EINSTEIN PHILOSOPHY

Taranaki Daily News, 7 December 1929, Page 17 (Supplement)

EINSTEIN PHILOSOPHY

“DAS GLAUBE ICH NICHT”

(By

“Beta Delta.’)

Many things which most of us have believed since our earliest years appear to be under the ban of Einstein’s philosophy. It would therefore be gratifying to find out what is his positive teaching. Having this in mind, one carefully perused some account of an inter-, view Dr. Paul Hutchinson had with him the other day; but in vain. The conversation alluded to was reported in a recent issue of The Christian Century. In order that out of the mouth of two or three witnesses every word might be established, the learned doctor took with him a party of distinguished persons who, in the process, found plenty to amuse and, afterwards, much to think about. The interview took place near the. city of Berlin, where they found the celebrated mathematician in somewhat indifferent health, in his quiet little cottage. • Dr. Hutchinson describes him as “a man of medium height, whose stocky body filled out his suit of red-brown, rough-spun cloth. The head sits solidly on the body. It is a large head, crowned with waving hair which once was black, and now shades from deep

black at the roots to clear white at

the ends. It blows about like a mane. His skin is dark brown, but the brown face which might be shadowed and sombre, is brought to life and kept vibrant by the large glowing eyes. It is the eyes to which attention constantly returns. They are very gentle and very kind."

Continuing the description, the doctor states that the great man’s simplicity is one* of the most striking things about him. Einstein does not hope to be regarded as if he were a kind of supernatural being, endowed beyond the average with understanding. One finds it difficult to’think of him father of the relativity doctrine, a doctrine that is prone to make us wonder whether, after all, miles are inches, whether light is not darkness, and whether black is white. The professor himself seems to forget that he is supposed to be the originator and exponent of the theory of relativity.

The interviewers soon •he was more interested hi such'’questions as modern Italy, and whether Russia is likely to do better or worse under the Soviet regime than under any other. They found, for example, that while he is vigorously opposed to any form of dictatorship, he is nevertheless convinced that the Soviet authorities are perfectly sincere; that they believe that the administration they stand for is best for the Russian people; and that they further believe they are being shamefully and unjustly maligned and persecuted by almost the whole world. He evinced a warm interest in the affairs of India, and thinks that the great Empire ought to be left to manage for itself; that she will eventually find her own soul, and thus become spiritually and culturally virile. The professor keeps a close watch bn Italian affairs, and is eager to see what will happen as a result of the measures being adopted by the dictatorship in that country.

The interviewers found Einstein to be an enthusiastic pacifist, though ready to admit that often Europe had been driven to war from good motives, chief of these being the tradition of honour. One of the party tried to find out whether the Professor’s pacifism was the result of the war experiences Of the nations or due to his philosophy of life. The reply was that it was purely instinctive. “It is, a feeling that possesses me, because the murder of men is disgusting,” he said.

Another member of the group made what he considered to be a bold attempt to get him to open up his thoughts on religious questions, and found this to be the one subject that above all others gave spirit and animation to the mathematician. He endeavoured to discover, for example, whether Einstein shared the opinion of certain experts that we were near to a solu-

tion of the mystery of the spiritual life by reason of the recent discoveries concerning the electron. “Das glaube ich nicht,” was the emphatic reply. (“That I believe not.”) He admitted that there is, and always will be, a place in life for religion, and that it was impossible for science to root it up. But the idea, of a Father God, who concerns himself with our affairs, “'Das glaube ich nicht," he said. Religion for him, it was evident, means something other than this. It is a sense of awe in the presence of the harmony and greatness of the universe. He certainly could not think of a religion that expects God to intervene in any way that means a modification of the great laws of nature. “One can imagine a God who leaves his system absolutely free,” he said. ‘One can imagine a God who controls everything by law, but it is impossible to think of a God who sets up a world and then plays dice with the universe as though its laws had no existence. “Das glaube ich nicht.” The interviewers bade farewell to Einstein as to a man “with the brain of a giant and the heart of a child,” as one of them expressed it, and glad to find such a man deeply interested in the questions on which he was more ready to talk than upon the theme for ’ which he .is mostly known. Within the short space of an hour they were able to find out much that he believed not; but very little that he cherished as matters of conviction. “Das glaube ich nicht” was more ready to his tongue than any other word. It has good standing, surely, in relativity. It was found that although Einstein could speak English he much preferred to converse in his native language. Perhaps the positive is easier in gutturals, and possibly conversation with his own countrymen would have inspired more, of it. Not infrequently during the conversation, so one reporter states, “the laughing wrinkles at the corner of Einstein’s eyes crinkled,” as if to intimate pleasantly that the answer he was about to give his questioners was in his opinion a stunner.