Click here to listen to: Feynman’s address to a Cal-Tech graduating class about the integrity of science (and scientists).
He reminds of the cargo cult in the South Pacific. Years after WWII, the island natives missed the largess of the USA’s military landings. So, they developed a detailed ritual including setting up fires along the old runways, fashioning models of radio receivers from wood and hoping that the planes would return. They didn’t.
Feyman speaks to an intellectual integrity. He says, “Nature’s phenomena will agree…or disagree with your work… (One must have) the integrity not to fool yourself…”
Here–not fooling ourselves–is a reasonable tack for psychoanalysts. Feynman speaks plainly. But, listen to what he imparts. (And yes, he was a fine bongo player, even performing with the Tuva singers.)
N. Szajnberg, MD, Managing Editor