Isaac Newton Offers a Few Words To the Wise

It’s the birthday of Sir Isaac Newton, whose work completely reversed virtually everything that was believed about the universe before he arrived on the scene in the 17th Century.  Newton was also quotable, as scientists often are; he said: “Truth is ever to be found in simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things.”

What a wonderful reminder, as we try to make sense of all the apparent complications in our world today. 

There are only a few unarguable truths that are the ingredients for a successful civilization, of which here are the two that are probably the most important.  Our civilization needs to protect:

• Our environment by moving to sustainable modes of living.  Here’s a definition of “sustainable” that works nicely here: satisfying our own needs without compromising future generations’ capacity to satisfy theirs.  Of course, this has applications in essentially all human endeavors, e.g., energy, transportation, construction, and agriculture.

• The world’s population from violations of human rights.  This too covers a fairly wide spectrum of activities, including the provision of justice and basic human needs: food, water, shelter, and healthcare.

As Newton would advise: Keep it simple.

The only thing I could possibly add to that is this idea: As long as huge volumes of work remain to be done in either or both of these areas, as is so clearly the case right now, no decent person should consider his life’s work complete.