Skip to content
quotesby

The AEC of course has a logical explanation for this absurd situtation...Their regulations say that secret information may be given to a foreigner only when this is necessary to the national defense. Obviously, if the information is not vital military information, it cannot be necessary to the national defense to give it to me. Therefore I can have the important military secrets but not the unimportant civilian secrets. It is the craziest joke I ever heard.

Freeman Dyson#45

PolicyAbsurdityBureaucracyLogicPoliticsRegulationSecrets

About this quote

What does it mean?
The author points out a logical absurdity in regulations where civilian secrets are restricted but military ones are not, calling it a joke. This highlights bureaucratic irrationality.
In plain terms
Rules block access to civilian info but allow military secrets, which makes no sense.
What can you take from it?
Bureaucratic rules can create illogical and absurd outcomes.

Where it applies

  • policy review
  • government analysis
  • legal study

Putting it to work

  • critique regulations
  • study bureaucracy
  • analyze information laws

Questions to consider

  • Why do regulations seem so illogical?
  • What is the purpose of this rule?

Another view

The logic might have security reasons not fully explained here.

More from Freeman Dyson

  1. Technology is a gift of God. After the gift of life it is perhaps the greatest of God's gifts. It is the mother of civilizations, of arts and of sciences.

    Permalink to quote #44
  2. The question that will decide our destiny is not whether we shall expand into space. It is: shall we be one species or a million? A million species will not ex…

    Permalink to quote #46
  3. All the books that I have seen about the science and the economics of global warming, including the two books under review, miss the main point. The main point…

    Permalink to quote #43

Related quotes

  1. But on what basis should the three branches of government be divided? It came down to two dueling ideas: Madison's proposal of an executive, judicial and legis…

    Jon StewartJon Stewart quote #56
  2. If one rejects laissez faire on account of mans fallibility and moral weakness, one must for the same reason also reject every kind of government action. -- Pl…

    Ludwig von MisesLudwig von Mises quote #1
  3. A little government involvement is just as dangerous as a lot - because the first leads inevitably to the second.

    Harry BrowneHarry Browne quote #3