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Re: Einstein and more



Brian writes: "I harbor grave doubts - and I will not be persuaded
otherwise by
outbursts. These lead me simply to ponder, 'look, another
strange manifestation from a physicist...'"

When Oppie was dragged before his final AEC kangaroo court one of the
questions he was asked was why so many physicists were "left winged
liberals." The reference was to the large number of physicists who,
during the 20's and 30's who were attracted to socialism, communism, and
other utopian philosophies.

His response was (and I'm paraphrasing) that physicists are generally
open to looking at new ideas. They tend to challenge "what is" and to
search for the ideal. Pondering the universe tends to make one a
philosopher.

As Paul Everyhope said: "Perhaps these...need to realize
that it is in part the denial of traditional modes of thinking that is
the hallmark of genius."

When Brian challenges these "strange manifestation from a physicist he
reveals his ignorance and exhibits a lack of understanding of what makes
the difference between an engineer and a physicist.

Yes Brian, there are as many narrow minded physicists as engineers, and
just because one is a physicist does not make one a guru on world peace,
but if you read much of what Einstein wrote and take in the whole you
begin to see that much of what he had to say is inspirational and of
value.

Ray