Benny Peiser of Liverpool John Moores University recently interviewed Freeman Dyson about his views on science, hope and the future.
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Dyson: The principle of maximum diversity says that life evolves to make the universe as interesting as possible.
The principle of maximum diversity operates both at the physical and at the mental level. It says that the laws of nature and the initial conditions are such as to make the universe as interesting as possible. As a result, life is possible but not too easy. Always when things are dull, something new turns up to challenge us and to stop us from settling into a rut.
Examples of things which make life difficult are all around us: comet impacts, ice ages, weapons, plagues, nuclear fission, computers, sex, sin and death. Not all challenges can be overcome, and so we have tragedy. Maximum diversity often leads to maximum stress. In the end we survive, but only by the skin of our teeth.
-- Freeman Dyson, “Infinite in All Directions”
Peiser: How can young scientists develop intellectual independence and autonomy in a bureaucratic world of funding dependency?
Dyson: I like to remind young scientists of examples in the recent past when people without paper qualifications made great contributions. ... Amateurs and small companies will have a growing role in the future of science.
Peiser: How do you feel belonging to a tiny minority of scientists who dare to voice their doubts openly?
Dyson: I am always happy to be in the minority. Concerning the climate models, I know enough of the details to be sure that they are unreliable.
Dyson: Yes, the western academic world [today] is very much like Weimar Germany ...
Dyson: I see the discovery of HAR1 as a seminal event in the history of science, marking the beginning of a new understanding of human evolution and human nature.
Dyson: My view of the prevalence of doom-and-gloom in Cambridge is that it is a result of the English class system.
That last one is an interesting comment ...
Antisocial behavior is a costly and growing concern in the United Kingdom, with Britain’s Home Office logging around 66,000 reports of antisocial behavior each day. Vandalism alone is estimated to cost victims and the criminal justice system around £1.3 billion ($2.5 billion) annually. Other commonly reported forms of antisocial behavior include intimidation, drunkenness, begging, drug dealing, prostitution, rowdiness, graffiti, littering, and dumping rubbish in public places.
