"The real problem in speech is not precise language. The problem is clear language. The desire is to have the idea clearly communicated to the other person. It is only necessary to be precise when there is some doubt as to the meaning of a phrase, and then the precision should be put in the place where the doubt exists. It is really quite impossible to say anything with absolute precision, unless that thing is so abstracted from the real world as to not represent any real thing.Pure mathematics is just such an abstraction from the real world, and pure mathematics does have a special precise language for dealing with its own special and technical subjects. But this precise language is not precise in any sense if you deal with real objects of the world, and it is only pedantic and quite confusing to use it unless there are some special subtleties which have to be carefully distinguished."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Academics from the United StatesNon-fiction authors from the United StatesNobel laureates in PhysicsNobel laureates from the United StatesPhysicists from the United States
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Paraphrased as "Precise language is not the problem. Clear language is the problem."
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Related Quotes
"What the students are taught ...now ...about physics ...The numbers are much bigger... so enormous you can't count th…"
"That's called monochromatic light, light of one color. ...I'm going to discuss all my phenomena for a while with ligh…"
"One of the most important things in this 'guess — compute consequences — compare with experiment' business is to know…"
"[T]he Mayan[s]... had a scheme for predicting... when Venus was a morning... or . ...[T]hey had a rule for... making …"
"[I]n the years we have developed enormous abilities in mathematics and it takes a long time to train the students, an…"
"I don't know about philosophy of Mayans. We have very little information due to the efficiency of the Spanish es and.…"
"The most important thing I found out from [my father] is that if you asked any question and pursued it deeply enough,…"
"I don't like honors. ... I've already got the prize: the prize is the pleasure of finding the thing out, the kick in …"
"That was the beginning and the idea seemed so obvious to me that I fell deeply in love with it. And, like falling in …"
"If we make an instrument that can detect light, that's as sensitive as it can possibly be made. ...This ...is called …"