what caught my attention were the ads.
specifically, the hanes ad.. and i wonder why the hanes brand is still around whereas the motor heater brand is not.
and hotel rooms were $3 per night back then.
What Life Means to Einstein (1929) [pdf]
41–50 of 69 posts
Re: What Life Means to Einstein (1929) [pdf]
#42I am surprised to find out that Einstein was so convinced in the non-existence of free will. > I claim credit for nothing. Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect, as well as for the star. Human beings, vegetables or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible player. Meanwhile, I b…
> determinist and believe in free will.
Do you care to elaborate more? I am genuinely curious about your opinions.
Have you read/listened to any of Dr. Robert Sapolsky's material on free will? I am curious what you think of his position on the matter.
Re: What Life Means to Einstein (1929) [pdf]
#43The thing that jumps out to me is how well read Einstein is, some of the modern day scientists could do with a much broader education. CP Snow's two cultures argument seems more relevant now than ever.
IIRC Kant was a huge influence on Einstein and arguably had an effect on his physics work. https://philpapers.org/archive/PALTKG-5 Nowadays I doubt the average scientist has read the work of any single philosopher to that degree.
“Philosophy consists mostly of kicking up a lot of dust and then complaining that you can’t see anything.”
— Gottfried Leibniz
Re: What Life Means to Einstein (1929) [pdf]
#44what caught my attention were the ads. specifically, the hanes ad.. and i wonder why the hanes brand is still around whereas the motor heater brand is not. and hotel rooms were $3 per night back then.
$3 in 1929 = $55.18 in 2024
sure, thats on the lowend for a hotel these days, but i doubt that hotel knickerbocker was giving their best rooms for $3.
Re: What Life Means to Einstein (1929) [pdf]
#45I am surprised to find out that Einstein was so convinced in the non-existence of free will. > I claim credit for nothing. Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect, as well as for the star. Human beings, vegetables or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible player. Meanwhile, I b…
> determinist and believe in free will. Do you care to elaborate more? I am genuinely curious about your opinions. Have you read/listened to any of Dr. Robert Sapolsky's material on free will? I am curious what you think of his position on the matter.
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Re: What Life Means to Einstein (1929) [pdf]
#46I am surprised to find out that Einstein was so convinced in the non-existence of free will. > I claim credit for nothing. Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect, as well as for the star. Human beings, vegetables or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible player. Meanwhile, I b…
> ... by forces over which we have no control
That would be logical if we would be a simulation.
Re: What Life Means to Einstein (1929) [pdf]
#47It's a shame that Einstein thought writing a book for popular consumption to be an endeavor tied solely to material ambitions. I, for one, would have loved to read "A brief history of time" esque compilation written by Einstein himself. It would have been a great way to peek into his mind and get to know him better (sans the obvious mathematical way).
I read his book on relativity theory, which I would characterize as one written for popular consumption [1]. I recommend reading it if you have not done so yet. I found the explanation of the special theory in the book easily accessible and enlightening, less so the explanation of the general theory, although it did help me understand it better.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativity:_The_Special_and_th...
Re: What Life Means to Einstein (1929) [pdf]
#48what caught my attention were the ads. specifically, the hanes ad.. and i wonder why the hanes brand is still around whereas the motor heater brand is not. and hotel rooms were $3 per night back then.
"A motorcar heater? That's a feature, not a product." - Steve Jobs's grandpa
Re: What Life Means to Einstein (1929) [pdf]
#49I am surprised to find out that Einstein was so convinced in the non-existence of free will. > I claim credit for nothing. Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect, as well as for the star. Human beings, vegetables or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible player. Meanwhile, I b…
It probably depends on what you mean by free will. People who disagree about determinism and/or compatibilism usually can’t agree on a common definition of free will either. Your Einstein quote above doesn’t necessarily deny free will.
in the article, Einstein is firm regarding his belief that there is no free will. there are many other quotes in the article to choose from.
anyway, my own view is that ones belief or disbeleif in free will is predetermined - if one could predict the path of every atom and molecule in the galaxy from the start of time until now, theyd be able to predict what choices a random person would make before the person had decided. for example, being able to predict if someone would read the linked article before commenting on it :-)
Re: What Life Means to Einstein (1929) [pdf]
#50I am surprised to find out that Einstein was so convinced in the non-existence of free will. > I claim credit for nothing. Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect, as well as for the star. Human beings, vegetables or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible player. Meanwhile, I b…
> determinist and believe in free will. Do you care to elaborate more? I am genuinely curious about your opinions. Have you read/listened to any of Dr. Robert Sapolsky's material on free will? I am curious what you think of his position on the matter.
Not the OP but one thing I find interesting about free will is that one of the things you can do with it is to choose to give it up, such as by delegating a decision to either a random process or one that you have no prior knowledge or control over. The act of flipping a coin to decide whether to drive to work or take the bus might end up altering the course of your life to an extent that no other decision you make that day will.
Given how often we delegate whatever free will we have, intentionally or otherwise, it's easy to conclude (or at least suspect) that whether or not it exists in the first place simply isn't an interesting or important question. Sure, we might have free will, but if we do it's almost overwhelmed by noise.