Einstein's list of conditions for staying together with his wife • Hacker News Board

Re: Einstein's list of conditions for staying together with his wife

#11

Post by seanmcdirmid » Tue, Nov 27, 2012, 1:28 AM UTC

callmeed wrote: post #9

davesmylie wrote: post #4

It's hard to reconcile the popular folk hero that is Einstein with a letter like this. I suspect a lot of this may come from us not being in a position to judge people from almost 100 years by the standards of today.

What's to reconcile? You will find character flaws and chronic bad judgement in the most successful/accomplished people–it will just be in some other area than what they're known for. John Calvin had a man burned at the stake. Henry Ford was an anti-semite. 8 of the first 10 US presidents owned slaves. And, no, I don't think it's a matter of shifting standards. Look at Bill Clinton, Martha Stewart, etc.

Considering Einstein didn't kill anyone...he did OK. No one is a saint (except for maybe a saint, but then I've heard crazy things about Mother Teresa also).

Re: Einstein's list of conditions for staying together with his wife

#12

Post by wilfra » Tue, Nov 27, 2012, 1:28 AM UTC

This is one of those rare HN posts that would be better to discuss on Reddit. I doubt the community here would do anything but downvote the most appropriate/interesting comments.

Re: Einstein's list of conditions for staying together with his wife

#13

Post by sopooneo » Tue, Nov 27, 2012, 1:31 AM UTC

tadfisher wrote: post #10

aidenn0 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Presumably they got divorced so that Albert would be able to marry his second wife that he had been in a relationship with for a while at that point.

His second wife also happened to be his first cousin. Interestingly, they shared the "Einstein" surname (their fathers were also first cousins) and would have shared it at the time they married, but Elsa had already married and divorced by that point.

If their fathers were first cousins, wouldn't that make them second cousins?

Re: Einstein's list of conditions for staying together with his wife

#14

Post by DanielBMarkham » Tue, Nov 27, 2012, 1:31 AM UTC

I had heard a while ago that Einstein was a womanizer. Looks like he was a demanding jerk as well.

Just goes to show that there is usually a huge difference between what we think of historical figures and how they actually were.

It's interesting how much we want our heroes to be pure and spotless -- unlike any other humans we encounter.

Re: Einstein's list of conditions for staying together with his wife

#15

Post by kasra » Tue, Nov 27, 2012, 1:33 AM UTC

He reminds me of Sheldon Cooper.

Re: Einstein's list of conditions for staying together with his wife

#16

Post by kasra » Tue, Nov 27, 2012, 1:33 AM UTC

He reminds me of Sheldon Cooper.

Re: Einstein's list of conditions for staying together with his wife

#17

Post by philwelch » Tue, Nov 27, 2012, 1:35 AM UTC

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #11

callmeed wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's to reconcile? You will find character flaws and chronic bad judgement in the most successful/accomplished people–it will just be in some other area than what they're known for. John Calvin had a man burned at the stake. Henry Ford was an anti-semite. 8 of the first 10 US presidents owned slaves. And, no, I don't think it's a matter of shifting standards. Look at Bill Clinton, Martha Stewart, etc.

Considering Einstein didn't kill anyone...he did OK. No one is a saint (except for maybe a saint, but then I've heard crazy things about Mother Teresa also).

Einstein didn't directly kill anyone, but he did sign a letter to President Roosevelt urging him to fund research into nuclear weapons.

Re: Einstein's list of conditions for staying together with his wife

#18

Post by 001sky » Tue, Nov 27, 2012, 1:37 AM UTC

This reads exactly like an employer/employee relationship. [1]

-- Whether ironically or obviously ... is harder to tell.

________

[1] eg, no sexual expectations of a colleague (ie, harassment), no disturbing a colleague's work/space, no insulting in public manner (of a colleague in front of clients, etc).

Re: Einstein's list of conditions for staying together with his wife

#19

Post by mylittlepony » Tue, Nov 27, 2012, 1:38 AM UTC

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #11

callmeed wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's to reconcile? You will find character flaws and chronic bad judgement in the most successful/accomplished people–it will just be in some other area than what they're known for. John Calvin had a man burned at the stake. Henry Ford was an anti-semite. 8 of the first 10 US presidents owned slaves. And, no, I don't think it's a matter of shifting standards. Look at Bill Clinton, Martha Stewart, etc.

Considering Einstein didn't kill anyone...he did OK. No one is a saint (except for maybe a saint, but then I've heard crazy things about Mother Teresa also).

Yeah, he only helped to build the most destructive weapon ever.

Re: Einstein's list of conditions for staying together with his wife

#20

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Nov 27, 2012, 1:39 AM UTC

romnempire wrote: post #7

davesmylie wrote: post #4

It's hard to reconcile the popular folk hero that is Einstein with a letter like this. I suspect a lot of this may come from us not being in a position to judge people from almost 100 years by the standards of today.

i mean, i don't see what's wrong with it, even by today's standards. she probably didn't work, so it's practically just a relaxed maid contract. i mean, hiring a woman you shared kids with solely as your maid would be weird by today's standards, but bigoted? don't see it.

[deleted]