“E pur si muove.”

My friends know that I’m usually peeved at the portrayal of scientists and technologists in art. They are typically nerdy, meek, and soft-spoken. This is a simple meme based on nothing more than previous memes.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

In fact, scientists, the good ones anyway, are persistent and unafraid of social conformity. They tend not to shut up when all others have. Scientists as a group will sacrifice, really sacrifice with actual consequences, for principle. Perhaps it is because Nature is an uncaring entity, unworried about an insignificant humanity and only concerned for its own internal order. As a result, real scientists and technologists recognize Nature as the ultimate authority and the extreme limitations of human “authority.” And this attitude goes back to the very beginnings of modern science.

That’s why this article in the New York Times, about a significant product of scientific investigation, is so satisfying for me. If you want to know how to meaningfully and sustainably push back, follow the scientists and technologists. The solution is to simply and openly not acknowledge the very artificial power claimed by some. Civilization is based on a social contract of mutual agreement. When one side tears up the agreement, the other side need not be subjected to the precepts implied by the agreement. Only Nature can subject us to rules over which we have not agreed upon nor have any control. Human created rules? Only by consent. So stop consenting. The more individuals that stop consenting, the less the consequences become for any one individual. Follow the example of the scientists.

“E pur si muove.”