Bill Dixon Quotes
While everyone has a right to his or her opinion, the people who are informed have more of a right.
Jung, Fred. "A Fireside Chat with Bill Dixon." All About Jazz, 2001.
This is a very material quotation with regard to Congress creating science-related policies and legislation. The members of Congress know the least about scientific matters than almost anything else that they have to legislate about. So typically they rely on scientific experts. Scientists are witnesses at Congressional hearings and often the political, polarized staff arrange to have scientists who disagree in something. They both have PhDs in the field, but one may be a great scientists and the other, a lightweight. This is where Alverez’s point becomes so critical. The Congress and staff have to learn how to differentiate between a “second rater” or a “Fermi” one of the great physicists of all time.
Different intelligence and law enforcement agencies would not share information except in very unusual circumstances. After 9-11, this failing of our government was to be fixed, and sharing improved somewhat, but not by much. Schlesinger’s observation was still true years after 9-11.
This is the negative way of stating the Seneca quotation {642436}.
William Robert “Bill” Dixon was an American composer, improviser, visual artist, activist, and educator. Dixon was one of the seminal figures in free jazz and late twentieth-century contemporary music. His was also a prominent voice arguing for artist's rights and insisting, through words and deeds, on the cultural and aesthetic richness of the African American music tradition. He played the trumpet, flugelhorn, and piano, often using electronic delay and reverb.
