On Friday Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, visited the Perimeter Institute – Canada’s premier theoretical physics establishment. He was there to announce significant continued funding for their work. This includes basic quantum theory, with implications for quantum information and computing, an area emphasised by Perimeter Founder and Board Chair Mike Lazaridis. A reporter prefaced a question to Trudeau with:
I was going to ask you to explain quantum computing but... haha...
The response was more than he bargained for. He got his explanation, and quite a good one:
This seems to have enhanced Trudeau’s reputation no end, and quite right too. But it is worth thinking a bit about why.
The explanation he gives is clear, brief, and understandable to a non-specialist. It is the kind of thing any sufficiently engaged politician could pick up from a decent briefing, given expert help. Such help is available in abundance at Perimeter, and available anywhere to any suitably senior politician who wants it. Kudos to Trudeau for being clever, interested and confident enough to do this. As a friend of mine, Paul Clarke, put it on twitter:
Trudeau is less "a genius" than someone who was interested enough to read about science, and engaged enough to remember it and articulate it
— Paul Clarke (@paul_clarke) April 16, 2016
The reporter asked the question in a joking fashion, not unkindly as far as I can tell, but not expecting an answer either. If this had been an announcement about almost any other government investment, wouldn’t the reporter have expected a brief explanation of the basic ideas behind it? Indeed, Paul again:
The swooning over his words on quantum computing tells you a lot about the mindset of the political and journalist classes
— Paul Clarke (@paul_clarke) April 16, 2016
It does tell us a lot. One thing it tells us is that they could be improved. Actually I am optimistic enough to think that if journalistic competence and expectations were raised, many politicians would be happy to rise to the challenge. Presumably, some would not be able to do so, and that would also be interesting information. The results could benefit everyone.
Jon Butterworth’s book Smashing Physics is available as “Most Wanted Particle” in Canada & the US and was shortlisted for the Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books.
