Chapter 27 The fourth big professor-6

Once I picked up a guy who wanted a lift.On the way he told me how interesting South America was and that I should check it out.I said the language was a big barrier, but he said just learn it and it won't be a big deal.So I thought, this is a good idea, I will go to South America in the future. At that time, Cornell opened foreign language classes, using a teaching model developed during the war. Each class only accepted about 10 students, taught by foreigners, and only foreign languages ​​were allowed in class.Although I already taught at Cornell, I decided to take the class as a graduate student because I looked so young.And I don't know which country in South America I will go to in the future, so I decided to learn Spanish, because most South American countries speak Spanish.

On the day of registration, we were all standing at the door of the classroom, waiting to go in, when suddenly a very beautiful blonde girl walked by.Probably everyone will have my feeling at that time: "Wow!" She is really beautiful.I said to myself, "Maybe she'll learn Spanish too—that would be great!" But no, she ran into the Portuguese class.I weighed it for a while, no matter what, I will go to learn Portuguese too! I followed her a few steps and suddenly thought "no, that's not a good reason to decide which language to learn." So I ran back and signed up for Spanish classes with great reluctance and regret.

Not long after, I was in New York for a meeting of the Physical Society, and I was sitting next to Brazilian physicist Jaime Tiomno.he ask me: "What are you going to do next summer vacation?" "I want to visit South America." "Oh! Why don't you come to Brazil? I can find you a research job at the Physics Research Center." So now I have to convert the Spanish I learned into Portuguese again! I got a Portuguese student at Cornell to teach me twice a week so I could change what I had learned. On the plane to Brazil, at first I sat next to a Colombian who only spoke Spanish, I was afraid to speak to him for fear of accidentally confusing the two languages, but sat in front of me Two people in a row were talking in Portuguese.I've never heard anyone speak "real" Portuguese, my Portuguese teacher always spoke slowly and clearly.The two people in front of me spoke like a cannonball. I even wanted to recognize some words I had learned from their words, such as "I" and "those", but I couldn't recognize them.In fact, I didn't understand anything!

Finally, when the plane was refueling in Trinidad, I went up to these two gentlemen and said to them in very slow, very slow Portuguese — or what I think was Portuguese — “I’m sorry...you guys Do you understand... what am I talking about?" "Pues nao, porque nao?"—"Of course I understand, why don't I understand?" they replied. I try to explain that I have been learning Portuguese for several months, but I have never heard a real Portuguese conversation; and I just listened to their conversation on the plane, but I couldn't understand a word. "Oh," they laughed, "we don't speak Portuguese at all!" It turns out that the Portuguese they spoke was like the German that the Jews developed themselves - called "Yiddish" - - Same, so you can imagine someone who's taken German seriously, sits next to two Jews, and can't figure out what's going on - because it sounds German, but doesn't understand anything.He must have thought he hadn't learned German well.

Back on the plane, they told me about another guy who actually spoke Portuguese, so I ran to sit with him.He used to study neurosurgery in Maryland, so it wasn't difficult to talk to him—but I had to talk to him about "nervous circuits, nervous centers" and other extremely complicated things.In fact, it is not difficult to translate many long English words into Portuguese, because the difference is only at the end of them: "tio" in English It is "-cao" in Portuguese, "ly" is "mente" and so on.But when he looked out the window and murmured some very simple words, I was stunned:

I don't even know how to say "the sky is blue" in Portuguese. I disembarked at Recife, from where the Brazilian government took care of sending me to Rio.I was greeted at the airport by the parents-in-law of Cesar Lattes, director of the Rio Physics Research Center, and another man.When the two boys went to help me retrieve my luggage, Mrs. Latis said to me in Portuguese: "Can you speak Portuguese? That's great! How did you learn Portuguese?" I sluggishly answer, "I was learning Spanish at first... and then I found out I was going to Brazil..." Then I was going to say, "So, I'm learning Portuguese," but I can't remember how "so" Portuguese is. Say.But I can spell some very "great" words, so I went on to say: "Consequentemente (consequently changed from English), I will learn Portuguese!"

