“I believe the twenty-first century can become the most important century of human history. I think a new reality is emerging. Whether this view is realistic or not, there is no harm in making an effort.”
—The Dalai Lama, November 15, 2005, Washington, D.C.
Why do you do what you do?
I guess because we still kind of believe that the world can be saved.
We? The people where you work?
Yes. Not all of them. But most. Scientists are like that. I mean, we’re seeing evidence that we seem to be starting a mass extinction event.
What’s that?
A time when lots of species are killed off by some change in the environment. Like when that meteor struck and killed off the dinosaurs.
So people hit Earth like meteor.
Yes. It’s getting to be that way for a lot of the big mammals especially. We’re in the last moments already for a lot of them.
No more tigers.
That’s right. No more lots of things. So…most of the scientists I know seem to think we ought to limit the extinctions. Just to keep the lab working.
The Frank Principle.
(Laughs.) I guess. Some people at work call it that. Who told you that?
Drepung. Saving world so science can proceed. The Frank Principle.
Right. It’s like Buddhism, right? Might as well make a better world.
Yes. So, your National Science Foundation—very Buddhist!
Ha ha. I don’t know if I’d go that far. NSF is mostly pragmatic. They have a job to do and a budget to do it with. A rather small budget.
But a big name! National—Science—Foundation. Foundation means base, right? Base of house?
Yes. It is a big name. But I don’t think they regard themselves as particularly big. Nor particularly Buddhist. Compassion and right action are not their prime motivation.
Compassion! So what! Does it matter why, if we do good things?
I don’t know. Does it?
Maybe not!
Maybe not.