Scientific exploration, believe it or not, is an imperfect science. Many products that eventually transformed everyday life have been the result of accidental discoveries that came from the simple act of exploring, of attempting to answer the seemingly unanswerable.
Throughout the second half of the 20th century, the United States led the world in such exploration, using curiosity to alter the world in which we live. Much of that can be traced to the establishment of the Advanced Research Projects Agency in 1958, which the New York Times described as being designed to “explore and develop any novel idea, regardless of whether it seems practical at the beginning.”
Simple, noble, ambitious — and yet those traits are being lost in modern America. As high-tech innovator Kevin Ashton wrote recently for Politico, “The U.S. government doesn’t invest in basic science and visionary technology anymore. Or, to be more precise, it does not invest like it used to.” The result: In 2005, China surpassed the United States as the world leader in high-tech exports; in 2009, Germany also passed the United States, and Singapore and Korea are poised to do so, as well.
The high-tech race, a race that the United States largely invented, is being lost — and the reason is an inexplicable backlash against science, technology and innovation in this country. The House committee on Science, Space, and Technology is chaired by Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, who includes being a climate change denier among his anti-science positions. So does Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., who chairs the Senate Environment Committee. Smith and Inhofe are entitled to their opinions, but their positions of power are an affront to the notion that having an open mind is essential to innovation.