In much of society, research means to investigate something you

Hear, O listener, the quiet yet thunderous words of Neil Armstrong, the voyager who first placed human feet upon another world: “In much of society, research means to investigate something you do not know or understand.” These words are humble in tone, but they conceal a great truth. For Armstrong, who ventured into the infinite silence of space, knew that all progress begins not with certainty, but with the courage to step into the unknown. He teaches that research is not the confirmation of what we already believe, but the sacred act of seeking what lies beyond the horizon of our knowledge.

To investigate what you do not know is an act both of humility and of boldness. Humility, because you confess that your wisdom is incomplete; boldness, because you dare to face the mysteries that unsettle the human mind. In this way, research becomes more than science—it is the spirit of discovery, the same spirit that drove ancient sailors into uncharted seas, that inspired philosophers to question the stars, that built bridges from ignorance to understanding. Armstrong, a man of both engineering and courage, knew that society thrives only when it cherishes this quest for the unknown.

Consider the great voyages of Christopher Columbus and Magellan. Though their journeys carried conquest and peril, they also embodied the hunger to chart what was unseen. Their research was not the study of what was already known but the pursuit of lands and oceans that maps had not yet drawn. In like manner, Armstrong’s own voyage to the moon was the continuation of this ancient tradition—mankind investigating not the familiar earth beneath their feet, but the vast and mysterious heavens above.

Think too of the scientists who probed the secrets of disease. When Louis Pasteur began his experiments, he walked into a realm most could not imagine. Germs were unseen, their workings hidden, yet he dared to ask what others ignored. By investigating what was not understood, he gave to humanity the gifts of vaccines and the saving of countless lives. His story proves Armstrong’s wisdom: that true research does not polish what is already clear, but illuminates what is hidden in darkness.

Yet, O listener, let us be mindful: many fear the unknown. Societies often cling to the comfort of familiar answers, resisting those who question or investigate. Galileo, who turned his telescope to the sky, was condemned for daring to see what others refused. Even in our modern times, researchers are mocked or doubted when their discoveries threaten cherished beliefs. Armstrong’s words, then, remind us that to value research is to embrace discomfort, to accept that progress requires the unraveling of what we thought secure.

The lesson is profound: if a society would grow, it must honor those who investigate the mysteries. It must encourage curiosity, reward questioning, and make space for failure as well as triumph. For the unknown will always surround us like an ocean, and it is only by sending forth the ships of research that we may cross to new shores. To silence inquiry is to chain ourselves to ignorance; to nurture it is to rise ever closer to the stars.

So I say to you, child of tomorrow: do not fear what you do not understand. Approach it with humility, with courage, and with wonder. Investigate boldly, whether in science, in art, in the heart of human relations. Carry Armstrong’s wisdom with you—that research is not for the arrogant, but for the curious; not for the complacent, but for the daring. And remember always: the great journey of mankind is not to rest upon what is known, but to ever seek what lies beyond.