Now, what about the case of Feynman? Well, there are tons of possibilities here:
Some of which can be verified if you trace this widely repeated anecdote back to the source; see my old comment on the topic: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1251164
Some of which can be verified if you trace this widely repeated anecdote back to the source; see my old comment on the topic: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1251164