When they came back with their luggage, she said, "Oh, he speaks Portuguese! And he uses words like 'for this reason'! " Then the loudspeaker announced that the flight to Rio had been cancelled, and that there would be no other flight until next Tuesday, but I would arrive by Monday at the latest. I was very angry, "Maybe they have a cargo flight, I'll take the cargo flight." I said. "Professor!" they said, "actually Rahifi is pretty good too. We'll show you around. Take it easy—you're in Brazil!" That night, I was wandering in the city, and I saw a group of people standing around a large rectangular hole in the middle of the road, with a car inside.It seemed miraculous: the car fit right into the hole, its roof becoming one with the road.Apparently the hole was being dug to fix a sewer or something, but the workers didn't even bother to put up a sign and the guy drove into the hole with a man and a car!So I noticed this difference: In America, when we dig a hole, we put diversion signs around, and a lot of lights flashing around to protect everyone.Whereas in Brazil, they dug the hole, and when it was off-duty time, they just left.

But Rehife is still a nice city, and I waited until Tuesday to fly to Rio. I met with Latis in Rio.Brazil's national television came to film our meeting.They started filming, but there was no sound, and the photographer said, "Pretend you guys are talking. Talk! Say whatever you want." So Latis asked me: "Have you found the 'Sleeping Dictionary'?" That night, TV audiences all over Brazil saw the director of their physics research center greet the American professor; but they didn't know that the conversation between the two was about finding a girl to spend the night with!

Once at the research center, we discussed when I would teach – morning or afternoon? "Students want to be in class in the afternoon," Lettis said. "Then let's have class in the afternoon." "But the afternoon is the best time to go to the beach, you should go to class in the morning so you can go to the beach in the afternoon and enjoy yourself." "But you said that students prefer to have classes in the afternoon." "Leave them alone. Arrange it however you like! Go to the beach in the afternoon." In this way, I learned another attitude towards life that is completely different from that of the United States.

First, they don't rush like I do; second, if that's better for you, leave them alone!So I lecture in the morning and enjoy the beach in the afternoon.If I knew it would be like this, I would have learned Portuguese instead of Spanish in the first place. At first I planned to teach in English and have the students ask questions in Portuguese; but I found that when the students said something to me in Portuguese, I couldn't quite understand it, even though I knew a good amount of Portuguese.I don't quite know whether they said "increase or not", "decrease" or "not decrease" or "decrease very slowly".But when they're struggling to speak English, I can tell what they're trying to say, even if their pronunciation is inaccurate and their grammar is garbled.So I realized that if I want to teach them something, it's better if I speak Portuguese, which is easier for them to understand even though I can't speak it well.

When I first came to Brazil, I stayed for a total of 6 weeks.During the period, the Brazilian Academy of Sciences invited me to give a speech.Reporting on my latest research in quantum electrodynamics.I felt that I needed to give a speech in Portuguese, and two students from the research center agreed to help me.I first wrote the speech in my absolutely broken Portuguese.I have to write it myself, because if they write it for me, there will be too many words in the manuscript that I can't understand or read correctly.After I finished writing, they corrected all the grammatical mistakes and typos for me, so that the speech looked good, but still within my level, so that I had no difficulty reading it and had an idea of ​​what I was talking about.They practice with me until my pronunciation is correct. When I arrived at the meeting place of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, a chemist gave a report-in English.Is he out of politeness, or is there another reason?His English pronunciation was so bad that I couldn't understand what he was saying; but maybe everyone else was like that, so they all understood - I don't know.Then the next speaker stood up and reported, also speaking in English! When it was my turn, I