--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One might be led to question whether the…" description: "\"One might be led to question whether the scientists acted wisely in presenting the statesmen of the world with this appalling problem. Actually there w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5db/enrico-fermi-22764_choices_one-might-be-led-to-question-whether-the_2442002.jpg" --- # One might be led to question whether the scientists acted… ![“One might be led to question whether the scientists acted wisely in presenting the statesmen of the world with this appalling problem. Actually there was no choice. Once basic knowledge is acquired, any attempt at preventing its fruition would be as futile as hoping to stop the earth from…” quote by Enrico Fermi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5db/enrico-fermi-22764_choices_one-might-be-led-to-question-whether-the_2442002.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5db/enrico-fermi-22764_choices_one-might-be-led-to-question-whether-the_2442002.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5db/enrico-fermi-22764_choices_one-might-be-led-to-question-whether-the_2442002.jpg) > “One might be led to question whether the scientists acted wisely in presenting the statesmen of the world with this appalling problem. Actually there was no choice. Once basic knowledge is acquired, any attempt at preventing its fruition would be as futile as hoping to stop the earth from revolving around the sun.” [Enrico Fermi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enrico-fermi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Scientists cannot halt inevitable natural laws; once knowledge exists, preventing its outcomes is as impossible as stopping Earth's rotation. **In simple terms:** Knowledge makes certain outcomes unavoidable. Key Takeaway Accept limits of control, focus on mitigation. Themes responsibility science ethics Mood concerned serious Type ethical reflective When to use this quote - policy making - public communication - risk assessment - education - research planning Key Concepts determinism technological inevitability Questions to Reflect On - How should societies balance knowledge with ethical action? - What safeguards can prevent misuse of inevitable technologies? 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That only has meaning if you think that Earth is in the center of things, and everything is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/we-still-refer-to-sunrise-sunset-that-only-has-meaning-if-you-think/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [“Living on earth may be expensive, but it includes an annual free trip around the sun.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/living-on-earth-may-be-expensive-but-it-includes-an-annual-free-trip/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The one we call Earth formed in a kind of Goldilocks zone around the Sun, where oceans remain largely in liquid form.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/the-one-we-call-earth-formed-in-a-kind-of-goldilocks-zone-around-the/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [“For thousands of years humans were oppressed— as some of us still are— by the notion that the universe is a marionette whose strings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/for-thousands-of-years-humans-were-oppressed-as-some-of-us-still-are/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Around, around the sun we go: The moon goes round the earth. We do not die of death: We die of vertigo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/around-around-the-sun-we-go-the-moon-goes-round-the-earth-we-do-not/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [Hence I feel no shame in asserting that this whole region engirdled by the moon, and the center of the earth, traverse this grand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolaus-copernicus/hence-i-feel-no-shame-in-asserting-that-this-whole-region-engirdled/) [Nicolaus Copernicus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolaus-copernicus/) > [“I live in nature where everything is connected, circular. The seasons are circular. The planet is circular, and so is the planet around the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/i-live-in-nature-where-everything-is-connected-circular-the-seasons/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun every year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/living-on-earth-is-expensive-but-it-does-include-a-free-trip-around/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) ## More by Enrico Fermi > [I remember my friend Johnny von Neumann used to say, 'with four parameters I can fit an elephant and with five I can make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enrico-fermi/i-remember-my-friend-johnny-von-neumann-used-to-say-with-four/) [Enrico Fermi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enrico-fermi/) > [Whatever Nature has in store for mankind, unpleasant as it may be, men must accept, for ignorance is never better than knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enrico-fermi/whatever-nature-has-in-store-for-mankind-unpleasant-as-it-may-be-men/) [Enrico Fermi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enrico-fermi/) > [ \[on what characteristics Nobel prize winning physicists had in common\] I cannot think of a single one, not even intelligence. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enrico-fermi/on-what-characteristics-nobel-prize-winning-physicists-had-in-common/) [Enrico Fermi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enrico-fermi/) > [I hope it won't take long.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enrico-fermi/i-hope-it-won-t-take-long/) [Enrico Fermi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enrico-fermi/) > [There are two possible outcomes: if the result confirms the hypothesis, then you've made a measurement. 