Legendary Nobel Prize winning physicist explains why intelligent people make the worst decisions

Richard Feynman is one of the top scientific minds in modern history. He was invited to participate in the Manhattan Project, helping develop the first atomic bomb. When the Challenger shuttle tragically exploded, it was Feynman who figured out what went wrong to prevent future NASA disasters. He was even given the Nobel Prize for his work in physics for essentially remaking the concept of quantum electrodynamics. He was also riddled with self doubt, incredibly unsure of himself, and criticized people of high intelligence.


Why was this so? Well, because in his mind and in life, people who are highly intelligent tend to rely on their intelligence to the point in which they make mistakes in judgment. In trusting in their own smarts, something gets overlooked or a mistake is made—but it's covered over in pride. They could also become too afraid of asking the right questions that could lead to the next answer. Some argue that Feynman’s greatest scientific finding wasn’t in physics, but in human ignorance and ego.

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Quantum Physics: Light and Matter

                                                                             

QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter is an adaptation for the general reader of four lectures on quantum electrodynamics (QED) published in 1985 by American physicist and Nobel laureate Richard Feynman.

In 2006, Princeton University Press published a new edition with a new introduction by Anthony Zee. He introduces Feynman's peculiar take at explaining physics, and cites: "According to Feynman, to learn QED you have two choices: you can go through seven years of physics education or read this book".

The four lectures

1. Photons - Corpuscles of LightIn the first lecture, which acts as a gentle lead-in to the subject of quantum electrodynamics, Feynman describes the basic properties of photons. He discusses how to measure the probability that a photon will reflect or transmit through a partially reflective piece of glass.

2. Fits of Reflection and Transmission - Quantum BehaviourIn the second lecture, Feynman looks at the different paths a photon can take as it travels from one point to another and how this affects phenomena like reflection and diffraction.

3. Electrons and Their interactions - The third lecture describes quantum phenomena such as the famous double-slit experiment and Werner Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, thus describing the transmission and reflection of photons. It also introduces his famous "Feynman diagrams" and how quantum electrodynamics describes the interactions of subatomic particles.

4. New Queries - In the fourth lecture, Feynman discusses the meaning of quantum electrodynamics and some of its problems. He then describes "the rest of physics", giving a brief look at quantum chromodynamics, the weak interaction and gravity, and how they relate to quantum electrodynamics.