A Random Crawl

Freeman Dyson: “As a scientist I do not have much faith in predictions. Science is organized unpredictability. The best scientists like to arrange things in an experiment to be as unpredictable as possible, and then they do the experiment to see what will happen. You might say that if something is predictable then it is not science. When I make predictions, I am not speaking as a scientist. I am speaking as a story-teller, and my predictions are science-fiction rather than science. The predictions of science-fiction writers are notoriously inaccurate. Their purpose is to imagine what might happen rather than to describe what will happen. I will be telling stories that challenge the prevailing dogmas of today. The prevailing dogmas may be right, but they still need to be challenged. I am proud to be a heretic. The world always needs heretics to challenge the prevailing orthodoxies. Since I am heretic, I am accustomed to being in the minority. If I could persuade everyone to agree with me, I would not be a heretic.”

What is the job of a scientist? One metaphor depicts a scientist as a warrior doing battle with mother nature, forcing her to give up her secrets. Another depicts a scientist as a painter constructing a portrait of mother nature using shades of evidence. What is common to the metaphors of science, perhaps only implicitly, is that the product of science is understanding. A scientist is a seeker, a creator, a discover, and a reasoner. But if this is the case then perhaps the product of science is not just understanding but rather a means of understanding. I would argue that the means of understanding offered by science is as much a social contribution as the particular understandings that this means produces. In this way, I resonate with Freeman Dyson’s call for heretics. That is, his call for those who question in a way to produce new understandings. Perhaps, just perhaps, science is just a process of understanding generation, and thus, to abandon this process for the mundane contentment of an understanding is to cease being a scientist.

The Passage – Book – Justin Cronin – New York Times: “‘I’m sure in some year-end meetings, someone has to account for them, and someone loses a job,’ said Amy Schiffman, vice president of books and literary properties at the Gersh Agency. ‘But every year the studios keep clamoring for more, now more than ever. There are a lot of Harry Potter wannabes in development, trying to get to be movies. The conventional wisdom of the studios now is, you risk more, you make more.’”

Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, these recent successful series have chummed the waters of hollywood. Inciting a feeding frenzy which devours even the old boot tossed by the lucky new millionaire. Perhaps I am jealous of those receiving the freedom of real money for what might be more fodder for the literary rubbish heap, but I cannot help being fascinated by the industry of entertainment. One day, perhaps, I will pen a tale that will impact the lives of entertainment executives but leave the masses wanting for a catharsis. Well…perhaps not.