https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/god-dark-matter-and-falling-cats-a-conversation-with-2022-templeton-prize-winner-frank-wilczek/
Can you give me some specific examples of how the wisdom you have now but didn’t have earlier in your scientific career has influenced your outlook?
“Complementarity” says that you can’t use a single picture to answer all meaningful questions. You may need very different descriptions, even descriptions that are mutually incomprehensible or superficially contradictory. This concept is absolutely necessary in understanding quantum mechanics, where, for instance, you can’t make predictions about the position and the momentum of an electron simultaneously. When I first encountered Bohr’s ideas about taking complementarity beyond quantum mechanics, I was not impressed. I thought it was borderline bullshit. But I’ve come to realize that it is a much more general piece of wisdom that promotes tolerance and mind expansion. There’s also the scientific attitude that openness and honesty allow people to flourish. It enhances the effectiveness of scientists to have a sort of loving relationship with what they are doing because the work can be frustrating and involves investing in learning some rather dry material. And then there is the lesson of beauty: when you allow yourself to use your imagination, the world repays with wonderful gifts.
