Did Einstein say that? (2018) | Hacker News Reader

Did Einstein say that? (2018)

nature.com

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People making Einstein say whatever they actually want to say looks pretty close to /r/adviceanimals memes, or just memes in general.

In that respect, what he actually said and didn’t has become mostly irrelevant Imho.

The one about insanity always struck me as something Einstein wouldn’t have said. On its face, it would seem to imply that stochastic processes (system evolves according to a series of random events) and chaotic systems (slight changes in initial conditions can result in very different outcomes) don’t exist. Those ideas definitely predate Einstein. I mean, Boltzmann was Austrian and was known by Einstein. Half of my physics undergrad was thermo, and one of the major things we learned there was how much of our understanding in that domain is based entirely on statistics. As for chaotic systems, I think Ian Malcolm proved that point simply in Jurassic Park, and he’s certainly no Einstein.

Chaotic systems, at least, were not known to Einstein. They weren't described until after his death, from Lorenz' computer simulations. Earlier hints of the theory were there, but no one took them seriously. Ian Malcolm, though, is a solid authority.

There is a class who builds entire worlds upon quotationly foundations (yes, even if it's an esoteric subject). The authoritative script is everything.

I've seen it in religion and academics.

Of course in software, where the word is literally made flesh, this makes perfectly good sense.

if you assume that a quote attributed to Einstein is not his, you are almost always right

-- Albert Einstein

I think the vast majority of popular quotes are misattributed. Most quote websites are terrible about sourcing and full of fake quotes. Thank god for sites like Wikiquote.

I guess attributing a nice quote to a respected person makes it a little extra viral, and so it can outcompete the correctly attributed version.

I will always be sad this one is wrong:

    "Some ideas are so stupid that only intellectuals believe them"
     --- George Orwell

Related: fakebuddhaquotes.com

"I did not say this quote." -- Albert Einstein

My favorite:

> Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.

https://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/05/13/einstein-simple/

I saw a quotation purporting to be from Einstein, railing against the income tax, used in a hard libertarian documentary. I wish I could find it now.

Einstein was a socialist, so the accuracy of this quote seems doubtful.

My thoughts exactly! I found it quite humorous.

People don't care.

I've tracked down several popular quotes attributed to influential figures. All of them false.

And when you tell the people who are spreading them, they're just not interested. It's much more fun to believe Einstein agreed with you. Or that he was bad at maths, just like you. Or that he played electric guitar like a dude.

And, a few people will double-down. Just because you can't find a source, doesn't mean he didn't say it. Or think it. Or tell it to me in a dream.

For those of us who care about accuracy, we struggle with the knowledge that a lie is half-way around the world before the truth has put its boots on. Well, that's what Mark Twain thought anyway.

Sources:

Einstein - https://twitter.com/edent/status/854700205463261184

Feynman - https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2020/04/who-do-you-think-you-are-ki...

Tutu - https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2021/06/whats-the-origin-of-the-phr...

Tesla - https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2021/07/did-nikola-tesla-receive-no...

However, there is a great movie out there, that proves he not only was a great guitar player, but also invented roll and rock! It's called "Young Einstein". It's a great movie. (Comedy?)

It really is a fantastic, one-of-a-kind Australian movie!

You're right, people don't care. Surely, we're at a point where more well-loved quotes are represented creatively in some way than not? That has been my recent experience.

I had a friend who corrected a celebrated Ivy League professor on a quote that appeared at the top of the syllabus of seminal class that was a requirement for all students for decades. That was almost 20 years ago, and the quote is still used. I don't think I'll ever get over that one.

I've had the same experience of commenting with a correction and being completely ignored. I mostly gave up.

“I never said half the crap people said I did.” — Albert Einstein

https://cdn.geckoandfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/fake-...

Chilling that he was able to anticipate the invention of the internet like that. What a genius!

"Haha, thats sick bro, now watch me do a keg stand!" -- Albert Einstein

I still have a screen cap of my Twitter feed when he posted that.

"Don't believe everything you read on the internet." -- Abraham Lincoln

“Use the force, Harry” - Gandalf

Works great when overlaid over a picture of Patrick Stewart ;)

Patrick Stewart, in a wheelchair(X-men), wearing his Starfleet uniform.

"Only two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not so sure about the universe."

--Albert Einstein

https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/04/universe-einstein/

It is surprising to me that the quote: "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." is from 1983 and not from Einstein. It fits so well as a (misguided) critique of quantum physics. The double slits experiment is indeed to do the same thing again and again, expecting different results.

This has actually been traced back further to narcotics anonymous literature from 1981: http://www.nauca.us/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/1981-11-Basic... .

It's likely that Rita Mae Brown was paraphrasing the literature in her novel.

End of p.11, para.5.

That isn’t the definition of insanity though. Just check any dictionary.

To save you time I checked up the definition of "definition" (Wordnik dictionary)

1. A statement of the meaning of a word, phrase, or term, as in a dictionary entry.

2. A statement or description of the fundamental character or scope of something.

3. The act or process of stating a precise meaning or significance; formulation of a meaning.

So, it could be the definition of insanity. Just not the dictionary definition. YW.

Then why say “the definition of” when it should actually be “a symptom of”? That’s what bothers me about this phrase. It sounds intellectual but it doesn’t hold up under scrutiny.

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