This fascination with computer models is something I understand very well. Richard Feynmann called it a disease. I fear he is right.
Interpretation
The quote explores the overly enthusiastic reliance on computer models, which can lead to misguided beliefs or conclusions.
Michael Crichton reflects on the tendency of scientists and researchers to become overly enamored with computer models, likening this obsession to a 'disease' as described by Richard Feynman. He emphasizes the danger of placing too much trust in these models without recognizing their limitations, suggesting that this reliance can obscure the complexities of reality and lead to erroneous interpretations or predictions.
In practice
In a scientific conference discussing the impact of technology in research.
In other centuries, human beings wanted to be saved, or improved, or freed, or educated. But in our century, they want to be entertained. The great fear is not of disease or death, but of boredom. A sense of time on our hands, a sense of nothing to do. A sense that we are not amused.
Let's be clear. The planet is not in jeopardy. We are in jeopardy. We haven't got the power to destroy the planet - or to save it. But we might have the power to save ourselves.
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.
Living systems are never in equilibrium. They are inherently unstable. They may seem stable, but theyβre not. Everything is moving and changing. In a sense, everything is on the edge of collapse.
The characteristic human trait is not awareness but conformity, and the characteristic result is religious warfare. Other animals fight for territory or food; but, uniquely in the animal kingdom, human beings fight for their 'beliefs.'
A wonderful area for speculative academic work is the unknowable. These days religious subjects are in disfavor, but there are still plenty of good topics. The nature of consciousness, the workings of the brain, the origin of aggression, the origin of language, the origin of life on earth, SETI and life on other worlds...this is all great stuff. Wonderful stuff. You can argue it interminably. But it can't be contradicted, because nobody knows the answer to any of these topics.
A black hole really is an object with very rich structure, just like Earth has a rich structure of mountains, valleys, oceans, and so forth. Its warped space whirls around the central singularity like air in a tornado.
...great difficulties are felt at first and these cannot be overcome except by starting from experiments .. and then be conceiving certain hypotheses ... But even so, very much hard work remains to be done and one needs not only great perspicacity but often a degree of good fortune.
We must never make experiments to confirm our ideas, but simply to control them.
We know very little about the universe. I personally don't believe it's uniform and the same everywhere. That's like saying the earth is flat.
More women should actively participate in space flight. There are many well educated women working in the space industry; they are very good candidates.
There is no branch of mathematics, however abstract, which may not some day be applied to phenomena of the real world.
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