Opinion
Respect science, but don’t worship it
EDMOND — The Eagle Pub in Cambridge, England, is a historic watering hole frequented for years by students of Corpus Christi College. In fact, the college owns the property. So, in a way, it’s a gesture of academic loyalty when members of the Corpus Christi student body partake of the Greene King beer served at the pub. But student loyalty is a side issue here.
On Feb. 28, 1953, two men left the Cavendish laboratory in Cambridge and made the short walk to the Eagle. After they ordered their pints, they announced to the assembled lunch crowd, “We have found the secret of life.”
These men, Francis Crick and James D. Watson — scientists — had just confirmed to their satisfaction the double helix structure of the DNA molecule. Saturday is the 56th anniversary of the publication of their findings. This discovery changed forever the nature of the argument about whether human beings do or do not have free will. Hold that thought. We’ll come back to it.
According to Greek mythology, around the fourth century B.C., Damon and Pythias, two disciples of the mathematician/philosopher Pythagoras, were traveling in Syracuse, the domain of Dionysius the tyrant. The paranoid tyrant accused Pythias of plotting against him and sentenced the innocent traveler to death. When it was clear that the tyrant’s mind was closed to appeal, Pythias accepted his fate, but asked to be allowed to return home to bid farewell to his family. Dionysius scoffed at the request being certain that it was nothing but a base ploy and Pythias, once free, would spend the rest of his life keeping a safe distance between himself and Syracuse.
But Damon offered to act as a guarantor. He would remain in the tyrant’s custody as proof that Pythias would keep his word. Dionysius, eager to confirm his cynical belief that people are basically rotten, agreed to the exchange knowing that the last thing Damon would know before he died was that he was betrayed.
On the day set for the execution, no Pythias. The smirking tyrant ordered Damon to be put to death. At the last minute, Pythias, bedraggled, staggered into the court having jumped overboard to escape the pirates who had captured him. He was there ready to forfeit his life to save his friend. He expected Dionysius to keep his word. But the tyrant did the unexpected. He freed them both as acknowledgment that his certainty about human nature had been proven wrong.
So what do Damon and Pythias have to do with Watson and Crick? Dionysius was wrong in his assessment of the inherent baseness of human nature and Watson and Crick were wrong in their assertion that they had found the secret of life. Currently there are strong voices (I hesitate to call them tyrannical) in the fields of science, philosophy and politics that insist that free will has no place in modern thinking about morals. All behavior is said to have roots in the amoral imperatives of our DNA. While we think we are making choices, we are really merely advancing the urge of DNA to preserve and propagate itself.
Those who conduct themselves well are not commendable and those who do evil are not responsible. These assertions are backed up by a mounting body of scientific evidence. Which brings us to the question: Where does the manly man stand on all this?
The manly man respects science, but he doesn’t worship it. You can say what you want, you can marshal all the proof you want but the manly man holds fast to this principle. He takes responsibility for his behavior and he expects others to do the same.
Now, back to Cambridge where this column started. On April 20, Stephen Hawking, the famed mathematician and physicist, was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Cambridge. His family and colleagues are hopeful he will overcome the serious chest infection that has plagued him recently. Many of us join in that hope. Hawking is known across the world as a man of great learning, and, more importantly, of great courage. For years, he has been confined to a wheelchair by the ravages of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and has, nevertheless, continued to write best-selling books, make personal appearances across the world and add important contributions to the field of physics.
Hawking is impressive proof that manliness can be present in abundance despite overwhelming physical limitations. Reflecting on the life and accomplishments of Hawking leads to reflections on the wonder and limitations of human nature and how that nature relates to the world of science. Our prayers are with you, Steve. I’m Hink and I’ll see ya.
MIKE HINKLE is an Edmond resident and retired attorney. He may be reached via e-mail at hink@edmondsun.com.
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