inkbluesky

Einstein letter shows disdain for religion

Albert Einstein regarded religions as “childish” and “primitive legends”, a private letter he wrote a year before his death has revealed.

The great scientist’s views on religion have long been debated, with many seizing upon phrases such as “He [God] does not throw dice” as evidence that he believed in a creator.

But the newly-unveiled letter, a response to the philosopher Eric Gutkind, has cast doubt on the theory that Einstein had any belief in God at all towards to the end of his life.

In the letter, dated January 3 1954, he wrote: “The word god is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weakness, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish.

“No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this.”

Einstein, who died the following year aged 76, did not spare Judaism from his criticism, believing Jewish people were in no way “chosen” by God.

He wrote: “For me the Jewish religion like all others is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions. And the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong and with whose mentality I have a deep affinity have no different quality for me than all other people.

This story is a few days old. It is possible to ignore one of the greatest minds in the history of mankind. Many people probably did just that after they read a few paragraphs of this article as it made its way around the net. Those that didn’t played The Game. Those have a difficult time withe the Sistine Chapel version of a white sheet wearing breaded deity ( see the first quote) living in a kingdom of clouds took some solace that the most popular synonym for intelligence in popular culture didn’t believe in the god portrayed in the HJV. Those that feel differently have been slightly pissed - my favorite is the commenter who’s only reply was that Albert was “lame”.

half way 2 civilization

The truth about racial stereotypes on spending

The affect of the peer group holds true for whites and Hispanics as well, Hurst said. “When blacks of a certain income live around poorer people, they spend more than they would if they lived around richer peers. Whites do exactly the same thing. So do Hispanics,” he said. Given the racial sorting that’s typical of most neighborhoods, he added, “blacks tend to live in certain areas, whites in others, and Hispanics in others. The problem is that, on average, blacks live around poorer people, and whites live around richer people, so that on average, blacks spend more on visible goods than whites do.”

Hurst said the research makes clear that in this instance, blacks and whites are “exactly the same in what their preferences are. And both respond to the exact same kind of incentives. It just so happens that a black person of a given income has poorer peers than a white person of the same income, and that’s well documented. Because their peer groups are different, they do different things.”

Peer pressure or feeling the need to keep up with your peers appears to play a large part in why we have flashy consumption. This might be harmless enough in upper middle income families, but in those that belong to the lower half of the income strata, by choosing not to measure the long term personal impact on their finances - like a lower savings rate, lesser ability to weather economic down turns etc. are setting themselves up for some hard times in their senior years. Our economy, or rather Madison Ave and corporate America encourage this behavior with promises of easy credit get it now for a few bucks a months advertising. Its the I Want It Now culture and if there is a way I can get it now regardless of long term consequences I’m getting it now; which cuts across ethnic groups. Getting it now also shows everyone that I’m not really average or poor, so there!