The nuclear bomb and the disappearance of Majorana
Published on October 4, 2022
One of the most fascinating stories in the field of science and technology, as well as one of the most inspiring for the ethical questions it raises, is undoubtedly that of the disappearance of Ettore Majorana.
Pablo A. Ruz Salmones – CEO, X eleva Group
Ettore Marjorana was an Italian theoretical physicist who was born in Sicily in 1906; member of Enrico Fermi’s group in Rome around the 1930s, and whose disappearance in 1938 is as mysterious as it is important.
Many hypotheses have tried to explain the mysterious disappearance of what even the most brilliant minds of his time called “genius”; Fermi classified him in the same category as Newton and Galileo. Some people, like his confessor (Majorana was a devout Catholic), claim that he retired after certain “revelations”. Others claim that he committed suicide (but the withdrawal of money from his bank account a week before his disappearance, in addition to his Catholicism, seem to go against this hypothesis).
But one hypothesis stands out above others; the one that affirms that his disappearance was because he managed to foresee, after his discoveries in particle physics, the possibility of the existence of atomic bombs… and he simply did not want to be part of that story.
That is, some of his biographers (unofficial, of course), affirm that Majorana, seeing the enormous destruction that the existence of these artifacts could bring, for whose creation, if he continues with his investigations, he would surely contribute more than he had done to date, decided to escape.
About how he escaped there are many more stories. There are those who claim that he boarded a ship and never reached his destination; there are those who think that his ticket was simply a distraction so that they would think that he had boarded. In any case, Enrico Fermi once told his wife: “Ettore is too smart; if he has decided to disappear, no one will ever find him.” Thus, the disappearance of Majorana remains one of the most intriguing unsolved mysteries in history.
Sometimes, the stories about a disappearance, regardless of which is true, become a lesson in history for the future and for the rest of the world. What would Majorana think of Putin’s nuclear threats today?
The “ethical” hypothesis of the disappearance of Majorana – that is, that he disappeared for fear that his discoveries could be used to create the nuclear bomb – brings into focus two questions that are equally relevant today:
- What is the ethical role of technology creators?
- How to regulate a technology that promises us the whole world but that many people feel like the sword of Damocles?
Majorana’s position, if true, is admirable… but sadly, also useless. The demise of one of the greatest geniuses is seldom something to celebrate; and never a help to the world.
On the other hand, each one of us, from his trench, can help make the world that is coming a better world.
For example, an event was recently held in the House of Representatives in which I participated together with two federal MPs and two representatives of the largest companies in India, to talk about technological governance in the era of Artificial Intelligence, whose advance is claimed by many to be even more puzzling and potentially dangerous than nuclear weapons.
What will happen if artificial intelligence completely revolutionizes the world, creating new jobs, but also destroying many others? What will happen if those of us who create technology do not take into account its power and let ourselves be carried away by the wonders that can be done with it?
Events such as the previous one reaffirm that, political views and parties aside, it is vital that the issues be debated before something unforeseeable happens and, more importantly, that we take measures to achieve an advance in technology that, first of all, favors its use for humanity.
We can take the ethical hypothesis of the disappearance of Majorana as a sign that those of us who create technology are also responsible for what its use will be. But perhaps today, in addition to promoting technology, we can raise our voices on social networks and other places, to ensure that technology is used for good, and that geniuses do not have to disappear in a show of manifest hopelessness with the future. .
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