“The scientist is free, and must be free to ask any question, to doubt any assertion, to seek for any evidence, to correct any errors.”
— Robert Oppenheimer
From Oppenheimer's 1949 lecture at Columbia University, during the early debates on scientific freedom and government control of nuclear research.
In 1954, the government I served stripped me of my security clearance. They said I was a risk. I had built them the most powerful weapon in history, and they questioned my loyalty because I dared to question theirs. I asked whether we should build the hydrogen bomb. They answered by putting me on trial. That is what happens when you ask hard questions. People punish you. Ask them anyway. Doubt what you are told. Demand evidence. Fix what is broken. That freedom is not a privilege. It is a duty.