“I later came to understand that this heckling was a sign of respect from these people, that the ability to handle it was a test of a person's worth, and that polite silence from them was an extremely bad sign, amounting to Pauli's famous criticism that the speaker was "not even wrong."”
Nobel Prize autobiography (1998)
Context: Bell Labs had been a kind of holy place of solid state physics since the 1950's when it was built up by Shockley after the invention of the transistor. I had no idea at the time of the significance of this placement, but I did notice during my job talk that everybody understood what I was saying immediately — this had never happened before — and that the audience had an irresistible urge to interrupt, heckle, and argue about the subject matter loudly among themselves during the talk so as to lob hand grenades into it, just like back-benchers do in the House of Commons. Being a combative person I rather liked this and lobbed a few grenades of my own to maintain control of my seminar. I later came to understand that this heckling was a sign of respect from these people, that the ability to handle it was a test of a person's worth, and that polite silence from them was an extremely bad sign, amounting to Pauli's famous criticism that the speaker was "not even wrong."
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Robert B. Laughlin 14
American physicist 1950Related quotes
“One of the sure signs of maturity is the ability to rise to the point of self criticism.”
1960s, The Rising Tide of Racial Consciousnes (1960)
“There are three signs of a knowledgeable person: knowledge, forbearance and silence.”
Majlisi, Bihārul Anwār, vol. 2, p. 59.
Regarding Knowledge & Wisdom, General
Page 91
Publications, An Enduring Love: My Life with the Shah (2004)
“The real worth of a person came from how he acted during the bad times. (John Fiske)”
Source: The Simple Truth
Between Man and Man (1965), p. 15
Between Man and Man (1965)
Ibn Shu’ba al-Harrani, Tuhaf al-'Uqul, p. 252
Regarding Wisdom
Original: (it) Criticare senza avere la minima competenza su un argomento è il primo segno di immaturità di una persona.
Source: prevale.net
Muhammad Kulayni, Usūl al-Kāfī, vol.2, p. 124.
Regarding Knowledge & Wisdom, General