The night I met Einstein | Hacker News Reader

The night I met Einstein

akshar.co.in

167 pointsdfield39 comments

Open articleView on HN

Great story. Great writing.

I felt like I was in the room observing this encounter take place.

This was very nice to read, or rather, to experience :)

The joy of wonder!

Thanks for the post

"Nonsense! said Einstein. It proves everything!"

This was the most important lesson I ever got from my mentor, who was an industrial engineer. He claimed that if you can do it once, you can do it again. Anyone. Anything.

That one belief has dramatically changed almost every project I've ever done.

I just like the way Einstein said it better.

My favorite part of this story is actually where the author admits that he categorically loathes any music that doesn't have a catchy hook and someone singing words he can follow.

A pet peeve of mine has always been how _everyone_ claims to like music. When there are people who dislike ice cream, people who dislike movies, people who dislike sports, people who dislike dancing...why is it that you never meet anyone who will admit to disliking music? That always annoyed me as a musician who's met many people who can't possibly actually enjoy music considering their listening tastes. Yet, because of social pressure, these people will never publicly admit to disliking music.

So it's refreshing to hear from someone who admits to feeling zero affection for music. There are people who admit this about visual art. People who say this about drama. But it's rare to meet someone who will admit this about music,

Also consider that if you're a musician, people are less likely to say that they dislike music to your face, out of politeness.

I don't think it's so much cultural pressure as it is unusual. It's like meeting somebody who doesn't like art. It is so common and there are so many kinds out there that categorically disliking it entirely is strange. Most people probably do not want to be seen as strange.

It's also possible that in Western culture, not liking music is traditionally associated with something sinister. For instance, in Julius Caesar, Cassius is described as follows

  "...He reads much,
  He is a great observer, and he looks
  Quite through the deeds of men. He loves no plays,
  As thou dost, Antony; he hears no music.
  Seldom he smiles, and smiles in such a sort
  As if he mock'd himself, and scorn'd his spirit
  That could be mov'd to smile at anything.
  Such men as he be never at heart's ease
  While they behold a greater than themselves, 
  And therefore are they very dangerous."

which contrasts with the more sympathetic character, Brutus, and his love of music.

There's a more explicitly anti-tone-deaf example in The Merchant of Venice: "The man that hath no music in himself, Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, Is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils; The motions of his spirit are dull as night And his affections dark as Erebus: Let no such man be trusted."

Virtually everyone likes food, but not everyone is a gourmand. I think it's mostly the same way with music. People may not like the music you like, but they still like music.

People don't need music to live, like they do with food. It's a different situation.

My assertion is that if there are people who don't "do" art and people who don't "do" theater, then there must be people who don't "do" music. Yet I've never met anyone who will say this aloud.

People don't need to like food to live, and yet they do.

If they didn't like food, they would die, or they will start to like food when they realise how it relieves their hunger.

I disagree. Response to music is fundamentally human. Animals respond to music, so the ones who say the have zero appreciation for music are kidding themselves. Now, all music? Of course not, I cant stand, rap and girl bands, but others appear to like them.

people who can't possibly actually enjoy music considering their listening tastes.

That sounds contradictory to me. They might like unsophisticated music, but it's still music and they still like it.

I want to highlight a point "start from the basics".

Most of our teachers (in tunisia) ruined studies by starting and giving students hard exercices to do, which makes them fear and afraid from science.

I am touched by this story. Any chance of it being true? (not that it matters, truth being beauty an' all).

I definitely believe it could be true. I don't think the music story would be out of character for Einstein.

One of my academic advisors was Professor Robert Borkenstein (he invented the breathalyzer, among other things.) Before he got into academia, he had worked as a police captain and forensics advisor to various organizations, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police. I was visiting Borkenstein's office once, long after he became a Professor Emeritus, and I commented on some artwork he had on the wall. I was really just making small-talk out of nervousness, and I hadn't really even looked at the drawings beyond a quick glance. Borkenstein perked up and asked me to really examine the drawings, and tell him what I thought about them. They were just sketches and doodles, mostly...nothing elaborate. I was going to just say they were 'nice" out of courtesy, when I realized a few of them were signed...by Albert Einstein.

