HackerTube.dev

R. P. Feynman on social sciences

x1x2x3ct · 209.5K views · 2010-03-15 · 1:52

Open on YouTube ↗

If playback is restricted in your region, try opening the original video. Use Mark watched to add it to your marked videos.

Overview

A two-minute clip of Richard Feynman on the social sciences, discussing what counts as real science versus pseudo science.

On Hacker News

HN cites it in threads on psychology replication and weak research as Feynman's critique of pseudo science.

Discussed on HN; no positive recommendation is recorded in this export · HN mentions 2012–2015

Topics

Scientific method & science communication
Search by tags
richard feynmansocial sciencespseudo sciencescientific method

What people said

dpc_pw · 2015-07 · Reference

R. P. Feynman on social sciences: [VIDEO] Psychology, economics, climatology. World is literally run by "almost-sciences" claiming to have an authority of "full-science".

Read the original HN comment ↗
FrojoS · 2012-10 · Reference

Richard P. Feynman on pseudo science: [VIDEO] BTW, I come from the field of robotics and there, hardly any published result is replicated either.

Read the original HN comment ↗
zerohp · 2012-03 · Reference

Actually, people still say that sociology, and other social "sciences" are not science. You're assuming that the scientific method is science, but its more than that. Many modern fields of endeavor call themselves sciences mostly because of the success of science. They only superficially emulate science. This includes Computer Science, which is really mathematics and engineering. Feynman himself speaks about it: [VIDEO]

Read the original HN comment ↗

Sources

Video by x1x2x3ct, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

HN summaries and labels may contain AI errors. HN dates refer to discussions, not video publication.

HN Library: HackerTube export (2026-10-31) and open-index/hacker-news. Upstream summaries and classifications may contain AI errors.

Views, duration and playback status refresh separately from the published catalog. When an update fails, existing data remains visible.

Selection checks
  • SaaS & AI candidates: Topic keywords do not match
  • Editor-approved picks: Editorial review is required

Rule matches identify candidates. They do not guarantee video quality or financial results.

About the library and its sources