stood up and said, "Sorry, I didn't realize that the official language of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences is English, so I wasn't going to give my speech in English. Forgive me, but I will report in Portuguese. " Then I read my report, and everyone was very satisfied. The next speaker stood up and said, "Like our American counterparts, I also give my speeches in Portuguese." As far as I know, I have changed the language tradition of giving speeches at the Brazilian Academy of Sciences in one fell swoop. A few years later, I met a Brazilian who quoted me before the speech.It seems that they were really impressed by my few words! But no matter what, Portuguese was always difficult for me. I kept working hard, reading newspapers and teaching in Portuguese.I call my Portuguese "Feynman Portuguese", I am self-aware that what I speak cannot be compared to real Portuguese; although I understand what I speak, I cannot understand the Brazilians on the street Say something. I enjoyed my trip to Brazil so much that I returned a year later for a 10-month stay.This time I was teaching at the University of Rio, and my salary was paid by them; but they didn't even pay a dime in the end, so the research center had to keep paying me. Where I live is at the Miramar Hotel on the beachfront in Copacabana.For a while, I lived in a room on the 13th floor, from which I could see the sea and the girls on the beach. This hotel happened to be where the pilots and stewardesses of Pan American Air-lines rested, and they all lived on the 4th floor.And every night, someone would sneak in and out of the elevator. Once I went on a trip and came back after a few weeks, and the hotel manager told me that there were not enough rooms, and mine was available, so he rented out my room.They have moved all my luggage to another room. The new room is right next to the kitchen and many people have been here for a while.Perhaps the manager had figured it out: I was the only one who saw the benefits of living in this room and was therefore willing to put up with the smells without complaining.I won't complain: the room is on the 4th floor, not far from the stewardess, which saves a lot of trouble.Oddly enough, these flight attendants are a bit bored with their lives and often go to the bar to drink at night.I like them a lot, and to show that I'm a gregarious person, I go for drinks with them, several times a week. One day, around 3:30 in the afternoon, I was walking on the sidewalk opposite the beach, passing a bar, and suddenly had a very strong, very strong urge to drink.As I was about to walk into the bar, I suddenly thought, "Wait a minute! It's the afternoon, there's no one in there, and there's no social reason to drink. Why do I have this strong feeling that I have to drink?" I scared. From that moment on, I never drank alcohol again.Perhaps I was not yet in danger then, for I gave up alcohol so easily; but I was amazed by the inexplicable intensity.You know, I've always had so much fun thinking about it that I'd hate to destroy the most fun machine in my life—in other words, my body.That's why, despite my curiosity about the phenomenon of hallucinations, I'm reluctant to try psychedelics. Towards the end of the year, I once asked one of the lovely stewardesses to the museum.Passing by the Egyptian Pavilion, I realized I was saying things to her like, "What do the wings on the sarcophagus represent, and the bottle contains guts, and there should be something in that corner...".I said to myself, "You learned all this from Marylou"—and I felt lonely when I found out she wasn't around. I met Marylou at Cornell, then I moved to Pasadena, and she just moved to neighboring Westwood. At one point I liked her a lot, but we fought a lot; eventually we both decided it was hopeless, so we broke up.But after a year of hanging out with the stewardesses without developing a relationship, I felt impatient.So when I told this girl about Egypt, I thought, Marylou is actually pretty cute, and we shouldn't have fought so hard before. I wrote a letter to propose to her.Anyone smart enough would probably tell me how dangerous that is: when you're thousands of miles away and you only communicate by letter; and you're lonely, remembering all the good times, and forgetting all the reasons for the quarrels!So in the end everything was unsuccessful, the quarrel was immediately repeated, and our marriage lasted only a short two years. There was a clerk at the US Consulate