I am a futurist, projecting trends in science into the next decades and century, but ironically my two daughters - one is a neuroscientist and the other is a pastry chef - tell me that my taste in music is positively prehistoric.
Interpretation
The quote humorously highlights the generational gap in preferences while reflecting on the author's role as a futurist.
In this quote, Michio Kaku, a well-known futurist, illustrates the contrast between his forward-thinking approach to science and technology and the outdated perceptions held by his daughters regarding his taste in music. The humor lies in the irony that despite his predictions about future trends, he is perceived as having a musical taste that is 'prehistoric', emphasizing how even the most enlightened minds can sometimes be out of touch with contemporary cultural trends.
In practice
This quote could be used in a discussion about how generational differences influence taste and preferences.
The Europeans and the Americans are not throwing $10 billion down this gigantic tube for nothing. We're exploring the very forefront of physics and cosmology with the Large Hadron Collider because we want to have a window on creation, we want to recreate a tiny piece of Genesis to unlock some of the greatest secrets of the universe.
Cancer is like the common cold; there are so many different types. In the future we'll still have cancer, but we'll detect it very, very early, so that it won't kill anybody. We'll zap it at the molecular level decades before it grows into a tumor.
When you look at the calculation, it's amazing that every time you try to prove or disprove time travel, you've pushed Einstein's theory to the very limits where quantum effects must dominate. That's telling us that you really need a theory of everything to resolve this question. And the only candidate is string theory.
Consciousness-one level is understanding where we are in space. Consciousness two is where we understand our position in society: who's top dog, who's underdog and who's in the middle. And type-three consciousness is simulating the future. And type-three consciousness, only humans have this ability to see far into the future.
Some advice: keep the flame of curiosity and wonderment alive, even when studying for boring exams. That is the well from which we scientists draw our nourishment and energy. And also, learn the math. Math is the language of nature, so we have to learn this language.
After that cancellation [of the Superconducting Super Collider in Texas, after $2 billion had been spent on it], we physicists learned that we have to sing for our supper. ... The Cold War is over. You can't simply say "Russia!" to Congress, and they whip out their checkbook and say, "How much?" We have to tell the people why this atom-smasher is going to benefit their lives.
Probability theory is nothing but common sense reduced to calculation.
Scientific research was much like prospecting: you went out and you hunted, armed with your maps and instruments, but in the ened your preparations did not matter, or even your intuition. You needed your luck, and whatever benefits accrued to the diligent, through sheer, grinding hard work.
Experimental confirmation of a prediction is merely a measurement. An experiment disproving a prediction is a discovery.
I have found far greater enthusiasm for science in America than here in Britain. There is more enthusiasm for everything in America.
Most people say that it is the intellect which makes a great scientist. They are wrong: it is character.
The atomic bomb certainly is the most powerful of all weapons, but it is conclusively powerful and effective only in the hands of the nation which controls the sky.
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