From The Next 200 Years, by Herman Kahn
Man’s intellectual and physical resources must also be devoted to the task of monitoring and overcoming potentially catastrophic long-term environmental problems…
To help in this effort, we would recommend the world-wide creation of a number of public and private institutions with various specific purposes, but all with an overall mission of the systematic and intense study of far-fetched and improbable phenomena…
In effect, these institutions would together constitute an articulate lobby and an “early warning system” for long-term environmental problems.
It is only fair to warn the public that anyone who studies such phenomena full time is almost certain to exaggerate their likelihood, impact and dangers. To do so is simply human nature.
We do want the people making these studies to conduct them with an almost fanatic intensity, since such fanaticism can be very useful in sustaining drive and even creativity. But we do not want this fanaticism to be carried over into judgments on public policy. Our “fanatics” can alert us to the problems and perhaps eventually to their solutions, and they can put enormous effort into the study of both, but we also recognize that this kind of fanaticism, while useful in research and study, can be a disservice if it dominates public discourse.
The boldings, as ever, are mine.