"We are at the very beginning of time for the human race. It is not unreasonable that we grapple with problems. But 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 people 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 as we are. If we suppress all discussion, all criticism, proclaiming "This is the answer, my friends; man is saved!" we will doom humanity for a long time to the chains of authority, confined to the limits of our present imagination. It has been done so many times before. ...It is our responsibility as scientists, knowing the great progress which comes from a satisfactory philosophy of ignorance, the great progress which is the fruit of freedom of thought, to proclaim the value of this freedom; to teach how doubt is not to be feared but welcomed and discussed; and to demand this freedom as our duty to all coming generations."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Academics from the United StatesNon-fiction authors from the United StatesNobel laureates in PhysicsNobel laureates from the United StatesPhysicists from the United States
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Imported from EN Wikiquote
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Related Quotes
"What the students are taught ...now ...about physics ...The numbers are much bigger... so enormous you can't count th…"
"That's called monochromatic light, light of one color. ...I'm going to discuss all my phenomena for a while with ligh…"
"One of the most important things in this 'guess — compute consequences — compare with experiment' business is to know…"
"[T]he Mayan[s]... had a scheme for predicting... when Venus was a morning... or . ...[T]hey had a rule for... making …"
"[I]n the years we have developed enormous abilities in mathematics and it takes a long time to train the students, an…"
"I don't know about philosophy of Mayans. We have very little information due to the efficiency of the Spanish es and.…"
"The most important thing I found out from [my father] is that if you asked any question and pursued it deeply enough,…"
"I don't like honors. ... I've already got the prize: the prize is the pleasure of finding the thing out, the kick in …"
"That was the beginning and the idea seemed so obvious to me that I fell deeply in love with it. And, like falling in …"
"If we make an instrument that can detect light, that's as sensitive as it can possibly be made. ...This ...is called …"