Today, a young theoretical astrophysicist is more likely to get a tenure-track job by pondering multiverses than by seeking evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence. This is a shame, especially because budding scientists are often at their most imaginative during the early phases of their careers. During this fertile period, they encounter a profession that implicitly and explicitly reins in their interests by stoking their fear of standing outside the mainstream of science. An earlier generation of theoretical physicists was open to the humility of seeing their theories proven wrong by
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