It's not always a good idea to "reinvent the wheel," but it's a good idea more often than it's recommended (which is never).
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The most interesting point in the Gribbins' excellent biography of Feynman is the value of "irresponsibly" ignoring existing research and working everything out for yourself from first principles.
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If you're on the side of the new paradigm that is replacing the older paradigms, in a Thomas Kuhn kind-of sense, then that irresponsibility is vitally important exactly because the old paradigm will fight for survival and try to convince supports of the new way that it wont work
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Mostly I'm curious how often it ends up working out for people, vs falling into re-inventing the wheel traps. I think people tend to go far deeper into the real issues while doing this—may just be a premature optimization though: if you don't actually need the depth it's a waste
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Apparently more than one Nobel prizewinner physically avoided Feynman because they couldn't stand him deriving their work from first principles on the way to proving something else....
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When I read A Short History of Nearly Everything, I was hoping to understand HOW scientists made their discoveries. Accepting scientific CONCLUSIONS at face value kinda defeats the purpose of the scientific method. The process matters more than the outcomes.
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I loved that book for the same reason. And I love how it brings seemingly magical discoveries within reach of anyone. Want to know the diameter of the Earth? Here's an easy way to measure it!
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Easier said than done.
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From Taleb’s “Only the autodidacts are free.”
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