Ignorance Never Discovered Anything

A man once asked, "If a tree falls in the forest and there's no one around to hear it, does it make a sound?"  Upon reading "The Sound Machine" by Roald Dahl I have adapted my own idea to that contemplation: If a twitchy, little man discovers a monumental breakthrough in the spectrum of audible sound and no one cares, does that make this poor, genius man unsuccessful?  Dahl writes the story of Klausner, a twitchy, little man (as previously mentioned), that possesses an overwhelming fascination with sound.  Poor Klausner labors away at an intricate, baby-coffin-like device intended to detect the noises on earth inaudible to the human ear.  Miraculously, Klausner's invention works completely as intended and yields stupendous results.  The first sounds Klausner stumbles upon happen to hail from the picking of roses.  The scientist hears an inhuman shriek and realizes such a sound had to have come from the tortured plants.  As any man or woman would do upon an unbelievable discovery, Klausner rushes over to his neighbor to explain the magnitude of his findings.  Not only does his neighbor perceive Klausner as a total whackjob, she also thinks to herself that she must "run into the house... to her husband" (31).  I understand the difference of times, but come on woman, show your neighbor some love.  The man just made a monumental, scientific discovery!  But no, this woman has no capacity for the significance of Klausner's success and as a result his discovery goes completely unnoticed.  Consequently, Dahl's short story has raised a number of questions in my mind about the human race and the idea of discovery.  Do people just not have the time to understand science and the unearthings  that happen throughout their lives?  How can a person have so much ignorance for the world they live in that he/she can overlook something that could affect the lives of their children?  The Sound Machine appeared in The New Yorker in 1949--prior to the space race that ultimately jump-started the emphasis on math and science in our country--so I suppose people simply did not have the respect yet to see the importance of scientific discoveries.  However, today such ignorance I see as inexcusable.  Folks, have no fear of the knowledge of today!  I implore all to read a newspaper, watch the news, branch out and learn something new!  Knowledge has so much to offer and one must not allow it to go to waste.  And give those twitchy, little men and women out there that make it their duty to uncover new ideas some credit.  Without continued striving for new knowledge our world will come to a halt, therefore advancements in science hold the key to development and growth worldwide.