“While I am describing to you how Nature works, you won't understand why Nature works that way. But you see, nobody understands that.”

Source: QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter (1985), p. 10

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "While I am describing to you how Nature works, you won't understand why Nature works that way. But you see, nobody unde…" by Richard Feynman?
Richard Feynman photo
Richard Feynman 181
American theoretical physicist 1918–1988

Related quotes

Russell L. Ackoff photo

“Analysis of a system reveals how it works; it provides know-how, knowledge, not understanding; that is, explanations of why it works the way it does.”

Russell L. Ackoff (1919–2009) Scientist

This [understanding of why systems work] requires synthetic thinking... Analysis is the way scientists conduct research. Synthetic thinking is exemplified by design.
Ackoff & Greenberg (2008) Turning Learning Right Side Up. p. 61 as cited in: Stephen M Millett (2011) Managing the Future: A Guide to Forecasting and Strategic Planning. p. 52.
2000s

Jerry Coyne photo

“The justification for naturalism is that it works: we have never understood anything about the universe by assuming the supernatural, while assuming naturalism as a working hypothesis has moved our understanding ever forward.”

Jerry Coyne (1949) American biologist

" Is atheism irrational? A philosopher says “yes” http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2014/10/15/is-atheism-irrational-a-philosopher-says-yes/" October 15, 2014

“If you understand the technical work of a business, you understand a business that does that technical work.”

Michael E. Gerber (1936) American business writer

Michael Gerber (1986), E, Myth, cited in: Manager's magazine, 1986. p. 57

Paul Gabriël photo
Nima Arkani-Hamed photo

“... nature has very few good ideas — it recycles them in subtle and interesting ways, over and over again — and it's our job to understand how that works.”

Nima Arkani-Hamed (1972) American-Canadian physicist

[A Conversation with Nima Arkani-Hamed: The Power of Principles, Physics Revealed (Part II), April 2, 2021, Ideas Roadshow, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzSDZ_EPiXk] (quote at 51:12 of 52:41)

Fyodor Dostoyevsky photo

“Hold your tongue; you won't understand anything. If there is no God, then I am God.”

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821–1881) Russian author

Kirilov, Part III, Ch. VI, "A busy night"
The Possessed (1872)

Max Lucado photo

“Even though you may not understand how God works, you know he does.”

Max Lucado (1955) American clergyman and writer

Source: When God Whispers Your Name

Nora Roberts photo
Richard Feynman photo

“You'll have to accept it. It's the way nature works. If you want to know how nature works, we looked at it, carefully. Looking at it, that's the way it looks. You don't like it? Go somewhere else, to another universe where the rules are simpler, philosophically more pleasing, more psychologically easy.”

Richard Feynman (1918–1988) American theoretical physicist

Sir Douglas Robb Lectures, University of Auckland (1979); lecture 1, "Photons: Corpuscles of Light" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLQ2atfqk2c&t=24m2s
Context: There's a kind of saying that you don't understand its meaning, 'I don't believe it. It's too crazy. I'm not going to accept it.'… You'll have to accept it. It's the way nature works. If you want to know how nature works, we looked at it, carefully. Looking at it, that's the way it looks. You don't like it? Go somewhere else, to another universe where the rules are simpler, philosophically more pleasing, more psychologically easy. I can't help it, okay? If I'm going to tell you honestly what the world looks like to the human beings who have struggled as hard as they can to understand it, I can only tell you what it looks like.

Related topics