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Oppenheimer –
What Does It Mean Today?
 

Author: Katelyn Jetelina, PhD, MPH
  
In view of the 96th Academy Awards approaching on March 10, and Oppenheimer’s remarkable 13 nominations, we thought it appropriate to revisit a post from Your Local Epidemiologist after a colloquium of leaders and scientists discussed the film’s meaning in today’s landscape. It’s a powerful film with outstanding performances, wrestling with themes highly relevant to the present day. You can view the trailer for the film here. We’ll be watching and cheering for this one on March 10!

July 25, 2023

Over the weekend, the Oppenheimer family invited me to San Francisco for the big film debut!

If you haven’t seen the movie, you should: It’s big. With big ideas. A portrayal of the challenges faced by humanity during a tumultuous period in history. I think it was particularly heavy because it was released in 2023: On the heels of a pandemic, in the face of AI discovery, gene editing, space exploration, and during ongoing conversations around power, trust, and responsibility.

Before the screening, I joined a colloquium of 150 physicists, government officials, and technology leaders discussing this movie's meaning in today’s landscape. I was certainly out of my element, but the conversations were eerily familiar to public health.

     
 

“It is not possible to be a scientist unless you believe it is good to learn. It is not good to be a scientist, and it is not possible, unless you think it is of the highest value to share your knowledge, to share it with anyone who is interested. It is not possible to be a scientist unless you believe that the knowledge of the world, and the power that this gives, is a thing which is of intrinsic value to humanity, and that you are using it to help in the spread of knowledge, and are willing to take the consequences.”

  
     
 

Dr. Oppenheimer - November 2, 1945

  
     

Here are some themes I jotted down:

♦    It takes a crisis to perform in this nation. The spirit and power of institutions can be grand when we put our minds to it. But do we always have to be reactive? We can proactively move at the speed and scale, too.
 

♦    Complex vs. complicated problems. A car engine is complicated; traffic is complex. Each requires unique approaches. Big science problems are complex, complicated, or both.
 

♦    Ethical dilemmas and moral responsibility in scientific advancements. Tread carefully. Ensure that our pursuit of innovation does not compromise our moral compass.
 

♦    What is public investment in science for? To improve human connectedness. To seek to inform, not control. This can conflict with private interests and politics.
 

♦    Big science includes international cooperation, knowledge sharing, and unity.
 

♦    What happens when a scientist changes their mind? It’s often villainized. But, typically, where one stands on a topic isn’t so black and white.
 

♦   Science and technology can create an opportunity to talk, just like the end of the pandemic. But followed by a frustrating pattern: Our institutions don’t match the conversations with systematic change.


 Bottom line

The movie is a striking reminder of today’s challenges and how these problems have been with us for a long time. With great power comes great responsibility, and the intersection of science and technology is notwithstanding.  ■

 

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