in Brazil who knew I liked samba music.I think I told him that when I first came to Brazil, I heard bands playing in the street and wanted to learn more about Brazilian music.He told me that there was a small band called "Countryland" that practiced at his house every week, and I could go and listen to them play. There were three or four people in the band, one of whom was the cleaner at his house, and they had nowhere else to practice.Their music was of a rather quiet type, with one playing a small tambourine, known locally as a pandeiro, and the other a small guitar.I keep hearing drums, but none of them are drumming!At last I discovered that the sound was coming from the tambourine: the man was shaking the drum, twisting his wrists, and beating the leather side of the tambourine with his thumb in a very complicated way.It was fun, and I later learned - kind of learned - how to play Pendloh. At this time, the carnival in Brazil is coming soon, and it is customary for them to "show" new music creations during the festival.It's not often that they come out with a new song or record, but during the carnival, new creations come out - it's an exciting time. Turns out our cleaner was a composer for a local samba band called The Liars of Coba Cabana - that sounded like my style, and he invited me to join.Members of the orchestra, mostly from poorer parts of the city, usually meet in an open space behind a construction site to practice new pieces for a carnival performance. The instrument I chose was called a frigideira, a metal toy frying pan about 6 inches in diameter that was struck with a small metal rod.It is an instrument used for accompaniment, with a clear and rapid sound, accompanied by the main instrument and main rhythm of samba music, and has an auxiliary effect.I tried to play this instrument and it worked really well.We practiced like that, and the music was loud. When everyone was in high spirits, a big black man who was the chief percussionist suddenly shouted, "Stop! Stop, stop—wait a minute!" Everyone stopped. "Something's wrong with Frigidella's part!" he growled. "It's the Yankees again!" It made me feel very uncomfortable.So I kept practicing, walking on the beach, I would pick up two sticks, practice the wrist twist, and practice, practice, and practice.I put in a lot of practice, but I still feel like a dwarf, that I'm not good enough, that I'm always causing trouble for other people. The carnival is getting closer and closer.One night, the head of the orchestra was having a discussion with another guy for a while, and then the head of the band came up and started doing the roll call: "You!" He pointed to a trumpet player. "You!" This time it was a singer. "You!"—he pointed at me.I thought to myself, we must all be knocked out. "Go ahead," he said. We walked to the front of the site—five or six of us, maybe—and there was an old Cadillac convertible. "Get in!" said the team leader. There wasn't enough room in the car, and some of us had to sit on the backs of the seats.I asked the person next to me, "What is he going to do - kick us out?" "I have no idea." The car drove up along the road until it stopped on the edge of a cliff facing the sea.The group leader said: "Get out of the car!" Then we were taken to the edge of the cliff! Then he said: "Now line up in single file, you lead, then you, then you! Play the music: step, go!" If it weren't for a very steep path there, we might have "walked" under the cliff at this first step!Our little band—trumpet player, singer, guitarist, pendlo player and me on frigidella—went all the way to an open air party in the woods!Turns out we weren't about to be kicked out, but the head of the group asked us to come and play samba music for this private party!After the performance, he also collected some money for the orchestra's decoration fee. I felt better after this because when he was going to pick frigid handles, he picked me! Another thing happened that really boosted my confidence.One time, a guy came running from a samba band in Leblon and wanted to join our band. Our boss said, "Where are you from?" "LeBlanc." "What instrument do you play?" "Frigidella." "Okay, let me hear how you knock." So the guy grabs his Frigidella and the metal rod, and... "Bah lah - do - do; lac - ka - lac." Omg!sounds so good! But the boss said to him, "You go over there and stand next to the Yankees and learn how to play frigidella!" I have a theory.I think it's a lot like when a French speaker comes to