The time has come to analyze Einstein's emotional mind. But wait a second , wasn't this blog supposed to be about my Universe ? My life and my mind ? Why am I going on about Einstein so much ? If these are the kind of questions you are asking yourself at this moment, I will ask you to be patient and read on, I will answer these questions in due time.
So we now have quite a solid understanding of Einstein's equations, his physical concepts and the radical ideas he used to shake the very foundations of Physics. So what remains ? We are left with Einstein's emotional mind. But why should we query Einstein's emotional mind ? What good will it do to analyze and understand Einstein's emotions ? To answer this question we have to allow our minds to take a little dip in neuroscience and psychology.
The question to be answered is : ' What is the importance of emotion ?'
To answer this question, I would like you to imagine a world without emotion. What would this world be like ? Let me tell you what such a world would be like ; it would be senseless and without principles. There would be no good or bad, no fear, no passion, no curiosity and ultimately, and this is the point I want to bring to the forefront, there would be no thought. Emotions are that bubbling broth from which thoughts emerge.
So now I hope you can appreciate the importance of understanding emotion, and by understanding Einstein's emotions, we can trace the source of all his wonderful equations and contributions to science.
Lets not waste anymore time, lets dive straight into Einstein's mind and discover the secret, lost thoughts behind one of the greatest minds of all time. In order to carry out this daunting task, we have to BE Einstein, we need to try to relive his memories and see where they take us.
Imagine the young boy Einstein, he dislikes discipline and is an average student. But with such a great mind why would he remain average ? Also let us note that Einstein was a quiet child and kept away from his peers. At the age of eleven, Einstein went through a phase where he became very religious, and when he was fed up with schooling at Munich, he convinced a doctor to diagnose him with 'neurasthenic exhaustion'.
What does all this mean, how does it all add up to produce Einstein's character ? Oh and I almost forgot, he played the violin from a very early age, and enjoyed doing so. From all this, I can come to only one conclusion : Einstein was an emotional, intuitive thinker. He kept away from his peers because he was an introvert and could not connect with his peers on the same emotional level. Einstein was an independent thinker from a very early age and therefore, disliked a system of schooling that hindered his freedom of thought and expression. His brief but intense religious experiences shows that he was a strong believer in good and evil, basically that he was an emotional idealist, he believed in living by the principles he thought were correct and was not interesting in conforming to society's demands or rules. This led to him becoming isolated in thought from the rest of those around him.
The conclusion that Einstein was an independent thinker is a very important one. Eventually, I believe it is this quality that led him to his famous, abstract theories of relativity and other contributions to Quantum mechanics. Now you may be wondering how his independence of thought may lead to all his discoveries. Let me explain : To answer you're query, we must think about how a person becomes an independent thinker. You see, an independent thinker broods over the thoughts that swim past their mind, such a person often values his privacy because it is during this time that he can evaluate his life and develop principles by which he will operate. In the case of Einstein we can imagine all of this, and also note that strong emotions and intuition were the source of his thought and principles. Intuition and this quality of independence led him to create his theories. I think we can now understand why the job at the Swiss patent office proved so fruitful for him ; there was plenty of time for brooding over thoughts and independent thinking.
It is also interesting to note that Einstein once chose to become a high school Physics and Math teacher. The reason is simple, he wanted to share his independent, self made thoughts with others, and try to stimulate similar thought processes in others. By the time he chose to do a course in teaching, his confidence had grown and was therefore, no longer shy to share his thoughts.
All in all, Einstein was a deeply emotional individual and a very independent thinker. He was passionate about his work, and it is the vigor of his passion that summoned his great ideas. His own realization of this is probably best summoned up in his famous quote "I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious".
With that, I end my little Einstein discussion. However, I never mentioned how all this connects to my own life. Or perhaps I already have !
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