It turned out that Borkenstein had worked as a guard for Einstein and some of the other scientists involved in the US nuclear efforts when he was younger. He wasn't supposed to interact with any of them, he was just there to help insure their protection. One day, Bob was so curious about the mechanics of something they were discussing that he forgot his place and asked a question. Einstein apparently spent quite a bit of time explaining the confusing concept, and became fond of Bob and his curiosity. He recognized that Bob had a very inventive mind and apparently wanted to encourage it, so whenever Bob worked a shift, Einstein would chat with him. Einstein had drawn most of the sketches on the wall to explain various concepts, although some of them were just absent-minded sketches. He let Bob keep them when the protection detail ended.

The sketches meant a great deal to Bob, and I think he had kept them somewhere in his office for his entire career. I also think the sketches (and personal attention from Einstein) helped provide some of the impetus for Bob's inventing career. Unfortunately, I don't recall all of the details Bob gave when telling his story about the Einstein discussions, but I remember that he was very reverential, awed that Einstein had taken the time to discuss important things with a guard. I think Einstein was genuinely fascinated with how other people view the world...and they say a new perspective is worth XXX IQ points, right?

Cool story, but what Einstein does here--escorting a stranger out of a concert for a private music listening training session--is downright strange and socially odd, by most standards. Did he feel he had a license to do this because he was one of the most famous people in the world? Or was he so wrapped up in his own brilliance that he didn't even notice what was a bit socially deviant?

You think he seems arrogant here? Maybe he didn't care that he was being a bit socially deviant! :-)

My impression is he was just too excited about "opening up yet another fragment of the frontier of beauty" to worry about adhering to the social standard!

Anyway, thanks dfield for posting, this was a fun read!

I think he saw an opportunity to teach which stimulated his understanding of beauty.

I think he wanted to open up the man's mind to continued exploration, and in this case, discovery as well.

Interesting that you call trying to teach someone about music soically odd, but by not commenting imply that it is totally normal to sit in a concert ignoring the music. Perhaps social norms are not all they are cracked up to be, and a little "out of the box" thinking can be good. Or even thinking out of space and time :-)

What is the benefit of not being "a bit socially deviant"?

Yours ? Not being regarded as "odd".

Society's ? Not having to deal with the friction created by eccentrics.

People whose opinion I care about aren't that fussed about other being "a bit socially deviant". Apparently Einstein had similar views, so I feel I'm in good company.

Society progresses only by the friction created by all those unreasonable eccentrics.

Im with Swombat. Who cares what society thinks :)

Heaven forbid society should have to deal with something different! Do you actually believe this or are you just playing the advocate?

I believe this, AND I was just playing the advocate. Note that belief and approval are orthogonal. I think this is really happening, altough I do not really approve it.

Einstein asked a question, the writer said he did not understand the music. Okay so most people would perhaps have just tried to "explain" the music in the intermissions - but I doubt that would have the same effect.

One of Einsteins skills was explaining logic in simple easy steps to build up a very complex picture. For me this story (be it true or not) shows his brilliant tutalege in action :)

There is a rather strong and noble tradition among great physicists of being a little bit off the beaten track. Read Feynman. The bets between Stephen Hawking and Kip Thorne at Caltech. There wasn't a lot that was conventional about Einstein.

feels made up.

That or the author knows time travel.He was born in 1986 http://akshar.co.in/blog/about-2

It's not by him, but supposedly by Jerome Weidman:

http://www.afn.co.kr/archives/readings/einstein.htm

The actual author is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome_Weidman and is 96 years old.

Ah, tells me how much I scan. I was unable to see Weidman reference even on second reading, and had to search

If WP is correct, he is 96 as of now, with 11 years spent in eternity.

Seems on the up and up to me. Originally published in 1955 in the Reader's Digest by Jerome Weidman.

The table of contents are highlighted in this eBay posting, corroborating the byline.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Readers-Digest~November-1955_W0QQitemZ12...

Good research dude. Thanks for the link.

I call shenanigans on Dr Einstein.

“Sheep May Safely Graze" is as pop-ish as Bach can get and it would not have been surprising if Bing Crosby put lyrics to it and sang it.

As an introduction of Bach's music to someone whose previous music appreciation extended to Bing Crosby it seems perfectly appropriate.

Now if only our nation's science and math teachers could open their students' eyes to the beauties of understanding the world.

My grandmother met Einstein in Germany before the war. He was outside doing some gardening and she was visiting a friend at the house.

How does it concern this topic?

agreed≥

Reply on news.ycombinator.com