Research report on Oppenheimer

"There are children in the streets who could solve some of my top problems in physics, because they have modes of sensory perception that I lost long ago" -J. Robert Oppenheimer

"Now Oppenheimer realizes in that remark that most scientific problems are really not concept problems but percept problems, that most scientists are blocked in their perceptions by preconceptions and prepossessions." - Marshall McLuhan

In my research on Oppenheimer, I found him to be what McLuhan would classify as an "expert" or a "professional". He was highly regarded as the "Father of the atomic bomb", a "genius" in both inventing and physics with high credibility in his field. But in the first quote, it's clear that Oppenheimer was very much aware of this and the differences between "amateurs" and "professionals" that McLuhan points out. Some examples might be that amateurs are much more critical of the "ground rules" of society while professionals must take what their colleagues say into consideration and adhere to the conventions of their environment; how amateurs more likely can afford to lose while professionals may put their credibility and careers at stake if they lose. Oppenheimer realizes his "professional" status but also knows that he is flawed, blocked by preconceptions and prepossessions of his environment.

"It is no longer convenient, or suitable to use the latest technologies for fighting our wars because the latest technologies have rendered war meaningless." -Marshall McLuhan

There's no point in "hot wars" as McLuhan calls them, because they would begin and end with the nuclear weapons that Oppenheimer worked to pioneer. After the bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Oppenheimer resigned from the Manhattan Project that created these weapons of mass destruction and essentially became a pacifist. Arguing against the creation and use of any more nuclear weapons, Oppenheimer revoked his "professional" status and was written off as a communist. But he had seen enough. He saw the devastation these weapons caused and realized that new technology had gone too far.