What does it really mean?

Next time you’re reading something, try to understand what the text is really saying. Imagine you are that person inside the text. How does it feel? How big is it? What is really going on here.

When the CIA warns about possible chaos in Afghanistan, imagine what it’s like to be there on the ground, to be a warlord, or to be a citizen caught in this struggle. Or imagine who that “CIA” is, imagine the people at CIA looking into this and making these conclusions; who are they? what are they saying to each other? are they in a big conference room together? who first thought of this, how did it progress.

Of course, a lot of this is going to be guesswork. But it’s worth reminding yourself that that’s how everything gets done: Someone sees something, or thinks of something, shares it with other people, they all have to eat and go to the bathroom, evertying is always in the end very down-to-earth, common humand, understandable.

Anyway, this conversation reminded me that I’d never published a review of the Feynman books, so here goes the first one.