Intellectual idiots

Lord Brabazon summed these people up when addressing a meeting of aeronautical engineers at Farnborough just after the war.

He reminded them that they must be careful to avoid becoming “intellectual idiots.” I would like to give an example of this as it is applicable to the current debate on smelters.

Many years ago there was a proposal that some low grade radio active material from a local hospital be dumped and covered in an old disused quarry.

There were loud protests. I lived about twenty miles away from the site. A protest meeting was held in the local Town Hall.

Three speakers in turn painted a grim picture of the immediate and long term effect on the local population and future generations. This was accompanied by photos of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

What was being said did not tie up with the information given out by the hospital that only old x-ray negatives and other such low grade stuff was involved that would in fact be harmless.

When question time came I got up to ask what type of radiation they were talking about. The panelists seemed puzzled by the question and one said all radiation is the same and equally dangerous.

I pointed out that there were Alpa Beta and Gamma radiation effects that are different. Again they did not understand the question. So I asked a very simple one.

Had any of you any training in atomic physics or any technical qualification. No one had. End of meeting. Intellectual idiots.

It would seem that we have plenty of such folk in Trinidad.

HUGH PUTT

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