[HN Gopher] Did Einstein say that? (2018)
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       Did Einstein say that? (2018)
        
       Author : 2517AD
       Score  : 48 points
       Date   : 2022-07-20 05:34 UTC (2 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.nature.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.nature.com)
        
       | loloquwowndueo wrote:
       | "Use the force, Harry" - Gandalf
       | 
       | Works great when overlaid over a picture of Patrick Stewart ;)
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | mtlmtlmtlmtl wrote:
         | Patrick Stewart, in a wheelchair(X-men), wearing his Starfleet
         | uniform.
        
       | deltasevennine wrote:
       | "I did not say this quote." -- Albert Einstein
        
       | infogulch wrote:
       | My favorite:
       | 
       | > Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not
       | simpler.
       | 
       | https://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/05/13/einstein-simple/
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | dundarious wrote:
       | 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.
        
       | sprak wrote:
       | 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.
        
         | n4r9 wrote:
         | 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.
        
         | alehlopeh wrote:
         | That isn't the definition of insanity though. Just check any
         | dictionary.
        
       | donarb wrote:
       | "Don't believe everything you read on the internet." -- Abraham
       | Lincoln
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | BurningFrog wrote:
       | 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
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | ModernMech wrote:
       | 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.
        
         | kjander79 wrote:
         | 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.
        
       | makeitdouble wrote:
       | 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.
        
       | edent wrote:
       | 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...
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | pomian wrote:
         | 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?)
        
           | BurningFrog wrote:
           | It really is a fantastic, one-of-a-kind Australian movie!
        
         | Agamus wrote:
         | 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.
        
         | abecedarius wrote:
         | I've had the same experience of commenting with a correction
         | and being completely ignored. I mostly gave up.
        
       | wolfi1 wrote:
       | if you assume that a quote attributed to Einstein is not his, you
       | are almost always right
        
         | simiones wrote:
         | -- Albert Einstein
        
       | mauvehaus wrote:
       | "Only two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity,
       | and I'm not so sure about the universe."
       | 
       | --Albert Einstein
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | jwilk wrote:
         | https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/04/universe-einstein/
        
       | swayvil wrote:
       | 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.
        
       | its_bbq wrote:
       | Related: fakebuddhaquotes.com
        
       | ithkuil wrote:
       | "I never said half the crap people said I did." -- Albert
       | Einstein
        
         | tcmart14 wrote:
         | "Haha, thats sick bro, now watch me do a keg stand!" -- Albert
         | Einstein
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | liberia wrote:
         | https://cdn.geckoandfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/fake-...
        
           | noSyncCloud wrote:
           | Chilling that he was able to anticipate the invention of the
           | internet like that. What a genius!
        
         | wrycoder wrote:
         | I still have a screen cap of my Twitter feed when he posted
         | that.
        
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       (page generated 2022-07-22 23:01 UTC)