hackertube.io

Richard Feynman on Pseudoscience

Jacob Edward · interview · Watch on YouTube

Scientific method & science communicationPhilosophy & ethics

What it is

A two-minute clip of Richard Feynman explaining why he considers much of social science pseudoscience. He stresses how easy it is to fool yourself and how much care real knowledge takes.

Why Hacker News recommends it

Commenters post it whenever a thread touches on soft sciences, replication problems, or what counts as real science.

  • 5 people recommended it
  • 5 different months
  • 1 strong recommendations
  • first 2016, last 2026

What HN commenters said

  1. “This could serve as a beacon for those who still care”

    Feynman on how hard real knowledge is and fooling yourself

    senshan, 2026-07 · Strong recommendation · in “AI advice made people 3x less accurate but 2x confident, researchers found”

  2. “it's very hard to know something and you have to be really careful that you've done the work and aren't just deluding yourself”

    Short Feynman clip on how hard it is to really know something

    summerdown2, 2017-04 · Recommendation · in “Bangkok plans to ban all street food by year′s end”

  3. “Richard Feynman had a very interesting interview about it.”

    Feynman interview on soft sciences versus real science

    paidleaf, 2018-06 · Recommendation · in “The Lifespan of a Lie – Why can’t we escape the Stanford Prison Experiment?”

  4. “Here is richard feynmann's poignant take on the matter.”

    Feynman's pointed take on social science

    qubax, 2018-09 · Recommendation · in “A Cornell Scientist’s Downfall”

  5. “Worth watching the clip so you can hear the argument directly.”

    Feynman argues peer review and p-values do not make science

    aeternum, 2026-05 · Recommendation · in “Australia Four-Day Work Week Study Data Shows Boosted Productivity”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: feynman, pseudoscience, social science, replication, epistemics

Also recommended by the same people