[美]R·P·费曼：《发现的乐趣》，张郁乎/译，湖南科学技术出版社2005年
P143-144 ……Scientific knowledge is a kind of capacity: it can do good things, and it can do bad things. But it does not by itself tell people how to use this capacity; obviously, this capacity has value—though that value may perhaps be denied on account of what he does.
On my trip to Honolulu, I learned a way of formulating this universal human problem. It was in a Buddhist temple there. The caretaker gave visitors a brief explanation of Buddhism. Then he told the audience that he had some words to say to them, and he wanted them never to forget these words—he ended his speech with them, and indeed I have never forgotten them either. This is a Buddhist maxim:
“Every person has the key to the gates of heaven; and with the very same key, one also opens the gates of hell.”
So what is the value of the key to heaven? Indeed, if we lack clear instruction and cannot determine which door is the gate of heaven and which door is the gate of hell, then using this key may be dangerous. But it is unquestionably valuable too—without it, how could we enter heaven?
If there were no key, then the instruction would also be of no value. So although science may bring countless terrors to the world, it is valuable because it can bring something about; this is obvious.
P146 Consider any problem, and if you probe it deeply enough, the same excitement, the same sense of mystery, will always rise up again and again in your heart.
P147 We already know that in order to make progress, we must acknowledge our ignorance and leave room for doubt. This is the most important thing of all.
There was once a view that the latent value in human beings had failed to develop because most of them were ignorant and benighted. Can all people become Voltaire through universal education? The efficiency of teaching bad things is at least no worse than the efficiency of teaching good things. Education is a very powerful force, but it can be used for good or for evil.
To imagine that exchange between nations will necessarily increase understanding is yet another dream. But we can clear the channels of communication, and we can also block the channels of communication. The information transmitted can be truth or lies. Communication is also a very powerful force, but it can be used for good or for evil.
P150 So, what is the meaning of life? What can we say in order to unravel the riddle of existence? If we consider everything— not only what the ancients knew, but also what the ancients did not know and what we know today— I think we must admit: we do not know.
Excerpted from “What Is Science,” April 1996, to the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA)
P257 Any scientific concept lies at some point on the scale between absolute error and absolute truth; it is not situated at either end.
I believe that accepting the idea of uncertainty is absolutely necessary, not only for science but for everything else as well; I believe that acknowledging one’s ignorance has great significance. In fact, in our lives, when we make a decision, we do not necessarily have to know that we are making the right decision; we only think that we are doing the best we can—and that this is what we should do.
P263 On the other hand, I do not believe that at the ethical level there is any real conflict between religion and science, because I believe that ethical questions do not lie within the domain of science.
Translated from the Chinese original with AI assistance. The original text is authoritative.
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