Albert Einstein was a great practitioner of keeping it simple. He did not bog down his life with anything that would complicate things, leaving him free to ponder what truly mattered. (There’s a pun in there). His alleged absent mindedness was because of this incredible fixation on what counted. He was actually oblivious to what he was filtering out, true absent mindedness would also lose attention from the subject at hand. There are many stories about his showing up with one sock or no socks or a mis-matched pair, and many fabled reasons for why. The truth is he thought shoes covered his feet and socks were a needless complication in his life. Likewise, he never used shaving cream. When he received some as a gift he raved about how much easier and less painful the shaving experience became, but when it ran out he did not replenish his supply. He was asked (paraphrasing) “We thought you liked it, why have you stopped?” He replied that having to keep it in stock is too much of a complication, even though it was wonderful while it lasted.
So let’s put a check in the wouldn’t-complicate-his-life-with-a-computer-when-a-pen-and-pad-will-do column.
On the other hand, when asked to be on game shows he responded that these are set up to see how many useless facts one has memorized, not how much depth of understanding one has. (Paraphrased) “Why should I waste effort committing to memory facts and constants I can look up when needed?” A computer is a wonderful resource for storing such facts, or for seeking them online. He would most assuredly appreciate this. He might also appreciate the ease of editing the many papers he was forced to write, and the ease with which he could have things checked by more worldly, diplomatic colleagues before getting himself into trouble. It is very likely he would not want to deal with any upkeep of the computer, perhaps he’d even have someone else use it to research facts for him. But we’d definitely have to put a check in the would-have-some-sort-of-access-to-a-computer file.
Okay, so I have the Professor agreeing to allow a computer to enter his workspace on a limited basis. As he was swamped (and mystified) by the attention/demands placed on him by the communication systems of the mid-20th century, he would not want to complicate things further by being too accessible. “I am a magnet for all the crackpots in the world, but they are of interest to me, too. A favorite pastime of mine is to reconstruct their thinking processes. I feel genuinely sorry for them, that’s why I try to help them.” If I may read between the lines a bit, (using many other quotes and stories to arrive at the following conclusion) the Professor doesn’t really resent the fact that people demand things of him because they are fascinated by him and by celebrity in general. His problem is that he is fascinated in turn, and it is a complication he cannot afford. He cannot say no, he gets very sidetracked, so it’s best to limit his exposure. There is a reason he surrounded himself with strong women to run his affairs who were good at saying no to the public and selectively turning down invitations.
Einstein wanted to connect the whole world, to take down borders and make one society of humankind. He would applaud the way the internet accommodates a borderless society. On the other hand, people put too much faith in things they hear and especially things they read. In his day he saw the repeating cycle of deceitful speakers being given public forums to stir up trouble, and resultant repeated world wide catastrophes. More open public forums give a chance to oppose these, but they also give every deceitful voice a public forum. As for the constant requests for him to contribute to the forums of his day, I believe he was quite to the point when he wrote this blurb: “Professor Einstein begs you to treat your publications for the time being as if he were already dead.”
So, it seems, Albert Einstein would not want to waste his time blogging, or giving opinions in general. On the other hand, he did say “The world needs heroes and it’s better they be harmless men like me than villains like Hitler.” He would feel it to be his duty to counter some dangerous words put out there, and he understood the power his celebrity lent to the cause, even if the human infatuation with celebrity itself made so little sense to him.
He will not blog, which is fine, since although he was alive when he asked to be treated as if he were already deceased, he is not alive to blog at the present time. He would, most likely, allow blogging to be done for him on a limited basis, if he saw a need. However, he would ask people to take his opinion as food for thought, and then please: THINK FOR YOURSELF.
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