1/ A fascinating look at how our human foibles effect even the most theoretical parts of science. Because of "the Red Scare," Bohm was frozen out of the orthodox world of physics. Bohm had advanced a bold--for the time--theory called "hidden variables"
https://twitter.com/jposhaughnessy/status/1360640905175330820
2/ which, absent politics, would have added a huge new idea to theoretical quantum physics.
Instead, J. Robert Oppenheimer, who had been Bohm's mentor, said "If we cannot disprove Bohm, then we must agree to ignore him." 🤦🏻♂️
Instead, J. Robert Oppenheimer, who had been Bohm's mentor, said "If we cannot disprove Bohm, then we must agree to ignore him." 🤦🏻♂️
3/ In the film, Oppenheimer's edict is followed by quotes from some of the most brilliant scientists to have ever lived, absolutely savaging Bohm and his Hidden Variables theory. As the film makes clear, this wasn't due to an objective evaluation of his paper, but rather to the
4/ very human nature of "in-group" versus "out-group" behavior that is observable throughout written history.
From the point of view of a religion, Bohm was branded a heretic and an apostate, two labels that one would rarely want to see used to describe oneself if you wanted
From the point of view of a religion, Bohm was branded a heretic and an apostate, two labels that one would rarely want to see used to describe oneself if you wanted
5/ to contribute to the whole of society.
Time and again, from Copernicus onward, we see a very consistent reaction from the reigning orthodoxies to the newer ideas that eventually displace them--denial and rage. Thus Planck's "Science progresses one funeral at a time".
Time and again, from Copernicus onward, we see a very consistent reaction from the reigning orthodoxies to the newer ideas that eventually displace them--denial and rage. Thus Planck's "Science progresses one funeral at a time".
6/ But it's not just science--it's almost every new and innovative idea. We see it in art, where the reigning French Academy dubbed the "impressionists" school of painting not out of admiration, but out of spite and hatred. Once you see this occurring almost everywhere in
7/ our history, you understand John Milton's quote that "Truth never comes into the world but like a bastard, to the ignominy of him that brought her birth."
And also Jonathan Swift's quip that:
And also Jonathan Swift's quip that:
8/ "When a true genius appears, you can know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in a confederacy against him."
I think this underlies the idea that we need to take HumanOS very seriously and understand that a lot of these impediments to new innovations and thoughts
I think this underlies the idea that we need to take HumanOS very seriously and understand that a lot of these impediments to new innovations and thoughts
9/ are a feature, and not a bug, of the HumanOS we all have within us.
Strangely, while watching how these great minds of science behaved toward Bohm, and searching for the easiest way to explain it simply so that anyone could instantly understand it, I found myself thinking:
Strangely, while watching how these great minds of science behaved toward Bohm, and searching for the easiest way to explain it simply so that anyone could instantly understand it, I found myself thinking:
10/ just tell people to watch the movie "Mean Girls" and they'll really get the essence of this behavior immediately.
"As if!" 🤦🏻♂️
"As if!" 🤦🏻♂️
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