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It's a bit complicated. From a talk by Danny Hillis [1]:

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The charming side of Richard helped people forgive him for his uncharming characteristics. For example, in many ways Richard was a sexist. Whenever it came time for his daily bowl of soup he would look around for the nearest "girl" and ask if she would fetch it to him. It did not matter if she was the cook, an engineer, or the president of the company. I once asked a female engineer who had just been a victim of this if it bothered her. "Yes, it really annoys me," she said. "On the other hand, he is the only one who ever explained quantum mechanics to me as if I could understand it." That was the essence of Richard's charm.

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[1] http://longnow.org/essays/richard-feynman-connection-machine...



It wasn't his natural trait, his line with women was something he learned young. He was doing this entirely consciously.

http://www.roberttwigger.com/journal/2010/9/16/richard-feynm...




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