Physics is to math what sex is to masturbation. What do y'all think about this?

[eleutheromaniac]

This quote is actually by Richard Feynman. What is your opinion? Do you agree? Why/why not?

[IlyaTheImpaler]

In order to understand this quote you need to understand that Richard Feynman was much like a magician among physicists (at least according to Hans Bethe). And a magician doesn't reveal his tricks. In this quote, Feynman pretends to diminish mathematics but the trick is, he spent a lot of time studying math in private. That's what made him brilliant among his peers, his ability to intuitively solve math problems. Furthermore, he seemed to have an inferiority complex against mathematicians, just read any of his autobiography, 99% of them were anecdotes of him going around campus challenging mathematicians, incidentally he was always the victor in battles of wits (in his own tale 😂)

Feynman’s flamboyant bravado together with his exceptional self-promoting quality of a showman overshadowed other people who are at least as brilliant as him. For example Murray Gell-Mann was an equal to Feynman in physics, but perhaps lesser known to lay audience. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray_Gell-Mann

https://www.youtube.com/embed/rnMsgxIIQEE

According to Gell-Mann, Feynman was pretentious and tried very hard to come up with ways to impress other people. In the video he says that Feynman spent a lot of time "generating anecdotes".

So that's what I think, this quote is just one among many others, when Feynman put on a show to dazzle the lay audience. You might be interested in another quote about this topic by a greater physicist:
"I admire the elegance of your method of computation; it must be nice to ride through these fields upon the horse of true mathematics while the like of us have to make our way laboriously on foot" - Albert Einstein to Levi-Civita
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tullio_Levi-Civita

[normalice]

This is an elephant question, in which many different interpretations are possible, some profound and some laughably false. For example, you could say that math is only true relative to itself, but physics requires interaction with the world outside the paper to get it's validation. This is sort of profound. Or you could say that the enjoyment you get from math is only a form of taking the edge off of your desperation, whereas with physics you get to have your way with reality. This is false on both accounts.

[eleutheromaniac]

Very true. I even read this on a blog: If you do just mathematics, there’s no chance of getting anyone blown up. With physics, it’s one Big Bang and then there’ll be all these little baboons running around.

[Anonymous]

I disagree totally. Physics uses a lot of math. It is dependent on us having a knowledge of math.

Sex is not dependent on masturbation. The two are separate topics. There is no requirement to have a knowledge of masturbation to have sex.

[Opinion Owner]

Thank you for MHG!

[LxKujo]

People can go without masturbation or sex. There asexuals on this planet that have no driven desire to mate only to bond emotionally. So that quote isn't at all so generalizable.

[Obtuse]

I might wholeheartedly agree except I'm very much like Feynman, and very little like Wolfram. I didn't even understand advanced mathematics that well like Calculus or Field theory. Also in my job (software engineer), I worked with Ph. D. mathematicians and it's like working with a robot. WTF. STFU. NEEERDDDD! NERD NERD NERD NERD! You know, like that. There might be some mathematician out there I get along with, but not in my limited experiences... dry... boring... BORING.. number people. Fall in love you dumb cunts! I never got along with hardcore mathematicians. They are, in my opinion, about the most boring people you can spend with on the planet. I'd rather spend a lifetime with a bimbo than a mathematician.

[NearlyNapping]

I don't really agree, except by a huge stretch, but he did have a funny sense of humor. The guy was great at explaining complicated ideas in an easy to understand humorous way.

It's more like he's putting physics up on a pedestal, almost in a professional competition sort of way.

[Stazz76]

It's just a cheap shot at math, suggesting math has no significance in the real world, just like people masturbating doesn't have any consequences on the real world.

There's no deep metaphor here. As soon as you try to analyze more deeply, such as representing physics and math as two overlapping circles on a Venn diagram, and representing sex and masturbation as two overlapping circles on a Venn diagram, there are a plethora of reasons why you can't say physics fully contains math any more than you can say sex contains masturbation.

[camerongaskarth]

Kinda. I think to be correct it should be
"Math is to physics what sex is to masturbation"

Physics needs math however math is still math without it... then I stopped. I must review this further because I want to be sure before I make my final statement. I did not just delete this and come back later because I feel that's being dishonest.

[wankiam]

he was a clever man

[Avicenna]

Math is a tool used in physics, so I don't see the connection, but far be it from me to disagree with a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and popularizer of physics.

[Laozi]

Yup. I agree. Just like math can be useful in physics. Masturbation can be useful in sex.

[Gedaria]

Yes , but what's your point...

[StinkyGirlFeetSniffr]

Disclaimer: I am a physics buff. However I completely disagree. Anyone or most anything can understand masturbation. Physics is more like anal... not everyone gets it! Haha

[eleutheromaniac]

Haha, that's a nice comparison but I'm a math enthusiast and I don't think that it's a thing for everyone. I don't think masturbation requires a lot of practice and you don't really forget how to masturbate if you don't masturbate.

[StinkyGirlFeetSniffr]

Agreed