Freeman Dyson Interview (page: 6 / 6) Theoretical Physicist and Author	Print Interview

Is there anything that you've wanted to do that you have not been able to do? That you haven't done yet?

Freeman Dyson: There are certainly many things that I tried to do, but some of them my children have done instead, which is always very satisfying.

Get the Flash Player to see this video. I always wanted to go to Russia and become fluent in Russian and study. I love the language, and I wanted to go there and really work in Russia. Of course there were a lot of brilliant scientists in Russia, as well as wonderful literature and a wonderful civilization there. So I never did that, but my daughter Esther is now doing it. She's fluent in Russian and she spends a lot of her time there. She's helping the Russian entrepreneurs and getting businesses started. She has a very upbeat view of Russia. So that's something I feel she is achieving, which I didn't have time for. And I always wanted to be a medical doctor. I've got two daughters who are medical doctors. So I think that's the way I've dealt with the things I wasn't able to do in my life. Just have enough kids and they'll do it for you.

How important is it to get paid to think, as opposed to getting rewarded for making and selling things? How important is it to society?

Get the Flash Player to see this video. Freeman Dyson: I think it is important for society to have people who are paid to think. Historically, that has been extremely important. There have been always patrons of science and art. In the days before we had governments taking over this role, we had dukes and princes who did it. The progress of science and art has relied to a great extent on philanthropy of one kind or another: rich people or rich organizations, rich institutions, universities in particular, being set up and paying people to think. That's why we have so many universities all over the world. It's a remarkable fact that universities never die, that almost everywhere where universities have been established they've survived in one way or another. So we still have universities in Italy which are 800 years old, and in England which are 700 years old. This seems to be something very permanent and it's a very good way of keeping a culture alive. So you have people who are paid and pampered and allowed to live in comfort and think. That's to a large extent what universities are for, besides educating the young. The two things go very well together. Of course people who are paid to think can also teach, and people who teach can also think. That's, I think, a part of life which we should certainly preserve.

But I'm not against people going out in the world and doing something useful. For most people that's a much better way of having an interesting life. Most of us are not particularly happy just doing nothing but thinking. Most of us are not gifted as teachers. So there are lots of other interesting things to do. I think we need many different kinds of professions. Fortunately the world is now offering at least as many choices as it has in the past.

You were not born in the United States, but you are an American citizen. How would you define the American Dream?

Get the Flash Player to see this video. Freeman Dyson: I think to me it's a little bit of... ...it's a fraud in a way. Coming from the outside, the Americans consider themselves unique, and they're not. I mean, I think Americans have a far too high opinion of themselves in general. They think that their particular form of democracy is so wonderful. Well, many other countries are just as democratic in different ways. Many other countries have equally strong dreams. I happen to come from England, which also has a dream of its own, which is something I also can live with very well. And, of course, there are many other countries which have very strong traditions and strong personalities, like Switzerland and Holland and Finland. Every country you go to, especially the smaller countries, have very strong indigenous cultures, which I think are extremely important and worth preserving. So I'm very much against this idea of American uniqueness, America somehow should be setting a pattern for the world. I don't agree. I think America is one of many.

[ Key to Success ] The American Dream

Get the Flash Player to see this video. The beauty of America of course is that it's big and rich, and it's a hospitable country, and I'm very grateful to America because they've allowed me to function as part of the American society. The fact that I didn't get born here doesn't matter. I can still pontificate here as much as I like. So it's treated me generously. It's a rich and generous country, and that's something that I certainly treasure and I'm grateful for. But as to having a particular dream, I don't know whether that's true. I mean, this idea that going into space is something peculiar to America is totally wrong. The Russians had it first. The Russians in fact have just as strong a dream about space as we do, maybe stronger, and the Japanese also. I've spent time in Japan. They think about the future even more than the Americans do. We all can have these dreams. I think to put the word "American" to that is not really accurate at all. And this notion of the American frontier as being such a great thing is to some extent just an illusion. The other places in the world have had their frontiers too. The Russians have theirs and the Australians have theirs. It's nothing uniquely American about that, except fine literature has grown up around it.

[ Key to Success ] The American Dream

What advice do you have for the young men and women like those who are here at the Academy this weekend?

Freeman Dyson: I'd like to listen to them first before giving them advice.

Get the Flash Player to see this video. The best advice one can give is take advantage of all these great opportunities that exist. The world is open in a way it hasn't been before. They're lucky to be alive just at this point, when it's easy to travel, it's easy to make contacts all over the world. The Internet has been an enormous help, of course, to most of the young people in the world, at least those who have access to it. All these kids do have access to it. So it's a wonderful time for exploring, to get a feeling for what the world has to offer. The main thing is don't imagine that you have to have a job which will last the rest of your life. The first job you get is not going to last, very likely, so let that be just a way of exploring. If it turns out to be a failure, then that's just a part of your education. You go on to the second job, and the third job, and the fifth job maybe will be something really exciting. So that's the advice I would give. Just be flexible and don't expect to make your plan and stick to it all the way through.

Many young people are afraid of failure. What would you say to them?

Freeman Dyson: Certainly not to be afraid of failure. In fact that's one thing I like about the business world, as opposed to the academic world.

Get the Flash Player to see this video. In the academic world, people punish you for being a failure, and the punishment can be very severe. In business, it's a badge of honor to have failed two or three times. It shows you have something there. You have what it takes if you've survived a couple of failures before you had a success. I like the business ethic in that way. I'm very lucky to have a daughter who's a successful businesswoman, so I have seen that.

Professor Dyson, it's been a pleasure talking with you. Thank you for taking the time to speak with us.

Freeman Dyson: You're welcome.

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