Independent Minds — Einstein

Discovering History’s Formula For Learning And Development

In the last article in this series, we noted a change in focus for future articles. It will begin with Albert Einstein. It is well known that Einstein struggled with formal education. He had very rocky experience in his early schooling and the University of Bern is now infamous for their later rejection of his dissertation. His subsequent acceptance less than a year later is far less ‘popular’ and runs a far second to the hoax rejection letter making the rounds of the internet.

Einstein was an innovator and rebel in intellectual circles. This article will focus on a couple of key traits that distinguished him as an independent mind. Those traits include his love of simplicity, his love of analogy, and his love of imagination.

Simplicity

It is not an exaggeration to call Einstein’s life and ongoing quest for greater simplicity. It was clearly a personal mantra and passion.

Out Of Clutter, Find Simplicity — Albert Einstein

It is likely the subject of a greater percentage of his famous quotes than any other subject. It was also ever present in his approach to science, life, and the greater mysteries of the universe.

It can scarcely be denied that the supreme goal of all theory is to make the irreducible basic elements as simple and as few as possible without having to surrender the adequate representation of a single datum of experience. — A.E.

Today we further honor this quote by further simplifying it to — make things as simple as possible, but no simpler. It was a principle that served him well. One that is often overlooked in more bottom-up education processes today.

Analogy

I have written before about Einstein’s use of analogy. It is also the subject of a wonderfully elegant book written by Einstein’s long time friend and colleague Banesh Hoffman.

Einstein’s greatest theories were inspired by comparisons to other sciences, rides in theoretical elevators & trains, violins, chairs, and even a bubble bath. These were all Eureka moments for Einstein, who may have been stealing from Archimedes, likely didn’t involve Britney Spears, but likely inspired another great book.

To use an analogy, Einstein had a gift for mental judo. He could find inspiration in the most simple objects or processes. Or likely more correctly, he could find the most common concepts within some of science’s most complex topics and challenges.

Imagination

Academia and science often seem bereft of imagination. They really aren’t very good on simplicity or analogy either. Einstein was the antithesis. He had a love of imagination. He had an appreciation for intuition. Like Lovelace and so many great minds of history, he lived outside the box of the raw scientific method. He did not dismiss it — he simply refused to allow it to limit or define him.

I believe in intuition and inspiration. … At times I feel certain I am right while not knowing the reason. When the eclipse of 1919 confirmed my intuition, I was not in the least surprised. In fact I would have been astonished had it turned out otherwise. Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution. It is, strictly speaking, a real factor in scientific research.

Like so many other great Einstein quotes, this too has been simplified in several forms. Einstein has been wildly branded as one of history’s foremost scientists, physicists, and mathematicians. Unfortunately, these titles tend to obscure his real genius behind a wall of complexity that makes it less tenable to most of us living outside the ivy-covered walls.

Einstein was one of history’s greatest senses of simplicity, analogy, and imagination. This made him a true Independent Mind. Thanks for reading!

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