this stuff.