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From the point of view of basic physics, the most interesting phenomena are, of course, in the new places, the places where the rules do not work - not the places where they do work! That is the way in which we discover new rules.
Richard P. Feynman
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Exploring the unknown challenges established rules and leads to the discovery of new knowledge.

Richard P. Feynman emphasizes the importance of venturing into areas where conventional laws of physics may not apply, as these anomalies are where true discoveries are made. By investigating phenomena that defy existing rules, scientists can uncover new principles and expand our understanding of the universe.

Themes

PhysicsDiscoveryUnknownRulesKnowledge

In practice

Example use cases

In a science seminar discussing the unpredictability of quantum mechanics, one might use this quote to highlight the excitement of exploring the unknown.

More from Richard P. Feynman

The philosophical question before us is, when we make an observation of our track in the past, does the result of our observation become real in the same sense that the final state would be defined if an outside observer were to make the observation?
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Science is a way to teach how something gets to be known, what is not known, to what extent things are known (for nothing is known absolutely), how to handle doubt and uncertainty, what the rules of evidence are, how to think about things so that judgments can be made, how to distinguish truth from fraud, and from show.
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