Sunday, April 15, 2012

"Science is dangerous..."

"Besides, we have our stability to think of. We don't want to change. Every change is a menace to stability. That's another reason why we're so chary of applying new inventions. Every discovery in pure science is potentially subversive; even must sometimes be treated as a possible enemy. Yes, even science... Science is dangerous; we have to keep it most carefully chained and muzzled...


I was a pretty good physicist in my time. Too good--good enough to realize that all our science is just a cookery book, with an orthodox theory of cooking that nobody's allowed to question, and a list of recipes that mustn't be added to except by special permission from the head cook...I started doing a bit of cooking on my own. Unorthodox cooking, illicit cooking. A bit of real science, in fact. ...


'What happened?' asked Helmholtz Watson.


'I was on the point of being sent to an island.' Mustapha Mond"

 p. 225-226 Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.


Old quote (1932) but pretty telling of the state of not only science, but all learning in most schools today.

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