Active Irresponsibility

As a aspiring Physicist, it must have been amazing to live in the 1920's. Theoretical Physics saw a barrage of new discoveries in one of the most ridiculously successful periods for the advancement of technology and the scientific community in general. Einstein's theories for relativity and the photo-electric effect were finally being accepted as scientific fact, and early quantum theory was significantly reformulated. During this time period Neils Bohr developed the Bohr model for the atom and Schrodinger created a basis of wave mechanics by formulating the wave equation. The discoveries of the 1920's gave us insight into a world we know very little about. It was a period driven by the obsessions of great individuals who used their limited intelligences in specific directions. They were focused on what they did not yet understand. 

Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Nicola Tesla, Albert Einstein, Richard Feynman, Sigmund Freud, Francis Crick, and Marie Curie. These individuals have one significant thing in common. Yes, they were all great innovators and scientists who have each influenced our world in unique ways. But as human beings they embodied one trait; they were decidedly passionate. Passionate about their craft. To these people, science was a means onto itself. The accomplishments of these great scientists illustrate that scientific breakthroughs have been achieved through passionate, unrestricted exploration, where short-term gain was not a prerequisite for advance. 

Here's some proof: 

In March 2013 we finally confirmed the existence of the now well known elementary particle, the Higgs boson. More importantly, by finding the Higgs boson we were able to confirm the existence of the Higgs field. This is because just as a photon is a vibration in the electromagnetic field, the Higgs boson is a vibration in the Higgs field. But why is this significant? Well it could be said that there are three fundamental ingredients to our reality: matter particles, forces and carrier particles, and the Higgs. The importance of this discovery was tremendous and it has opened new exciting territory for physicists to explore. When the LHC was created it was expected that the collider would either demonstrate or rule out the existence of the elusive Higgs boson, thereby allowing physicists to consider whether the Standard Model or its Higgsless alternatives were more likely to be correct. At the time, the U.S. was building a competitor to the LHC, the Superconducting Super Collider. American physicists were devastated when in 1993, its construction was cancelled. We could not see the practicality in it; the purpose of such a project. It was a huge loss for science, but it gives us insight into the unscientific mind that drives much of the world today.

There was a time when knowledge for the sake of knowledge was a central axiom in scientific inquiry. The quest for knowledge was driven by the obsessions of great minds who found discovery to be a worthwhile reward. Now, we require practicality. We expect our scientists to give us a spaceship to Mars, a better iPhone, or faster internet. We revere the names of Einstein, Tesla, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs, yet we have no interest in their craft. We care more about their apparent success than the fascinating innovations which made them successful. And our worship of success and recognition has reduced research to a process which produces products that we can go buy at the mall. Curiosity isn't dead, but it's scarcely breathing.

Of course, we shouldn't define the scientific mind as void of practicality. Take, for example, Nicola Tesla. While Newton and Einstein focused heavily on the theoretical and abstract aspects of Physics, Tesla had a way of making his imagination tangible. Just as much as Tesla was an engineer, he was also a scientist. He was THE "mad scientist" and many of the tangible benefits of his ideas were realized immediately (although not publicly). The man was essentially Tony Stark. So yes, I would like us to question the notion that great science and innovation demands utility. However, I do not imply that practicality is inherently foolish or that a great mind cannot dream of tangible discoveries. Teleportation, warp drives, quantum computing, macroscopic quantum tunneling - these are the dreams of both the physicist and the layman. Instead, I propose that the mundane, auditing culture of today needs to completely redefine the word "useful" when we speak on scientific matters. 

"The way I think of what we are doing is, we are exploring, we are trying to find out as much as we can about the world...whatever way it comes out it’s nature, it’s there, and she’s going to come out the way she is. And therefore when we go to investigate we shouldn't pre-decide what it is we are trying to do except to find out more about it."  -Richard Feynman

The theorists who proposed the Higgs boson spent their entire lives creating a theory which the LHC may have found false. It's how science works and as a theorist you have to learn to deal with that.

"If you don't risk your life, you can't create a future. Right?" -Monkey D. Luffy

By definition, you cannot anticipate the results of potential innovations. We must mend the boundary between the acquisition of knowledge and the application of it. We need active irresponsibility. If history has shown us anything, it's that in order to truly change the world we must be obsessed with something other than ourselves.