Oppenheimer and the Woven Universe: A Perspective on Science and Wisdom

We finally got to watch "Oppenheimer" yesterday, a great movie about the most complex and morally ambiguous scientific development in human history. Instead of writing about it this morning, I want to share a quote from Rev. Māori Marsden's "The Woven Universe: Selected Writings of Rev. Māori Marsden."

“After the war, when I returned to the Wānanga I was questioned by the elders of the Wānanga about my war experiences. In the course of my sharing our experiences I mentioned the atom bomb. One of the elders who had of course heard of the atom bomb asked me to explain the difference between an  atom bomb and an explosive bomb. I took the word ‘hihiri’ which in Māoridoem means ‘pure energy’. Here I recalled Einstein’s  concept of the real worlds behind the natural world  as being comprised of ‘rhythmical patterns of pure energy’ and said to him that this was essentially the same concept. He then exclaimed “Do you mean to tell me that the Pākehā scientists (tohunga Pākehā) have managed to rend the fabric (kahu) of the universe?” I said “Yes” “I suppose  they shared their knowledge with the tūtūā (politicians)?” “No!” “That’s the trouble with sharing such ‘tapu’ knowledge. Tūtūā will always abuse it.”