America, at first they make all kinds of mistakes and you can't understand what he's saying.They practice until they can speak English well, and you suddenly notice that there is a very pleasing tone to the way they speak—their foreign accents are very pleasant, and you like to listen to them.Maybe the frigidera I play probably has some kind of "foreign accent" too, because in fact, I can't compare to these people who grew up playing this instrument.Mine is probably a clumsy accent, but I've become a successful frigid puller anyway. One day just before the carnival, the head of the group said, "Okay, let's practice on the street." We walked from the construction site to the street, and the traffic on the road was heavy at that time.But the streets of Bacabana are always in such a mess.Believe it or not, there are still cables down the street, and the trams go one way and the other cars go the other way.The situation was even more alarming given that it was the local rush hour, and we were walking down the middle of Atlantic Avenue! I thought to myself, "Jesus Christ! Boss didn't pre-apply for a license, didn't notify the police, didn't do anything, he just decided to hit the road on a whim!" We just walked down the street like that, and everyone on the road was excited.Some onlookers found a rope and formed a big square around us so as not to disperse our group. Many people poked their heads out of the windows, and everyone was eager to hear the new samba music.This is an exciting time! When we started playing the parade, I saw a policeman at the far end of the street.He took a look, knew what happened, and began to direct the vehicles to divert!Everything is done at will, no one pre-arranged, but everything will happen naturally.Those people held the rope for us and surrounded us, and the police dispersed the traffic.The passers-by are so crowded, the traffic is so congested, but we go all the way, unimpeded!We went to the end of the street, turned the corner, and wandered around Copacabana! Finally we came to a small square, right in front of the house where Big Mama lived.We stood there playing, and his mother, aunt, etc., all came downstairs, wearing aprons, showing that they were all busy in the kitchen, and there was excitement on everyone's faces-they were almost excited. I'm about to cry, it's such a heartwarming scene.It's so interesting to see all the people sticking their heads out of the windows!When I saw these samba bands when I came to Brazil, I fell in love with these samba bands, and I was crazy-but now, I am actually a part of them! By the way, when we played in the parade downtown that day, I noticed two young female librarians from the American embassy among the crowd on the sidewalk.A week later, I received a letter from the embassy, ​​saying: "What you are doing is very meaningful..." It seems that my purpose is to improve the relationship between the United States and Brazil! When I went to the rehearsal, I didn't want to wear the clothes I usually wear to class.Because the people in the orchestra are very poor and wear shabby clothes.I put on an old underwear, old trousers, etc. so as not to look too out of place.But after being dressed like this, it is inconvenient for me to walk through the downstairs lobby from such a luxurious hotel to the Atlantic Avenue outside.I had to take the elevator to the bottom floor every time, from the basement to the street. Shortly before the carnival, there was a competition between the orchestras.We are one of three or four bands from the beaches of Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblanc who will be participating.This time we're going to put on costumes and parade down Atlantic Avenue.Since I'm not Brazilian, it was a little uncomfortable for me to put on my carnival costume and perform in full armor.But we're going to be Greek, so I feel much better: I'm no worse than them! On the day of the game, I ate in the hotel.The head waiter of the hotel had already noticed that whenever there was samba music, I always knocked on the table along with the music; at this time he came to me and said, "Mr. Feynman, there is one you will like very much tonight." The show! It's very Brazilian, right outside the hotel door, with a parade of various samba bands! The music is beautiful - you must listen to it!" I said, "Well, I'm very busy tonight, I don't know if I'm free." "Oh! You're going to love tonight's show! Don't miss it! This is pure Brazilian! " He kept insisting, and