Humanity faces real and present problems. Our resources to address these problems are limited. It’s easy to think, then, that we should devote ourselves to our most promising solutions.
It’s easy, but it’s wrong.
The great paradox of scientific research is that pure exploration – research into deep questions motivated by pure curiosity, without concern for applications – is ultimately what transforms our lives in tangible, practical ways.
In this talk, I will speak not just as a physicist interested in puzzles of quantum entanglement and five-dimensional black holes, but as the director of an institute devoted to fundamental research. I make the case for blue-sky research, and for optimism about our shared future.
