Our Responsibility as Scientists

We are at the very beginning of time for the human race. It is not unreasonable that we grapple with problems. There are tens of thousands of years in the future. Our responsibility is to do what we can, learn what we can, improve the solutions and pass them on. It is our responsibility to leave the men of the future a free hand. In the impetuous youth of humanity, we can make grave errors that can stunt our growth for a long time. This we will do if we say we have the answers now, so young and ignorant; if we suppress all discussion, all criticism, saying, "This is it, boys, man is saved!" and thus doom man for a long time to the chains of authority, confined to the limits of our present imagination. It has been don many times before.

Notes:

We must leave the door open to speculation, and never declare that we have it all figured out, because that would doom future generations.

Folksonomies: science scientific virtue scientific vision

Taxonomies:
/science/social science/history (0.523295)
/sports/motorcycling (0.371793)
/sports/wrestling (0.334840)

Keywords:
long time (0.968120 (negative:-0.414048)), human race (0.772213 (positive:0.414281)), impetuous youth (0.764484 (neutral:0.000000)), grave errors (0.695500 (negative:-0.585139)), free hand (0.669258 (positive:0.726286)), present imagination (0.657904 (negative:-0.294581)), doom man (0.657101 (negative:-0.242958)), future generations. (0.588189 (neutral:0.000000)), responsibility (0.433645 (positive:0.625270)), tens (0.282652 (neutral:0.000000)), speculation (0.241201 (neutral:0.000000)), humanity (0.230976 (neutral:0.000000)), thousands (0.229787 (neutral:0.000000)), limits (0.225894 (negative:-0.294581)), chains (0.223796 (negative:-0.242958)), problems (0.223154 (negative:-0.664246)), criticism (0.219418 (negative:-0.475314)), solutions (0.215777 (positive:0.725062)), door (0.212022 (neutral:0.000000)), authority (0.211147 (negative:-0.242958)), men (0.207663 (positive:0.726286)), growth (0.204825 (negative:-0.585139)), times (0.202849 (neutral:0.000000)), answers (0.202492 (neutral:0.000000)), discussion (0.201791 (negative:-0.561467))

The Value of Science from What Do You Care What Other People Think?: Further Adventures of a Curious Character

Books, Brochures, and Chapters>Book Chapter: Feynman, Richard (1988), The Value of Science from What Do You Care What Other People Think?: Further Adventures of a Curious Character, W.W. Norton and Company, Retrieved on 2010-11-13