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Feynman's uncertainity principle in human endevours



Acknowledging that "we do not know what the meaning of existence is,"
the great Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman suggested that our
uncertainty was actually a good thing, an "open channel."
"If we will only allow that, as we progress, we remain unsure, we will
leave opportunities for alternatives. We will not become enthusiastic for
the fact, the knowledge, the absolute truth of the day, but remain always
uncertain. The English have developed their government in this direction, it
is called 'muddling through,' and although a rather silly, stupid sounding
thing, it is the most scientific way of progressing. To decide upon the
answer is not scientific. In order to make progress, one must leave the door
to the unknown ajar.
"We are only at the beginning of the development of the human race; of
the development of the human mind, of intelligent life; we have years and
years in the future. It is our responsibility not to give an answer today as
to what it is all about, to drive everybody down in that direction and say:
'This is the solution to it all.' Because we will be chained to the limit
of our present imagination, we will only be able to do those things that we
think are the things to do. Whereas, if we leave some room for discussion,
and proceed in a way analogous to the sciences, then this difficulty will
not arise. I believe, therefore, that although it is not the case today,
there may some day come a time, or I should hope, that the power of
government should be limited. That governments ought not to be empowered to
decide the validity of scientific theories. That is a ridiculous thing for
them to try to do. That they are not to decide the various descriptions of
history or of economic theory or of philosophy.
Only in this way can the real possibilities of the future human race be
ultimately developed."
[From "The Beat Of A Different Drum: The Life And Science of Richard
Feynman," by Jagdish Mehra. Published by Oxford University Press 1996.]

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