Einstein’s Shortfall
Here’s an interesting follow up to an article I recently posted on the nature of the human intelligence.
This article has been by far the most popular of those I have written up to this point. The central premise of this article was simple: the most intelligent minds are those which are willing to let go of assumptions. Or, put more simply, a flexible mind is more capable of absorbing new ideas and information than one which is absolutely rigid in its beliefs.
Of course, the paradox of all this is that even the most intelligent minds must make assumptions of one sort or another. Often those we consider to be most brilliant are still guilty of stubbornly clinging to false ideas. This is readily apparent as we consider one of the greatest geniuses of the last century - Albert Einstein.
Einstein demonstrated his vast intelligence in many ways, not the least of which was his ability to challenge basic assumptions about the nature of space and time. His theories of relativity, which demonstrated that space is curved and that time passes at different rates depending on the speed at which a person/object is moving, defied many logical assumptions about the nature of reality itself. Nevertheless, Einstein’s capacity to pursue new frontiers in science and physics was handicapped. Two assumptions that Einstein stubbornly clung to, despite scientific evidence to the contrary, were the notion that that universe was eternal and the belief that it was also deterministic.
The first of these assumptions is one of the most interesting contradictions of Einstein’s career. Einstein hated the notion of the “Big Bang”, preferring instead to believe that our universe had always existed. Ironically, it was Albert’s own work in explaining the workings of gravity which laid the foundation for the Big Bang model. As his theories helped us understand how gravity worked, it became evident that if the universe had always existed it would have pulled itself together and collapsed in on itself a long time ago. To avoid this obvious flaw in an eternal universe, Einstein cooked up the theory of the “cosmological constant” - a mysterious force which counterbalanced the force of gravity and held the universe in a constant, eternal state. Einstein had no actual scientific basis for proposing this constant - it was simply wishful thinking.
The second assumption Einstein refused to abandon was his belief in an orderly, deterministic universe. Einstein sought to build upon the ideas and theories of Sir Isaac Newton. Newton’s laws of motion had proven incredibly resilient and effective in explaining the motion of objects in the classical, observable universe. Using Newton’s principles, one could predict the motion of large objects (such as planets) for centuries to come. Everything seemed to be governed by constant, predictable laws. Nevertheless, as science took a closer look at the subatomic world it became obvious that tiny things do not behave the same way. Quantum physics suggested that there was an inherent level of randomness to the universe - that one can only predict what something will probably do, but not what it will certainly do. Despite his own contributions to this emerging field of science, Einstein again refused to accept the obvious conclusions of quantum theory. At one point he went so far as to exclaim, “God does not play dice!” Nevertheless, the principles of this theory have been proven to a high degree, and are the basis for much of our modern technology.
I have often speculated that challenging one’s own assumptions requires tremendous courage. It’s fascinating that Einstein had the courage to challenge many of the prevailing scientific assumptions of his time, and yet this courage failed him as he was brought to confront the obvious repercussions of his very own theories and ideas. Though Einstein has found some vindication for his “cosmological constant” as science attempts to grapple with the mystery of dark energy, it seems that even his mental capacity had its limits. It is humbling to think about the limitations of such a great mind; ultimately, all of us must grapple with these same weaknesses as we pursue knowledge and personal fulfillment.
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May 20th, 2008 at 8:16 am
I was searching for \’What Did Albert Einstein Discover\’ at google and found your post named \’Einstein’s Shortfall\’ in search results. Not very relevant result, but still interesting to read.