Feynman's Letter to Wolfram

Here is the complete thing: http://elzr.com/posts/wolfram-feynman (including the original letter that Feynman was replying to)

Great find. There's quite a few things that are useful. Take for instance this quote ...

"... One of the things he often said was that "peace of mind is the most important prerequisite for creative work." And he thought one should do everything one could to achieve that. And he thought that meant, among other things, that one should always stay away from anything worldly, like management. ..."

The reason for this is thinking under stress is quite difficult and anything you can do to reduce it allows more thinking time.

    Q: Is a startup environment toxic for thinking?

So it's not surprising prime hacking time might be after hours in a room with the door locked away from distractions such as noise, offices and other people.

Note the assumption at the end that you can't find love with someone with technical prowess.

Here's the letter on Google Books: http://books.google.com/books?id=HpgNSVS6fUYC&pg=PA390&#...

Well, Wolfram did create his own successful company, presumably working with other people, so this advice didn't turn out quite right.