[giraffe_lady]

It's been many years since I read his memoirs but I remember feeling that he came off as a barely-sympathetic womanizer in them. He had more or less absolute control over his own portrayal of himself so I assume the truth was significantly worse.

[jayceedenton]

You never considered the possibility he was just being honest?

[foldr]

I'd read that as 'the whole truth' rather than a suggestion that the Surely You're Joking series contained outright lies. The books (obviously) don't go into all the details of Feynman's personal and sexual relations, so there is surely much that is omitted. They also don't exactly convey a sense of extreme veracity, being structured as collections of amusing anecdotes.

[packetslave]

Collections of amusing anecdotes is exactly what they are. Feynman didn’t write the Surely You’re Joking series. They’re stories he told that Ralph Leighton wrote down and collected into books.

[randombits0]

It taints the whole “woman he loved” routine as he openly acknowledged his misogyny and objectification of women throughout his life. He can’t love women so how can he love this woman?

[happytoexplain]

>He can’t love women

This is a false premise and an oversimplification motivated by (understandably) bitter emotions (I go into this more in another comment).

[randombits0]

I’m only suggesting that the great mind is flawed and contradictory. He is a man of his time, of course, but just perhaps a bit too quick to settle into the advantages of being a man of significant influence.

People change and perhaps I’m being harsh. I just thought the paradox was interesting.

[watwut]

Men are fully capable to love one woman and see others just as sex. Men are fully capable to write romantic letters and mean them in the moment and seek casual sex two hours later.

[somenameforme]

The seeming frequency in this thread with which people seem unable to distinguish between love and lust (or how one can lead to the other, and their otherwise complex interworking) is evidence many have yet to experience one or the other. The 'other' being rather self evident. And that's quite sad.

One of the few times I'm reminded how much time I spend posting in an online text forum, and oh boy what a bubble we enjoy conversing in.

[watwut]

It is perfectly possible to love one person and have lust to another. Which is what original poster deemed shocking. The complain here is "how it is possible for him to be in love with one woman while also being womanizer in completely different relationship".

[Scarblac]

It's also possible to love multiple people at the same time, or in different ways. Nothing about human relations is binary.

[heikkilevanto]

some men. As well as some women.