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Scientist: "All models are wrong, some are useful." Fiction Writer: "Oh, the arrogance of man, to believe he understands nature!" There's no hubris like the h
by jjoonathan 7y ago
Scientist: "All models are wrong, some are useful."
Fiction Writer: "Oh, the arrogance of man, to believe he understands nature!"
There's no hubris like the hubris of a science fiction writer claiming that the plot they cooked up for the express purpose of entertainment implies something deep about the actual risk profile of future technological development. Scientists trudge through a swamp of unknowns every day. That's their job. The idea of a scientist who thinks they know everything is as crazy as the idea of a programmer who thinks that all software is perfect and bug-free.
Fortunately, Alpha Centauri also provides material for those who enjoy a healthy dash of ambition here and there:
"I plan to live forever, of course, but barring that I'd settle for a couple thousand years. Even five hundred would be pretty nice."
- CEO Nwabudike Morgan
- Apocryphon 7y agoYou seem to be responding to a Michael Crichton type doomsday situation, when that quote comes out of the mouth of a religious fundamentalist character, who doesn't even say it in a doomsaying way so much as chastising in a memento mori sort of way.
- jjoonathan 7y agoThen perhaps I should clarify: the Alpha Centauri character Sister Miriam Godwinson is no fiction writer, at least not in this world, her spiel just reminds me of one.