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Ignorance is never better than knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enrico-fermi/it-is-no-good-to-try-to-stop-knowledge-from-going-forward-ignorance/) [Enrico Fermi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enrico-fermi/) > [“The fact that no limits exist to the destructiveness of this weapon makes its very existence and the knowledge of its construction a danger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enrico-fermi/the-fact-that-no-limits-exist-to-the-destructiveness-of-this-weapon/) [Enrico Fermi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enrico-fermi/) > [An experiment disproving a prediction is discovery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enrico-fermi/an-experiment-disproving-a-prediction-is-discovery/) [Enrico Fermi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enrico-fermi/) > [Some people stick with the traditional, feeling struck by the epic beauty or blown away by the insane scale of the universe. Personally, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enrico-fermi/some-people-stick-with-the-traditional-feeling-struck-by-the-epic/) [Enrico Fermi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enrico-fermi/) > [Where is everybody? Humans could theoretically colonize the galaxy in a million years or so, and if they could, astronauts from older civilizations could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enrico-fermi/where-is-everybody-humans-could-theoretically-colonize-the-galaxy-in/) [Enrico Fermi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enrico-fermi/) > [Before I came here I was confused about this subject. Having listened to your lecture I am still confused. But on a higher level.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enrico-fermi/before-i-came-here-i-was-confused-about-this-subject-having-listened/) [Enrico Fermi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enrico-fermi/) > [Experimental confirmation of a prediction is merely a measurement. An experiment disproving a prediction is a discovery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enrico-fermi/experimental-confirmation-of-a-prediction-is-merely-a-measurement-an/) [Enrico Fermi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enrico-fermi/) > [Although the problem of transmuting chemical elements into each other is much older than a satisfactory definition of the very concept of chemical element,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enrico-fermi/although-the-problem-of-transmuting-chemical-elements-into-each-other/) [Enrico Fermi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enrico-fermi/) > [Ignorance is never better than knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enrico-fermi/ignorance-is-never-better-than-knowledge/) [Enrico Fermi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enrico-fermi/) > [The fundamental point in fabricating a chain reacting machine is of course to see to it that each fission produces a certain number of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enrico-fermi/the-fundamental-point-in-fabricating-a-chain-reacting-machine-is-of/) [Enrico Fermi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enrico-fermi/) [Explore all 27 Enrico Fermi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enrico-fermi/) ## More Choices quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [“Don’t allow anyone to pressure you into taking a job in a field that doesn’t feel right in your gut. You are the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-james/don-t-allow-anyone-to-pressure-you-into-taking-a-job-in-a-field-that/) Alison James > [When you have a choice, choose happy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pancho-barnes/when-you-have-a-choice-choose-happy/) Pancho Barnes > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [Movies have power. Power to impact society and the choices we make. I want to entertain, but I also want to say something to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gina-prince-bythewood/movies-have-power-power-to-impact-society-and-the-choices-we-make-i/) [Gina Prince-Bythewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gina-prince-bythewood/) > [If you have a different mindset, you will have a different outcome: if you make different choices from your peers, your life will then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-ma/if-you-have-a-different-mindset-you-will-have-a-different-outcome-if/) [Jack Ma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-ma/) > [Personally, I prefer contemporary films, but the market calls for more period choices, especially since China opened up a cinema market in Hong Kong.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donnie-yen/personally-i-prefer-contemporary-films-but-the-market-calls-for-more/) [Donnie Yen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donnie-yen/) > [Clarissa," he said, "here with the vampire, I see. When things have settled a bit, we really must discuss you choice in pets..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/clarissa-he-said-here-with-the-vampire-i-see-when-things-have-settled/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [Change is inevitable but personal growth is a choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/change-is-inevitable-but-personal-growth-is-a-choice/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [Time hath not yet so dried this blood of mine, Nor age so eat up my invention, Nor fortune made such havoc of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/time-hath-not-yet-so-dried-this-blood-of-mine-nor-age-so-eat-up-my/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [If you choose to draw from the inner well of free will, then you can make choices that are outside your current karmic patterns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-you-choose-to-draw-from-the-inner-well-of-free-will-then-you-can/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Act always so as to increase the number of choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinz-von-foerster/act-always-so-as-to-increase-the-number-of-choices/) [Heinz von Foerster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinz-von-foerster/) > [Give me a platter of choice finnan haddie, freshly cooked in its bath of water and milk, add melted butter, a slice or two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-claiborne/give-me-a-platter-of-choice-finnan-haddie-freshly-cooked-in-its-bath/) [Craig Claiborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-claiborne/) > [I don't know that any woman could ever not think about that at some point - even making the choice not to do it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-watts/i-don-t-know-that-any-woman-could-ever-not-think-about-that-at-some/) [Naomi Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-watts/) > [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) [Browse all 11,466 Choices quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choices/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "One might be led to question whether the scientists acted wisely in presenting the statesmen of the world with this appalling problem. 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