Thanks for your comment. Oppenheimer did not fall into simple buckets, as you observe. American politics demands simplistic buckets. Red v blue, commie v patriot etc. When politics gets fraught only the most us v them solutions will stick. Life is more nuanced, especially for a man of his deep intellect. I subsequently found out that a new film is coming that puts his life into perspective, which is why the Energy Sec did what she did when she did it. This just proves my point. No one would know about this were it not for a movie! Same with Turning - the Imitation Game - which was a pretty good flick. Mitchell has his own film its on YT for free and it's really good. Now we just need to get JPJ a film!
I've always felt bad for Oppenheimer, as he seemed like a good soul at heart, who got in over his head, swept up in the drama of the moment. He tried to do the right thing, and was smart enough to understand how wrong his invention would turn out to be. A very complex person, in a very complex situation.
Imho, today's Robert Oppenheimer is Jennifer Doudna, the Nobel Prize winning creator of CRISPR, emerging genetic engineering technology. Like Oppenheimer, Doudna is clearly very intelligent and I sense her intentions are good. And like Oppenheimer, she seems swept up in scientific ambitions. She knows she may be unleashing a new horror upon the world, but she can't stop herself from proceeding. The accomplishment, the acclaim, the awards, being part of history, seem just too enticing to deny.
While Oppenheimer's invention could end everything at any moment, it's possible that Doudna's invention will turn out to be the bigger threat. Luckily, there are significant barriers to entering the nuclear weapons game, but this is ever less so with genetic engineering. In fact, Doudna's specific goal is to "democratize CRISPR", that is, make it widely available to one and all. If she lives long enough I predict she'll come to regret her career.
The Turing case was truly tragic. Although computers have profound implications too, that wasn't so obvious in Turing's day, and he really was just trying to defeat the Nazis, and was willing to do so anonymously. There was no profit or fame motivation in his case. What happened to him was truly inexcusable.
A nice write up. I didn’t know the John Paul Jones story. I’ll have to read more about him. I think the DOE wanted to atone for their mistreatment of Robert Oppenheimer before the new Christopher Nolan movie about him is released next summer.
Thanks for your comment. Oppenheimer did not fall into simple buckets, as you observe. American politics demands simplistic buckets. Red v blue, commie v patriot etc. When politics gets fraught only the most us v them solutions will stick. Life is more nuanced, especially for a man of his deep intellect. I subsequently found out that a new film is coming that puts his life into perspective, which is why the Energy Sec did what she did when she did it. This just proves my point. No one would know about this were it not for a movie! Same with Turning - the Imitation Game - which was a pretty good flick. Mitchell has his own film its on YT for free and it's really good. Now we just need to get JPJ a film!
I've always felt bad for Oppenheimer, as he seemed like a good soul at heart, who got in over his head, swept up in the drama of the moment. He tried to do the right thing, and was smart enough to understand how wrong his invention would turn out to be. A very complex person, in a very complex situation.
Imho, today's Robert Oppenheimer is Jennifer Doudna, the Nobel Prize winning creator of CRISPR, emerging genetic engineering technology. Like Oppenheimer, Doudna is clearly very intelligent and I sense her intentions are good. And like Oppenheimer, she seems swept up in scientific ambitions. She knows she may be unleashing a new horror upon the world, but she can't stop herself from proceeding. The accomplishment, the acclaim, the awards, being part of history, seem just too enticing to deny.
While Oppenheimer's invention could end everything at any moment, it's possible that Doudna's invention will turn out to be the bigger threat. Luckily, there are significant barriers to entering the nuclear weapons game, but this is ever less so with genetic engineering. In fact, Doudna's specific goal is to "democratize CRISPR", that is, make it widely available to one and all. If she lives long enough I predict she'll come to regret her career.
The Turing case was truly tragic. Although computers have profound implications too, that wasn't so obvious in Turing's day, and he really was just trying to defeat the Nazis, and was willing to do so anonymously. There was no profit or fame motivation in his case. What happened to him was truly inexcusable.
A nice write up. I didn’t know the John Paul Jones story. I’ll have to read more about him. I think the DOE wanted to atone for their mistreatment of Robert Oppenheimer before the new Christopher Nolan movie about him is released next summer.
The trailer is out now.
https://youtu.be/bK6ldnjE3Y0