I kept telling him that I probably didn't have time to see the show, and he was disappointed. That night, I put on my old clothes and walked from the basement to the street. We put on our costumes at the construction site and started walking down Atlantic Avenue. Among the hundreds of Brazilian ensembles dressed as Greeks, I mingle at the back of the line, banging Frigidella like hell. Both sides of the street were crowded with people sticking their heads out of the windows; we were almost at the Miramar Hotel where I was staying.Inside the hotel, there were people standing on tables and chairs, and there was also a sea of ​​people.We played out loud and lost ourselves, while the orchestra slowly made its way around the hotel gates.Suddenly I saw a waiter jumping in the air, pointing forward with his hand, and amidst the noise, I could still hear him screaming: "That's the professor!" Then the head waiter found out why Can't keep me at the hotel to watch the game - I'm going to an exhibition game! The next day, I ran into a woman I met on the beach in an apartment overlooking Atlantic Avenue.And the night before, she invited a group of friends to her house to enjoy the parade of the samba band.She told me that when we passed by, a friend of hers said, "Listen to the guy who knocked Frigidella - he played it well!" I made it!It has been such a joy to be successful at things that no one expected me to be successful at! When the carnival was about to be held, many members did not show up.We made a lot of costumes just for this event, but now we are short of people!Maybe they thought we had no chance of winning against a samba band in a big city. I don't know much about this, all I know is that we worked hard, practiced and drilled day after day for the carnival, but when that day came, many members of the regiment stopped coming.The situation of our competition was also very bad. Our people were still performing in the parade on the street, and some members actually left the team while walking!I'll never understand these things, and maybe the biggest thrill and fun for them is just winning the Beach Orchestra competition - because they feel like that's their level. By the way, our band did win that competition. During my 10 months in Brazil, I became interested in the energy levels of light nuclei.I just worked out the whole theory in my hotel room, but I wanted to compare it with experimental data.At the time, this was all new research, and the experts at Caltech's Kellogg Laboratory were doing it, so I regularly -- all scheduled -- contacted them on the ham radio network .I found a Brazilian "ham family" and went to his house almost every week.He's going to get in touch with another ham guy in Pasadena, and since the whole thing is kind of illegal, he takes the sign for me and says, "Now I'm handing you over to WKWX and he's sitting next to me , ready to talk to you." Then I said, "I'm WKWX. Can you tell me the data I asked you about last week? That is, how far are the so-and-what energy levels of the boron nucleus?" After getting the experimental data, I revised the theoretical to check to see if I'm on the right track. Then the ham guy went on vacation, but he introduced me to another ham guy.This is a blind man, but he has his own radio station.Both of them are very good, and the method of contacting Caltech through the ham radio network is also very effective and efficient. In terms of physics, I've done quite a bit, and it all makes sense.Later, others deduced and confirmed my theory.My own feeling, however, is that there are too many parameters to tune in the theories—too many "phenomenal tuning constants" to fit the experimental data—that I'm not sure if the theories are useful.What I hope to obtain is a deeper understanding of the atomic nucleus, but I still don't believe that it is a very meaningful theory, and there will be no related research in the future. Regarding education in Brazil, I have come across some very interesting experiences. The class I teach are all students preparing to take teaching as a career in the future.In fact, in Brazil at that time, there was probably no other job for someone with advanced scientific training.These students have already taken many physics courses, and I teach the most advanced course they have ever taken in electromagnetism: "Maxwell's Equations" (Maxwells equations). The buildings of the University of Rio are scattered throughout the city: my class was arranged in a building facing