A calling ...

"We are called to be architects of the future, not its victims."

"Make the world work for 100% of humanity in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological offense or the disadvantage of anyone."

- Buckminster Fuller

Saturday, March 18, 2017

Einstein

I finished listening to Einstein: His Life and Universe (Unabridged) by Walter Isaacson, narrated by Edward Herrmann on my Audible app. Try Audible and get it free: https://www.audible.com/pd?asin=B002V1A1YQ&source_code=AFAORWS04241590G4

It's definitely worth pondering the universe with Einstein as a guide. What initially shocked me was how Einstein did not allow limitations of available data to prevent him from overturning thought limiting dogma. Einstein's application of thought experiments and postulates of essential principles allowed him to work backwards & propose experiments that would later confirm his revolutionary intuitions that explained relationships between light, energy, and gravitation.

Today, essential principles of scientific thought are being assailed by men who lack conviction or common decency, who disregard evidence as alternative facts, but who hold vast political power. Amidst these confusing times, it's worth using attributes that explain what made Einstein unique & his life experiences, especially his stubborn individualism & freedom of thought, as guides for resisting pathologies that threaten American democracy.

For Einstein, it was never who's right, but what's right. That's what I love about mathematics. That passion for truth seeking is the one essential quality I hope to pass on to my math students.