The scientists who attack mainstream religion, rather than striving for peaceful coexistence with it, damage science, and also weaken the fight against fundamentalism.
Martin ReesRead
In our interconnected world, novel technology could empower just one fanatic, or some weirdo with a mindset of those who now design computer viruses, to trigger some kind of disaster. Indeed, catastrophe could arise simply from technical misadventure - error rather than terror.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Advancements in technology carry risks, as they can empower individuals to create unintended disasters through errors or malicious intent.
This quote highlights the dual-edged nature of technology in today's interconnected world. While technology can be a tool for progress and enhancement of life, it also poses significant risks when misused or mismanaged by individuals with harmful intentions. Rees underscores that disastrous outcomes may stem from negligence or accidents, rather than deliberate malice, emphasizing the need for caution and responsibility in technological advancement.
Themes
TechnologyDisasterInterconnectednessRiskPowerResponsibility
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech at a tech conference, one might use this quote to remind the audience about the potential hazards of unregulated technological advancements.
More from Martin Rees
All quotes →Let me say that I don't see any conflict between science and religion. I go to church as many other scientists do. I share with most religious people a sense of mystery and wonder at the universe and I want to participate in religious ritual and practices because they're something that all humans can share.
Martin ReesRead
It's becoming clear that in a sense the cosmos provides the only laboratory where sufficiently extreme conditions are ever achieved to test new ideas on particle physics. The energies in the Big Bang were far higher than we can ever achieve on Earth. So by looking at evidence for the Big Bang, and by studying things like neutron stars, we are in effect learning something about fundamental physics.
Martin ReesRead
In the beginning there were only probabilities. The universe could only come into existence if someone observed it. It does not matter that the observers turned up several billion years later. The universe exists because we are aware of it.
Martin ReesRead
Collective human actions are transforming, even ravaging, the biosphere - perhaps irreversibly - through global warming and loss of biodiversity.
Martin ReesRead
It is astonishing that human brains, which evolved to cope with the everyday world, have been able to grasp the counterintuitive mysteries of the cosmos and the quantum.
Martin ReesRead
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