the bay. I found a very strange phenomenon: Sometimes I ask a question, and the students can answer it right away.But the next time I asked the same question - at least it seemed to me the same subject, same question - they couldn't answer it! For example, one time, I was talking about polarized light, and I brought them some polarizers. The characteristic of the polarizer is that it only allows the light of the electric vector in a certain direction to pass through.I explained to the students that according to the darkness of the polarizer, the polarization direction of the light can be obtained. We hold a piece of polarizing lens in one hand, place them in front of our eyes one after the other, and then turn one of them.In this way, we know that the light that can pass through the two polarizers must have the same polarization direction—in other words, what we see is the light that both the first and second polarizers allow to pass.But then I asked them, if there is only one polarizer, how can we tell the direction of polarization?They were at a loss. I also know that this question is not easy to answer and requires a good mind, so I give them a little hint: "Look at the light reflected from the bay outside." Still no one said a word. I said again: "Ever heard of Brewster Angle?" "Yes! Brewster's angle is the angle at which light is perfectly polarized when reflected from a medium with a certain refractive index." "When the light is reflected in this way, what is its polarization?" "The polarization direction of this light is at right angles to the reflection plane." I have to think about it myself, but they memorized it by heart!They even know that the tangent of that angle is equal to the index of refraction! I said, "And then?" Still no answer.They just told me that light reflected from a medium with a certain index of refraction—like the water out in the bay—is polarized; they even told me the direction of polarization! I said, "Look at the bay, look through the polarizer. OK, now turn the polarizer." "Oh, it's polarized light!" they exclaimed. After studying for a long time, I realized that my students memorized everything very well, but they didn't understand what I was memorizing at all.When they hear "light reflected from a medium having a certain index of refraction," they have no idea that it means something like "water."They don't know the "direction of light" It's the direction when you look at something, things like that.So when I ask, "What is Brewster's Corner," it's as if I'm asking a computer a question, and I hit the right key.But if I say "Look at the sea water", there is no response at all - in their memory, there is no such thing as "Look at the sea water"! Later I went to the engineering college to watch their classes.The format of the class is roughly like this: "Two objects...are equal...if the same torque...causes...the same acceleration. Two objects are equal." If the same torque causes the same acceleration. "The students all sat there and wrote down every word. And when the professor repeated that sentence, they checked it word by word to make sure they didn't make mistakes. Then they silently wrote another sentence, and it went on and on. I was the only one who knew Whoever the professor is saying, he means objects with the same "moment of inertia", which is not easy to understand. I really don't understand what they can learn in this way.The professor is talking about moments of inertia, but he won't talk about how difficult it is for you to push the door open if a heavy object is hung next to the door; but if you hang the heavy object near the hinge of the door, It's so much easier to push the door - no such discussion at all! After class, I asked a student, "You copied so many notes—what do you do with them next?" "Oh, we're going to study hard," he said, "and then test." "How to study the law?" "It's very easy, I can tell you one of the test questions right now." He looked at his notebook and said: "'Under what circumstances are two objects equal?' The answer is, 'Two bodies are equal if the same torque causes the same acceleration. ’” So you see, they have a way of passing the exam and “learning” everything, but they can’t do anything but memorize it. I went to visit the engineering college entrance examination again.The entrance examination was in the form of an oral examination, and I was allowed to attend as a non-voting observer.One student did really well: He answers all questions!The examiner asked