Posted by Larry Hoover on December 25, 2004, at 21:17:52
In reply to Re: Does evil exist? » Larry Hoover, posted by verne on December 25, 2004, at 19:02:56
> Lar,
>
> I sent the story to my sister and she directed me to the following link questioning the authenticity of the story: http://www.positiveatheism.org/mail/eml8303.htm
>
> I want to believe it. Do you have any evidence that Einstein was the student? (Good story nonetheless)
>
> verneNo, I do not have such evidence. I like the story because it said something about human nature, i.e. how we define something changes our ability to believe the definition. It's not a property of the defined concept that determines this, but how we contextualize and phrase the definition.
I came up with this, which corroborates the "mythical" nature of this story:
http://www.snopes.com/religion/einstein.aspThat said, the lack of evidence for its provenance does not preclude it from being Einstein's. What I know of the man tells me it may be so.
Here are a selection of Einstein quotations:
I cannot believe that God plays dice with the cosmos.
The wireless telegraph is not difficult to understand. The ordinary telegraph is like a very long cat. You pull the tail in New York, and it meows in Los Angeles. The wireless is the same, only without the cat.
Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. THAT'S relativity.
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe.
You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother.
I tried to imagine the easiest way God could have done it.
We have to do the best we can. This is our sacred human responsibility.
The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.
Example isn't another way to teach, it is the only way to teach.
Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.
Lar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:433996
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20041217/msgs/434161.html