This is an excerpt from Physics and Beyond, by Werner Heisenberg, published 1971, from a chapter called Science and Religion, of a debate between Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, and Paul Dirac, titans of 20th century science.
…mathematics is a mental game that we can play or not play as we choose. Religion, on the other hand, deals with ourselves, with our life and death; its promises are meant to govern our actions and thus, at least indirectly, our very existence…. Moreover, our attitude to religious questions cannot be separated from our attitude to society…. Nowadays, the individual seems to be able to choose the spiritual framework of his thoughts and actions quite freely, and this freedom reflects the fact that the boundaries between the various cultures and societies are beginning to become more fluid. But even when an individual tries to attain the greatest possible degree of independence, he will still be swayed by the existing spiritual structures– consciously or unconsciously. For he, too, must be able to speak of life and death and the human condition to other members of the society in which he’s chosen to live; he must educate his children according to the norms of that society, fit into its life…. religion helps to make social life more harmonious; its most important task is to remind us, in the language of pictures and parables, of the wider framework within which our life is set.
Us young people, especially those with college degrees, especially those with liberal inclinations, may react in only one way to the question of how individuals relate to society. To hell with religion, we say, cultivate the intellect, immerse yourself in a diverse culture, surround yourself with different people, but measure their difference based only on the facts populating their mind, not spiritual inquiries. Don’t use the G-word, unless in jest. Religion is insidious, and reason is the only path.
But Niels Bohr, one of the greatest scientists of the last 100 years, is telling us to back up– religion and spirituality play such a deeply-rooted role in society that we can’t ignore them when dealing with other people. Religion has roles other than lulling the masses into ignorant bliss. Religion binds people and help form societies.
In many respects, each person starts from zero when they are born, developing knowledge of society and of new things in their own lifetime; but at the same time, that very society is a living thing in its own right, with continuous and developing life.
Traditionally, we define “education” as the time an individual spends catching up on what society has thus far set down, which we have decided takes two to three decades. The ground rules are fairly similar across the globe: teach them to speak, read, count, measure, memorize… Then it is up to the individual to turn around and tinker with the system they just came out of, to take what they have learned as tools to invent new ways of seeing fruit, new limits of vision, more efficient ways to jump, etc., contributing to (big P) Progress. All the while the technology at hand (from writing to mathematics to locomotion) is there for the taking, having been developed over centuries for the benefit of all.
If we had to explain it to aliens, this would work nicely.
But what are we if not speculative troublemakers?? My question is: if that’s the current paradigm, are the developments of person and society analogous? And if so, could a person experience, in one lifetime, an accelerated version of what humankind experienced over millennia?
If this is true, and each person can design and develop an object to its apotheosis in a matter of decades, we will no longer need archiving. Any work I do is for the benefit of my lifetime only, because I know that my progeny are fully capable of inventing things to suit them in their own lives. All the information disseminated to an individual will be exactly what is necessary to ensure his or her survival and fruitful work life.
It may seem a long shot, but all it is is a superefficient version of what we have now. Can we achieve it? Can we bring to an end an era of TMI?
Hi-ho!
