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How Darwin Managed His Inbox
An anonymous reader wrote to mention an MSNBC article on how Darwin and Einstein managed their inboxes. From the article: "A new study finds that the correspondence of Albert Einstein, as well as that of Charles Darwin, followed patterns similar to modern e-mail communication. Einstein sent more than 14,500 letters. But he received more than 16,200, and responded to only a quarter of them. Darwin mailed more than 7,500 letters. He responded to 32 percent of the roughly 6,530 letters he received."
Einstein sent more than 14,500 letters.
That's in his lifetime. Since 1998, I sent 27,171 emails (granted, an e-mail is much easier to sent than a snail mail letter). It's hard for me to count how many I received (counting spam it's probably in the millions).
Of course they were, they are respectively the most important Physicist and Biologist ever. If they had the intelligence to conceive their theories, it should be rather obvious that sorting their mail was not outside the realm of their wit.
They used the cost of postage as a spam filter.
If I could charge spammers the cost of a stamp for each spam I received, I'd be quite happy.
This is just celebrity research. So Darwin and Einstein handled paper mail like we handle electronic mail. Guess what? I handle paper mail that way too. I bet most people do, and pronbably always have. The article doesn't talk about that, however.
$nice = $webHosting + $domainNames + $sslCerts
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
What is the point of saying he responded to "only" 32% of the letters. Many communications I get in email do not warrant a response. Granted, it's quite simple that I will respond with a "thanks" message. But if it were sent in a letter, I don't think I would bother to write (literally) back with an acknowledgement if it didn't extend the context of the message.
Well, well. This really is specific stuff. I mean, usually these such stories, you get a fake statisic or two thrown in, but this is pushing it.
The upshot: Einstein and Darwin exhibited a "fundamental pattern of human dynamics" that plays out every morning when you check your inbox.
Oh, I suppose Einstien was 'just like me(tm)'? Who really gets 16,500 legitimate emails, even in their entire lives? Let alone sends 14,500?
I don't reckon this should really go into the science category.
To prevent this day from getting worse, I'll just read ERROR as GOOD TH
After reading this article, I closed the window and wondered where my browser with FARK.com had gone. I was sure the "obvious" tag had trumped "amusing" or "interesting". I was genuinely shocked to find this post on Slashdot (but not so suprised to find it coming from MSNBC...) Seems this one was too obvious to make it even to Fark. Maybe it will show up later in the day, though... Heh.
Imagine how much more you'd receive if paper and delivery were free?
At least with snail mail spam, you know someone's invested some real coin to get it to you. When was the last time you received an offer for a Rolex, or a "warning - your mailbox has a virus" or a "get lots of porn for free" offer in your snail mail?
The Simpsons hadn't started airing during their lifetimes.
*someone mod this insightful*
Rank my idea: http://www.sinceslicedbread.com/node/531
I think the assumption that each of the 14,500 letters he sent was a response to one of the 16,200 he received might not be correct ;)
In other news, historians have discovered that both Einstein and Darwin favored the Non-simultaneous Leg Insertion method for putting on their pants - much like you and I.
Study suggests modern e-mail habits similar to older, letter-writing ones
It's almost as if modern e-mail was created as an electronic replacement to mail!
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Why doesn't everybody use the neutral Underrated then? One Funny and the rest Underrated gives a nice +5, Funny and karma.
Thank you for making me realise the pleasure of not being circumsised!