原文
Dear Koichi,
I was very happy to hear from you, and that you have such a position in the Research Laboratories.
Unfortunately your letter made me unhappy for you seem to be truly sad. It seems that the influence of your teacher has been to give you a false idea of what are worthwhile problems. The worthwhile problems are the ones you can really solve or help solve, the ones you can really contribute something to. A problem is grand in science if it lies before us unsolved and we see some way for us to make some headway into it. I would advise you to take even simpler, or as you say, humbler, problems until you find some you can really solve easily, no matter how trivial. You will get the pleasure of success, and of helping your fellow man, even if it is only to answer a question in the mind of a colleague less able than you. You must not take away from yourself these pleasures because you have some erroneous idea of what is worthwhile.
You met me at the peak of my career when I seemed to you to be concerned with problems close to the gods. But at the same time I had another Ph.D. Student (Albert Hibbs) whose thesis was on how it is that the winds build up waves blowing over water in the sea. I accepted him as a student because he came to me with the problem he wanted to solve. With you I made a mistake, I gave you the problem instead of letting you find your own; and left you with a wrong idea of what is interesting or pleasant or important to work on (namely those problems you see you may do something about). I am sorry, excuse me. I hope by this letter to correct it a little.
I have worked on innumerable problems that you would call humble, but which I enjoyed and felt very good about because I sometimes could partially succeed. For example, experiments on the coefficient of friction on highly polished surfaces, to try to learn something about how friction worked (failure). Or, how elastic properties of crystals depends on the forces between the atoms in them, or how to make electroplated metal stick to plastic objects (like radio knobs). Or, how neutrons diffuse out of Uranium. Or, the reflection of electromagnetic waves from films coating glass. The development of shock waves in explosions. The design of a neutron counter. Why some elements capture electrons from the L-orbits, but not the K-orbits. General theory of how to fold paper to make a certain type of child’s toy (called flexagons). The energy levels in the light nuclei. The theory of turbulence (I have spent several years on it without success). Plus all the “grander” problems of quantum theory.
No problem is too small or too trivial if we can really do something about it.
You say you are a nameless man. You are not to your wife and to your child. You will not long remain so to your immediate colleagues if you can answer their simple questions when they come into your office. You are not nameless to me. Do not remain nameless to yourself – it is too sad a way to be. Know your place in the world and evaluate yourself fairly, not in terms of your naïve ideals of your own youth, nor in terms of what you erroneously imagine your teacher’s ideals are.
Best of luck and happiness. Sincerely, Richard P. Feynman
译文
亲爱的光一：
很高兴收到你的来信，也很高兴得知你在研究实验室担任如此重要的职位。
不幸的是，你的信让我为你感到不快，因为你似乎真的很伤心。看来你的老师对什么是有价值的问题，给了你一个错误的观念。真正有价值的问题是那些你能够真正解决或帮助解决的，是那些你能够真正做出贡献的。如果一个问题摆在我们面前尚未解决，而我们又看到了一些可以取得进展的途径，那么它在科学上就是宏大的。我建议你从更简单，或者如你所说，更“卑微”的问题入手，直到你找到一些你能够轻易解决的问题，无论它们看起来多么微不足道。你将获得成功的乐趣，以及帮助同伴的乐趣，即使这只是为了回答一个不如你的同事心中的疑问。你绝不能因为对什么是有价值的错误观念，而剥夺自己这些乐趣。
你遇到我时正值我事业的巅峰，在你看来我似乎在研究那些“接近神明”的问题。但与此同时，我还有另一位博士生（阿尔伯特·希布斯），他的论文是关于风如何在海上吹拂水面形成波浪的。我接受他作为学生，是因为他带着自己想解决的问题来找我。而对你，我犯了一个错误，我把问题给了你，而不是让你自己去寻找；这让你对什么是有趣、令人愉快或重要的工作产生了错误的观念（即那些你认为自己可以有所作为的问题）。我很抱歉，请原谅我。我希望通过这封信能稍微纠正一下。
我曾研究过无数你可能会称之为“卑微”的问题，但我乐在其中，感觉非常好，因为我有时能部分成功。例如，关于高度抛光表面摩擦系数的实验，试图了解摩擦是如何作用的（失败了）。或者，晶体的弹性性质如何取决于原子间的力，或者如何让电镀金属粘附在塑料物体上（比如收音机旋钮）。或者，中子如何从铀中扩散出来。或者，电磁波从镀膜玻璃上的反射。爆炸中冲击波的形成。中子计数器的设计。为什么有些元素捕获L轨道电子而不是K轨道电子。关于如何折叠纸张制作某种儿童玩具（称为柔性多面体）的通用理论。轻核的能级。湍流理论（我为此花费了数年时间，但没有成功）。此外还有所有那些“更宏大”的量子理论问题。
只要我们能真正做点什么，就没有哪个问题是太小或太微不足道的。
你说你是一个无名之辈。但对你的妻子和孩子来说，你并非如此。如果你能回答同事们走进你办公室时提出的简单问题，那么对你的直接同事来说，你也不会长久地保持无名。对我来说，你并非无名。不要对自己也保持无名——那样活着太悲哀了。了解自己在世界上的位置，公正地评价自己，不要用你年轻时天真的理想来衡量，也不要用你错误地想象的你老师的理想来衡量。
祝你一切顺利，幸福安康。 此致， 理查德·费曼