him what diamagnetism is, and he answered flawlessly.Next they asked: "What happens to light when it passes through a thick object at a certain angle and has a refractive index N?" "It's going to come out the other side, parallel to the incoming light -- there's a displacement." "How big is the displacement?" "I don't know, but I can figure it out." Figured it out right away.He was doing great, but by this point I was starting to doubt everything. After the oral exam, I walked up to this wonderful young man, introduced myself as an American, and wanted to ask him some questions without it affecting his test scores.The first question I asked was: "Can you give an example of a diamagnetic substance?" "I can't lift it out." I asked again: "If this book is made of glass, and I look through it to see something on the table. What happens to the image I see when I tilt the book?" "It will be reflected at twice the angle the book is turned." I said, "Are you sure you didn't confuse my question with a flat mirror?" "No confusion." Just now in the exam, he told us that the light will be displaced, parallel to the incident light; so in fact, the image will move to the side, but it will not turn the angle.他甚至还计算出影像会平移多远呢！但他没意识到一块玻璃就是具有折射率的物质，他的计算更可以直接应用在我的问题上。 我在工学院还教过一门数学物理课，有一次我想说明如何应用“试误法”来解题目。这是一般学生很少学习的技巧，因此我首先举一些简单的算术例子，示范怎样用这方法。然而令我震惊的是，在大约80个学生之中， 只有8个人交出第一次的指定作业。因此我在教室里特别强调，他们必须动手尝试，而不只是坐在那里看我计算。 下课之后，学生派了一个小代表团来见我，并且说我不了解他们的学习背景，事实上他们不用做那些习题也可以学习，他们早已学过算术，这些东西都在他们程度之下。 于是我继续讲课，而无论后来教得多深或多复杂，他们什么作业也不做！我当然晓得原因是什么：他们根本不会做！ 我无法推动他们做到的另一件事，是问问题。终于，一个学生告诉我其中的原因：“如果我在课堂上问你问题，之后大家都会跑来说：'你为什么浪费大家的时间？我们的目的是学东西。但你却打断他，问他问题。” 这是一种打压别人的坏风气。事实上大家全都不懂，但他们表现出一副很懂的样子，以把别人比下去。他们全在假装明白课程内容，如果有学生偶然承认有些事情不够清楚，问问题，其他人便立刻摆出高高在上的样子，表现出一切都很清楚明白，并告诉他：“你在浪费其他人的时间。” 我跟他们说，大家一起做功课、讨论问题都是多么有用的方法；但他们也不要那样做，因为他们认为，开口问别人是很丢脸的事——真是可怜可悲！他们努力学习了不少，人也很聪明，但他们让自己陷入这种可笑的心理状态。 这真是种奇怪的、完全没有意义的“教育”！ 学年终了时，学生请我做一次演讲，谈谈我在巴西的教学经验。他们说，听众将不只是学生，很多教授、政府官员都会跑来听讲，于是我先要求他们答应我畅所欲言。 他们说：“没问题，这是个自由国家。” 到了那天，我带着大学一年级用的物理教科书走上讲台。他们都认为这本书十分之好，因为书里用了各种不同字体——重要的东西都用粗黑的字，这些是要牢牢记住的；较为不重要的用浅一点、细一点的字等等。 立刻就有人说：“你不是要批评这本书吧？写这本书的人也在场呢，而且每个人都觉得这是本很好的教科书。” “你们答应过我想讲什么，就讲什么！” 演讲厅里全坐满了。首先我把科学定义为“对大自然现象的理解”，然后我问：“教学生科学有什么好处呢？ 当然，如果不注重科学，这个国家就还不够文明……。 " 他们全坐在那里点头赞同，我很清楚这正是他们的想法。 然后我话锋一转：“当然，这是十分荒谬的，因为，我们为什么一定非要追上另一个国家不可？我们应该是为了一个好理由、充分的理由才教授科学，而不是只因为其他国家也研究科学。”我谈到科学的应用、科学对于改进人类生活的贡献——我着实挖苦了他们一顿。 然后我说：“我这次演讲的主题，是要向各位证明，巴西根本没有在教科学！” 他们明显地激动起来了，全都在想：“什么？没有在教科学？这话太疯狂了！我们开了一大堆科学课呢！” 我告诉他们，刚到巴西时，令我最震惊的是，看到小学生在书店里购买物理书。这么多巴西小孩在学物理，全都比美国小孩更早起步，结果整个巴西却没有几个物理学家，这真是令人惊讶极了——为什么会这样？这么多小孩那样的用功，结果却一点成效也没有！ 我举例说，这好比一个深爱希腊文的希腊学者，他知道在他自己的国家里，小孩都不大爱念希腊文。但当他跑到别的国家，却发现那里的人都在研究希腊文，甚至小学生也在读，他高兴极了，但在一个主修希腊文学生的学位考试上，他问学生：“苏格拉底谈到真理和美之间的关系时，提出过什么主张？”——学生答不出来。然后学者又问：“苏格拉底在第三次对话录中跟柏拉图说过些什么？” 学生立刻眉飞色舞，以极优美的希腊文，一字不漏的把苏格拉底说过的话背出来。 可是，苏格拉底在第三次对话录里所说的，正是真理和美之间的关系呢！ 这位希腊学者发现的是，那个国家的学生学习希腊文的方式，是首先学会字母的发音，然后是字的读法，再后来是一句及一段地学下去。他们可以把苏格拉底说过的话倒背如流，却完全不知道那些希腊字是有其意义的。对学生来说，一切都只不过是些很人工化的声音罢了。从来没有人把这些声音翻译成学生看得懂的东西。 我说：“当我看到你们教小孩'科学'的方式时，我的感觉就跟那希腊学者一模一样。”（很够震撼是不是？） 我把他们的大一物理教科书举起来，“在这本书里，从头到尾都没有提及实验结果，除了一个地方。那里谈的是球体从斜面上滚下来，书中说球体一秒钟移动多远，二秒、三秒钟又如何等等。但这些数字其实有'误差'，因为，如果你看这个图，你会以为自己看的是实验结果，因为那些数字确实是比理论值大一点或少一点。课本甚至还讨论怎样修正实验误差——这倒是很好。问题在于，如果你根据这些数据来计算加速度常数，没错，你可以得出正确答案。可是假如你真的动手做这个实验的话，由于球体本身的惯性作用，除了滚动之外它还会转动，因此你会得到计算答案的5／7，因为有部分的能量消耗在转动上了。 所以，书中唯一的实验'结果'，也一定是来自一个假实验。从头到尾就没有人弄一个球让它滚下来，而他们永远也不会写出那些数据来！ " “我还发现其他事情，”我继续说：“随便把书翻开，手指到哪一行便读那一行，我都可以更进一步说明我意指为何——证明书里包含的不是科学，而只是生吞活剥地背诵而已，整本书都是如此。事实上，甚至我现在就敢在各位面前，当场随便翻到书中任何一页，读给大家听，证明我的说法。” 我念道：“摩擦发光（Triboluminescence）： 当晶体被撞击时所发的光……” 我说：“在这样的句子里，是否就是科学呢？不！你只不过是用一些字说出另一些字的意思而已，一点都没提到大自然——没有提到撞击什么晶体时会发光，为什么会发光。各位有没有看到过任何学生回家试做个实验？我想，他没有办法做，他根本不知道该怎样做。” “但如果你写：'当你在黑暗里拿把钳子打在一块糖上，你会看到一丝蓝色光。其他晶体也有此效应，没有人知道为什么。这个现象被称为摩擦发光。'那么就会有人回家试着这样做，那就是一次与大自然相遇的美妙经验。” 最后我说，实在看不出在这种一再重复下去的体制中，谁能受到任何教育。大家都努力考试，然后教下一代如何考试，大家什么都不懂。“不过，”我说：“我一定是搞错了。在我教的班里有两个学生表现很好，另外有一位我认识的物理学家也是在巴西受教育的。因此，看来虽然制度很烂，有些人还是有办法成功的。” 哈，当我讲完之后，负责科学教育的一位部长站起来说：“费曼先生刚刚说的全是些让我们坐立难安的事情，但看起来他是真心热爱科学，而且他的批评也很具诚意。 因此，我觉得我们应该听他的。来这里之前，我早已知道我们的教育体制有病；但我现在才发现我们患了癌！”——说完随后坐下。 那让其他人也获得了畅所欲言的自由，空气里顿时洋溢着兴奋的气氛、每个人都站起来提出建议。在演讲前学生早就组成一些委员会，把我的讲稿油印出来，他们也推动其他委员会做其他事情。 然后，发生了些完全出乎我意料之外的事情。有一个学生站起来说，“我就是费曼先生提到的两个学生之一。 但我从来没有接受过巴西的教育，我是在德国受教育的，我今年才刚到巴西。 " 另外那个优秀的学生也说了些差不多的话。而我提到过的教授呢，居然也站起来说，“我是在巴西接受教育，但那是在战争期间。当时，幸好所有教授都没有留在学校，我所有的东西都是靠自修学来的。严格说来，我也不是在巴西的制度之下受的教育。” 我完全没有预期会那样。我知道他们的体制很糟糕，但百分之百的糟糕——那真是惨不忍睹！ 由于我的巴西之行受到美国政府某个计划的赞助，因此美国外交部要我就巴西经验写篇报告，我就把我的演讲内容写出来。后来透过一些渠道，知道外交部有些人的反应是：“这显示出，送这样天真的人去巴西是多么的危险。 这个笨蛋只会给我们添麻烦，他根本不了解其中的问题。 " 刚好相反！我觉得外交部这位仁兄才真够天真：就因为他看到大学里开了一大堆课、也有种种说明，就以为看到了真相！