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.

A quote from Feynman’s 1974 lecture sums up his philosophy on learning and scientific study:

“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool. So you have to be very careful about that. After you’ve not fooled yourself, it’s easy not to fool other scientists. You just have to be honest in a conventional way after that.”

In other words, he was arguing and warning that people of high intelligence tend to make more mistakes due to them relying on their intellect and judgment for answers rather than asking additional and bigger questions to obtain knowledge that could’ve been overlooked or underserved. They rely on the fact that they are smart to the point that they overlook the possibility that they could be mistaken, misguided, or just plain wrong. Some who are our most intelligent are less open to learning because they mistakenly thought they already learned it all, rather than asking questions and observing results. To put it plainly, the smartest person in the room is the person who doesn’t think they’re the smartest person in the room.

Feynman didn’t just preach this philosophy, but showcased it in practice. He publicly called himself a man of “limited intelligence.” While his IQ of 125 put him in the above-average range of intellect, it is definitely lower than the MENSA member requirements that many of his scientific peers fell into. It should be noted that the concept of IQs being an indicator of intellect are being put into question more and more in recent years. Also, while he appreciated the Nobel Prize, he didn’t really see the point in them, seeing the results of his work and his questions as the true prize itself—that, and the fact that there were other mysteries to unlock that could lead to even more mysteries.

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True intelligence isn’t relying on what you believe you know, justifying mistakes you have made, or letting certainty cloud your judgement. It’s going into the unknown or knowing that there are known unknowns with an open minds. It's never being afraid to ask questions and never relying on answers to be untested truths. In fact, it’s best to test those answers again and again from all angles to see where the next question lies.

It’s how Feynman changed what we believed about quantum electrodynamics and how he solved the Challenger problem: questions. Doubting everything in order to see if there were further questions within the provided answers. Finding deeper understanding and seeing something that was overlooked.

When it comes to intellect, don’t worry about test scores, degrees, or if you’re smart enough. While it might be good to take an expert’s word into account or into theory, it doesn’t mean that what they say shouldn’t be tested and scrutinized to make sure a bigger truth isn’t overlooked. Knowing yourself and your limitations can often move you further than believing that you’re already at the peak. If you think you’re at the peak, you might not see the other taller mountains around you because you’re too busy looking down from the smaller mountaintop you’re already on.

This quote from Feynman in The Character of Physical Law is an educational mantra to live by:

“I would rather have questions that can't be answered than answers that can't be questioned.”

Stay curious.