This video is from 1981. The interview is also the subject of Feynman's book The Pleasure of Finding Things Out.
I have a friend who's an artist and he's some times taken a view which I don't agree with very well. He'll hold up a flower and say, "look how beautiful it is," and I'll agree, I think. And he says, "you see, I as an artist can see how beautiful this is, but you as a scientist, oh, take this all apart and it becomes a dull thing." And I think he's kind of nutty. First of all, the beauty that he sees is available to other people and to me, too, I believe, although I might not be quite as refined aesthetically as he is. But I can appreciate the beauty of a flower. At the same time, I see much more about the flower that he sees. I could imagine the cells in there, the complicated actions inside which also have a beauty. I mean, it's not just beauty at this dimension of one centimeter: there is also beauty at a smaller dimension, the inner structure... also the processes. The fact that the colors in the flower are evolved in order to attract insects to pollinate it is interesting - it means that insects can see the color. It adds a question - does this aesthetic sense also exist in the lower forms that are... why is it aesthetic, all kinds of interesting questions which a science knowledge only adds to the excitement and mystery and the awe of a flower. It only adds. I don't understand how it subtracts.
Sal@mander.xyz 2 years ago
There is just so much history and complexity around us, it is easy to keep oneself entertained by carefully studying the details of anything. There is a video from the onion that I like a lot: "Expert Wasted Entire Life Studying Anteaters", which pokes fun at experts that study a very narrow niche field. The video is a satire about how a person can spend a lifetime fascinated by details that to others might not even think about - the expert in the video is taking the view of an average external observer that does not really see the point. As Feynman says, Nature is beautiful along so many dimensions... It is possible to spend your life in amazement if you just look around and study :-)
ilia@mander.xyz 2 years ago
Dude, this video is epic.