This is kind of an aside, but does this Feynman story strike anyone else as off? Its kind of too perfect. Not even subtly. It strikes me as “significantly exaggerated”, at the very least.
While I was reading I was thinking that Bohr might have contacted Feynman moreso because he was more competent than others rather than more honest, but (ironically) it would be rude for Feynman to say that. It’s also the case that being competent means you can be blunt without making a fool of yourself, so it’s sort of a costly signal.
We’ll never know! Niels and Aage Bohr are both dead and can’t offer a contradictory account.
There does seem to be a tension between “all I could see of him was from between people’s heads” and Bohr particularly noticing Feynman as unmoved by status. (Unless the noticeable thing was Feynman not particularly trying to be seen?)
This is kind of an aside, but does this Feynman story strike anyone else as off? Its kind of too perfect. Not even subtly. It strikes me as “significantly exaggerated”, at the very least.
While I was reading I was thinking that Bohr might have contacted Feynman moreso because he was more competent than others rather than more honest, but (ironically) it would be rude for Feynman to say that. It’s also the case that being competent means you can be blunt without making a fool of yourself, so it’s sort of a costly signal.
We’ll never know! Niels and Aage Bohr are both dead and can’t offer a contradictory account.
There does seem to be a tension between “all I could see of him was from between people’s heads” and Bohr particularly noticing Feynman as unmoved by status. (Unless the noticeable thing was Feynman not particularly trying to be seen?)