Credits
It is Intelligence;
Which is, the ability to learn from experience,
to plan ahead.
It includes the capacity to give up immediate temporary benefits for a
permanent one.
Albert Einstein on Pacifism
You may feel that this old man before you is singing an ugly song. I do it, however, for the purpose of making some suggestions to you. If you want your life's work to be useful to mankind, it is not enough that you understand applied science as such. Concern for man himself must always constitute the chief objective of all technological effort, concern for the big, unsolved problems of how to organize human work and the distribution of commodities in such a manner as to assure that the results of our scientific may be a blessing to mankind, and not a curse.
Never forget this when you are pondering over your diagrams and equations!
There is enough money, enough work, and enough food, provided we organize our resources according to our necessities rather than be slaves to rigid economic theories or traditions. Above all, we must not permit our minds and our activities to be diverted from constructive work by preparations for another war. I agree with the great American Benjamin Franklin, who said that there never was a good war or a bad peace.
May 28th. 1940, the Columbia Broadcasting System originated a special broadcast on atomic energy. The broadcast, called "'Operation Crossroads,"
Trout:
We use reason, I suppose, our ability to think.
Einstein:
That is correct. And this ability to think is also a part of human nature. It is
intelligence, which is the ability to learn from experience, to plan ahead. It
includes the capacity to give up immediate, temporary benefits for permanent
ones. This part of human nature recognizes that a man's security and happiness
depend on a well-functioning society; that a well-functioning society depends on
the existence and observance of laws; and that men must submit to these laws in
order to have peace. It is this reasoning faculty, which is responsible far all
of man's progress in art, science, agriculture, industry, and government.
Trout:
And you believe, Dr. Einstein, that this thinking man can solve our great
problem for us?
Einstein:
I believe nothing else can. Just as we use our reason to build a dam to hold a
river in check, we must now build institutions to restrain the fears and
suspicions and greed, which move peoples and their rulers. Such institutions, as
have been described by Mr. Stassen and Mr. Douglas, must be based on law and
justice. The, must have authority over atomic bombs and other weapons, and they
must have the power to enforce this authority. To do this is difficult, yes; but
we must remember that if the animal part of human nature is our foe, the
thinking part is our friend. We do not have to wait a million years to use our
ability to reason. It does not depend on time. We are using it every day of our
lives.