Ah yes, Herman Hesse. I recall reading the Glass Bead Game at university. As I recall it was a sort of exploration of the value a civilised society can place on intelligence and knowledge applied to a purely abstract pursuit, with no practical application - the ultimate "ivory tower". As a student at Oxford at the time, learning quantum chemistry, it struck a chord. And it remains a good question: is it a mark of civilisation to support intellectual activity for its own sake? I think it probably is, but today's political policymakers do not.
I can't find a link but... Didn't a big shot general on a tour of CERN once ask, ''What does this place contribute to defence?'' That being a shot at the funding needed to run the place. The reply was something like...'' The idea of this kind of place is what you are meant to be defending ''.
I had not come across that anecdote before, but indeed, touché. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Sorry. Wrong accelerator and people. My excuse... First read that back in the nineties, the physics of the book was complicated enough, let alone remembering the politics.
