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Ref. 289
change of thought structures connected with them, and the joy of insight following them
provides the drive for many scientists. Little talk and lots of pleasure is their common
denominator. In this spirit, the important physicist Victor Weisskopf (b. 1908 Vienna,
d. 2002 Newton) liked to say jokingly: ‘There are two things that make life worth living:
Mozart and quantum mechanics.’
The choice of moving away from the tremendum towards the fascinans stems from an
innate desire, most obvious in children, to reduce uncertainty and fear.This drive is the
father of all adventures. It has a well-known parallel in ancient Greece, where the first
menstudying observations, such as Epicurus, stated explicitly that their aim was to free
people from unnecessary fear by deepening knowledge and transforming people from
frightened passive victims into fascinated, active and responsible beings. Those ancient
thinkers started to popularize the idea that, like the common events in our life, the rarer
events also follow rules. For example, Epicurus underlined that lightning is a natural
phenomenon caused by interactions between clouds, and stressed that it was a natural
process, i.e., a process that followed rules, in the same way as the falling of a stone or any
other familiar process of everyday life.
Investigating the phenomena around them, philosophers and later scientists succeeded
in freeing people from most of their fears caused by uncertainty and a lack of
knowledge about nature. This liberation played an important role in the history of human
culture and still pervades in the personal history of many scientists. The aim to
arrive at stable, rock-bottomtruths has inspired (but also hindered) many of them; AlbertEinsteinisawell-knownexampleforthis,discovering
relativity, helping to start up
but then denying quantum mechanics.
Interestingly, in the experience and in the development of every human being, curiosity,andthereforethesciences,appearsbeforemagicandsuperstition.Magicneedsdeceit
tobeeffective, and superstition needs indoctrination; curiosity doesn’t need either. Conflictsofcuriositywithsuperstitions,ideologies,authoritiesortherestofsocietyarethus
preprogrammed.
Curiosity is the exploration of limits. For every limit, there are two possibilities: the
limit can turn out to be real or apparent. If the limit is real, the most productive attitude is
that of acceptance. Approaching the limit then gives strength. If the limit is only apparent
and in fact non-existent,themostproductive attitude is to re-evaluate the mistaken view,
extract the positive role it performed, and then cross the limit. Distinguishing between
real and apparent limits is only possible when the limit is investigated with great care,
openness and unintentionality. Most of all, exploring limits need courage.
“Dasgelüftete Geheimnisrächtsich.*
BertHellinger”
Courage
* ‘Theunveiled secrettakes revenge.’
** ‘Itisdangerous toberight inmatterswhereestablishedmenare wrong.’
“Ilestdangereux d’avoirraisondansdeschoses
oùdeshommesaccréditésonttort.**
Voltaire”
Motion Mountain – The Adventure of Physics copyright © Christoph Schiller June 1990–November 2015 free pdf file available at www.motionmountain.net