Freeman Dyson
Freeman Dyson
Freeman John Dyson FRSis an English-born American theoretical physicist and mathematician, known for his work in quantum electrodynamics, solid-state physics, astronomy and nuclear engineering. He is professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study, a Visitor of Ralston College, and a member of the Board of Sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists...
believe people complicated
Things are always more complicated than most people believe.
opportunity people pessimism
Younger people have so many opportunities. I don't see any pessimism among them.
people ignorant impossible
The history of mathematics is a history of horrendously difficult problems being solved by young people too ignorant to know that they were impossible.
garden people ramanujan
That was the wonderful thing about Ramanujan. He discovered so much, and yet he left so much more in his garden for other people to discover.
thinking people world
If you're in the business world, that's what's expected: You should go bust and then start again on something else. So it's a much more relaxed kind of a culture. It's also competitive, but not in such a vicious way. I think the academic world is actually much more destructive of young people.
people kind trouble
[The Ph.D. system] was designed for a job in academics. And it works really well if you really want to be an academic, and the system actually works quite well. So for people who have the gift and like to go spend their lives as scholars, it's fine. But the trouble is that it's become a kind of a meal ticket - you can't get a job if you don't have a Ph.D.
people want
I have the freedom to do what I want... bright people to talk to every day.
fall believe people
The public knows that human beings are fallible. Only people blinded by ideology fall into the trap of believing in their own infallibility.
technology people problem
The technologies that raise the fewest ethical problems are those that work on a human scale, brightening the lives of individual people.
thinking people looks
We have no reason to think that climate change is harmful if you look at the world as a whole. Most places, in fact, are better off being warmer than being colder. And historically, the really bad times for the environment and for people have been the cold periods rather than the warm periods.
math ideas people
I'm a mathematician, basically. What I do is look around for problems where I can find useful applications for mathematics. All I do, really, is the math, and other people have the ideas.
people mathematics pretending
To me, mathematics is like playing the violin. Some people can do it - others can't. If you don't have it, then there's no point in pretending.
team people important
I like people who are working on practical things and who are working in teams. It's not so important to get the glory. It's much more important to get something that works. It's a better way to live.
thinking people progress
I think that the artificial-intelligence people are making a lot of noise recently, claiming that artificial intelligence is making huge progress and we're going to be outstripped by the machines.