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Getting Inside Einstein's Head

Posted by Hemos on from the looking-through-them-all dept.

su-geek writes "'The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible,' Albert Einstein once remarked. Today many scientific documents and personal papers detailing the thoughts and emotions of our favorite physicist will be available at 3PM EST you can access the Einstein Archives Online. Also, Wired is running an article"

15 of 290 comments (clear)

  1. I disagree. by crashnbur · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I believe the most incomprehensible thing about the world is that a biological organism can know about itself. How did consciousness develop? Mr. Einstein?

    1. Re:I disagree. by the_2nd_coming · · Score: 2, Interesting

      hence that the world is comprehensable;-)

      we comprehend ourself and everything else and that is incomprehensable...

      you took a subset uf his premis.

      --



      I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
    2. Re:I disagree. by gwernol · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I believe the most incomprehensible thing about the world is that a biological organism can know about itself. How did consciousness develop? Mr. Einstein?

      I would not presume to answer for Einstein, but a good theory that has considerable evidence to support it goes something like this:

      Early cognitive abilities developed over millions of years in response to complex environmental stimuli. For example, the ability to recognize shapes as various types of animal (predators and prey) and track them has obvious uses for a hunting species like humans.

      Once a large enough set of these mid-level cognitive functions has evolved, a central mechanism for making sense of the potentially conflicting interpretations will also evolve. By this point the human brain is complex enough to support a "virtual machine" running a serial narrative interpreter. Basically consciousness is a mechanism for interpreting the world into a coherent story about the decisions that the subconscious mind is making.

      This is a (very simplified) description of the philosopher Daniel Dennett's explanation. The work is all Dennett's, any and all mistakes in the summary are mine :-)

      I'd strongly recommend Consciousness Explained, Dennett's much more detailed and evidenced description of all this.

      --
      Sailing over the event horizon
    3. Re:I disagree. by Gortbusters.org · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Our condition is our reality, and on the subjective level, the physicality of our world is taken for granted. Consciousness means experiencing duality. Everything we know must be processed one way or the other. The philosophers who focused on this duality set limits to what we can know, pointing out that we can in no way know "the world" as it actually is, that we can only know our perceptions of "the world". We take these perceptions to be the material world. The psyche mirrors an image, and the image can only be an abstraction being processed by the organism's nervous system. Without psyche, we do not experience matter. Consciousness may require we experience the duality of psyche and matter; but, theoretically uniting matter and psyche brings together the "physical" and "mental". This objective is consistent with Eastern Mysticism, which does not separate the observer from the observed, the subject from the object, etc.

      (Source)

      --
      --------
      Free your mind.
    4. Re:I disagree. by cpeterso · · Score: 3, Interesting


      Douglas Hofstadter's book "Gödel, Escher, Bach - an Eternal Golden Braid" has some HEAVY examination of (human and machine) consciousness. My favorite metaphor he uses for consciousness is an ant hill. The ant hill has many layers of emergent, recursive properties.

      --
      cpeterso
    5. Re:I disagree. by aerogeek · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I don't buy the dualist approach either, but only because I refuse to relegate everthing I cannot explain to the realm of metaphysiscs. I would argue that a rational explanation for the subjective nature of consciousness exists independently of our ability to discover it--and that we may never be able to make that discovery. The question is whether a being can ever fully understand itself, or if an outside observer is required.

      In the meantime, I will go read Dennett's book :)

  2. Handwriting by IpsissimusMarr · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Makes me feel as though I may have a chance at this science thing after all. I thought scientists had meticulous handwriting (you know, to differenciate themselves from medical doctors). But seeing Einstein's handwriting is pretty much incomprehensible makes me think my scribble could just make take me into the big time. heh.

    --
    "Engineers do the work of man, Physicists do the work of God"
    1. Re:Handwriting by jdh-22 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Funny you mention that, but his handwriting does tell something about him, and you. My grandmother has been an handwriting anyalist for almost 40 years now, and I have been learning for a couple.

      Einstien's handwriting is very interesting. Notice how he dots his i's and how small his writing is. This means that he has an exceptional eye for detail, and he has an unreal imgination. A quailty many scientists poses.

      So your scribble can mean many different things. Might wanna check out The Complete Idiot's Guide to Handwriting Analysis which is a very good book to get started with.

      --
      Every Super Villan uses Linux.
  3. Re:Inevitable Theist Onslaught by Telastyn · · Score: 4, Interesting

    A better argument than physical abuse would probably be Hawking's "Not only does God definitely play dice, but He sometimes confuses us by throwing them where they can't be seen." comment (http://www.hawking.org.uk/lectures/dice.html)

    Though certainly physical abuse is a satisfying alternative if that doesn't help.

  4. Re:If you're ever in Washington, DC by trtmrt · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Actually, the statue has a focal point for sound. If you stand in the marked point in front of the statue (I think it's a point on a star map) and speak you can hear this.

  5. Re:Inevitable Theist Onslaught by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    "It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it." -- Albert Einstein, 24 March 1954

    You know, sometimes you people are your own worst enemies.

  6. No one writes anymore by Vinnie_333 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It's been a long time since I've written anything out by hand. I wonder what a collection like this in the futre about a current well known figure would look like? "The Collected E-Mails of George W Bush"

    --

    "We shall party like the Greeks of old! You know the ones I mean." - HedonismBot
  7. since the topic has a quote... by phaetonic · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity. --Albert Einstein

  8. Re:On Physics by johnjay · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If you like that type of stuff you might consider reading David Hume's A Treatise of Human Nature (Book 1 is all I've read). Hume methodically, scientifically, and ruthlessly tears down the relation between cause and effect that we human beings are almost hard-wired to believe in. It's a great read for scientists, since they are constantly trying to infer causes from effects.

    Also, after nearly creating a cold, disjointed world of skepticism, he ends by saying he's going to pop of to the pub, have a smoke and play some backgammon to reassure himself of the importance of real life. It's a nice human touch after such rigorous brilliance.

    And, if you want to feel humble, he wrote this revolutionary book in his early 20s. He made much better use of his 20s than I've made of mine.

  9. Re:A More Dignified Einstein? by dopyko · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Well, they could have picked a less dignified picture ..