Clever ideas of clever people

(In place of an epigraph)

“Intelligence serves to a person to realise the impossible,

Reason serves to find out whether this is necessary to realise from a general point of view”

Zeno of Citium (The Stoic)

336-264 BC.

Could this clever person, even in those ancient times, have guessed that in the XX century the “impossible” would be realised - the operation of atomic energy? Mind of humankind has made this possible. In addition, for reason – very big doubts.

The first doubts brought to us by reason, concerned the nuclear bomb, which was considered “impossible” earlier, while people hastened to progress in the destruction of one another. Nuclear, hydrogen and neutron bombs were then followed by “very peaceful” nuclear power plants, which actually appeared as not so peaceful. On the contrary, they brought more harms than advantages to humankind.

There rises as a natural question:

“Whether it was necessary to realize this in general?”

In fact, our entire book is devoted to this question.

Still we shall not forget the prevention made in far times to us – to today’s people.

Inventiveness is a great property of Humankind, his creative beginning. However, whether inventions, including great inventions, are always directed on the advantage to Humankind? The uncertainty of it is well expressed in following wise statement:

“The unique problem of the present consists in whether humans will manage to survive to their own inventions”.

Louis de Broglie –Physicist, Nobel prize winner.

Clever people have not died out today; their preventions too should not be dumped from the account. Here is one of them:

“ No actions connected to use of radiation, should be undertaken if they do not give benefits exceeding those harm, which they bring or could bring”.

The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP)

As you can see, this important International Commission itself, sees not only benefits in the use of radiation, but also harm, which it brings or can bring. Here we also need to understand it with you. Therefore, while we shall let alone this wise conclusion, you will have an opportunity to estimate its importance.

“A nuclear power plant: a nuclear bomb producing electricity”

Academician P.L.Kapitsa

This definition actually erases the distinction between so-called “peaceful” and military application of atomic energy.

With Chernobyl, one more not new, but very important problem has emerged. This problem is the value of a human life. And how not to recollect here a word of one of the wisest person of the past, philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau:

“In one country one person costs so much, in another it costs nothing, and in the third, it costs less than nothing”.

To what category Jean Jacques Rousseau would attribute our countries. We shall not guess. We shall try to base our reflections and guesses only on facts. However, for this purpose also, there is a sense to read this book.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14