Feynman 2-1.2: The Great Chess Game

[Intro: Piano Solo – Smoky and Jazz-inflected]
[Spoken Word Intro]
What do we mean... by "understanding" something?
(Understanding...)
The world is a great chess game.
Played by the gods.

[Verse 1: Rhythmic flow, articulate]
[beat: crisp snare, upright bass walking line]

We can imagine that this complicated array... of moving things
Which constitutes "the world"
Is something like a great chess game... being played by the gods.
(Played by the gods)
And we... are observers of the game.

We do not know what the rules of the game are;
All we are allowed to do... is to watch the playing.
Of course, if we watch long enough,
We may eventually catch on... to a few of the rules.
The rules of the game... are what we mean by fundamental physics.

[Chorus: Melodic, layered vocals]
[Saxophone swells in background]

Even if we knew every rule...
We might not be able to understand
Why a particular move is made.
It is too complicated... and our minds are limited.
(Our minds are limited)
So it is in nature... only much more so.

[Verse 2: Strip beat back – Bass focus]
Actually, we do not have all the rules now.
Every once in a while... something like castling is going on
That we still do not understand.
(We don't understand it)

We must, therefore, limit ourselves
To the more basic question... of the rules of the game.
If we know the rules, we consider... that we "understand" the world.

[Bridge: Building intensity – Storytelling Mode]
How can we tell whether the rules which we "guess" at
Are really right?
There are, roughly speaking, three ways.

First... Nature has arranged to be simple.
To have so few parts... that we can predict exactly what will happen.
(Check how the rules work)

Second... less specific rules derived from them.
Like the bishop on a chessboard... moving only on the diagonal.
We can check our idea... by finding if it is always on a red square.
Until all of a sudden... we find that it is on a black square.
(New rules... New places)

[Verse 3: Full beat returns, driving forward]
The most interesting phenomena... are of course in the new places.
The places where the rules do not work—
Not the places where they do work!
That is the way... in which we discover new rules.

The third way... is rough approximation.
(Rough approximation)
We may not be able to tell why Alekhine moves this particular piece,
But perhaps we can roughly understand...
That he is gathering his pieces around the king.
To protect it... since that is the sensible thing to do.

[Outro: Fade out with Saxophone solo]
In the same way, we can often understand nature...
More or less...
Without being able to see what every little piece is doing.
We understand the game.
(Fundamental physics.)
(The rules of the game.)

[End]

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[Intro: Piano Solo – Smoky and Jazz-inflected] [Spoken Word Intro] What do we mean... by "understanding" something? (Understanding...) The world is a great chess game. Played by the gods. [Verse 1: Rhythmic flow, articulate] [beat: crisp snare, upright bass walking line] We can imagine that this complicated array... of moving things Which constitutes "the world" Is something like a great chess game... being played by the gods. (Played by the gods) And we... are observers of the game. We do not know what the rules of the game are; All we are allowed to do... is to watch the playing. Of course, if we watch long enough, We may eventually catch on... to a few of the rules. The rules of the game... are what we mean by fundamental physics. [Chorus: Melodic, layered vocals] [Saxophone swells in background] Even if we knew every rule... We might not be able to understand Why a particular move is made. It is too complicated... and our minds are limited. (Our minds are limited) So it is in nature... only much more so. [Verse 2: Strip beat back – Bass focus] Actually, we do not have all the rules now. Every once in a while... something like castling is going on That we still do not understand. (We don't understand it) We must, therefore, limit ourselves To the more basic question... of the rules of the game. If we know the rules, we consider... that we "understand" the world. [Bridge: Building intensity – Storytelling Mode] How can we tell whether the rules which we "guess" at Are really right? There are, roughly speaking, three ways. First... Nature has arranged to be simple. To have so few parts... that we can predict exactly what will happen. (Check how the rules work) Second... less specific rules derived from them. Like the bishop on a chessboard... moving only on the diagonal. We can check our idea... by finding if it is always on a red square. Until all of a sudden... we find that it is on a black square. (New rules... New places) [Verse 3: Full beat returns, driving forward] The most interesting phenomena... are of course in the new places. The places where the rules do not work— Not the places where they do work! That is the way... in which we discover new rules. The third way... is rough approximation. (Rough approximation) We may not be able to tell why Alekhine moves this particular piece, But perhaps we can roughly understand... That he is gathering his pieces around the king. To protect it... since that is the sensible thing to do. [Outro: Fade out with Saxophone solo] In the same way, we can often understand nature... More or less... Without being able to see what every little piece is doing. We understand the game. (Fundamental physics.) (The rules of the game.) [End]

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