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Well I was just exaggerating it a bit there to make a point. I"m sure if Einstein had only wisdom on patriotism was that he didn't approve of foreign babies being shot we wouldn't have considered him quite so inspiring.
He seems to have contempt for all soldiers though, doesn't he?
I think most people harbour contempt for soldiers, well at least the enemy and during times of war.Quote:
Originally Posted by TafkaB
Until I heard the OP quote which did move me, and it was spoken at the end of a movie with Matt Dammon in it but can't remember the movie name, I have never given Einstein, his thoughts or his teachings a second thought.
No better time to start.
I don't think he was just talking about enemy soldiers, easy to feel contempt for people shooting at you. Rather he was talking about all soldiers, enemy and ally.
Is killing under the cloak of war an act of murder? It will seem like a disagreeable statement to many.
So you feel he didn't agree with the decision to announce war against Hitler due to his actions in Poland and across Europe at the time?Quote:
Originally Posted by TafkaB
Ironic words coming from a guy who advised the US to develop the atomic bomb.Quote:
Originally Posted by TafkaB
^^ I think he agreed with the decision, he feared a German victory and saw it as a necessary evil.
But an evil nonetheless.
^ Yes Noodles, it does seem that way.
He told Roosevelt that Germany may be trying to develop an atomic weapon, and recommended that the U.S. do the same. His recommendation went on to cost over quarter of a million innocent people their lives.Quote:
Originally Posted by TafkaB
That he later regretted though.
Something I just turned up off the net..
Einstein | American Museum of Natural History
So I'm wondering if that quote from Einstein was from a period before WW2? And that's why it's pacifistic message doesn't seem to ring true with a man who ended up being a part of the world's largest mass killing.Quote:
While watching a German military parade in the 1880s with his parents, young Albert became terrified by the almost mechanical movements of the soldiers who seemed to have no minds of their own. His parents had to promise their frightened son he would never have to become a soldier. Einstein despised militarism and the use of force his entire life—although he later recognized that in some situations, there is no alternative but to "fight for peace."
Einstein denounced World War I and after the war became an outspoken pacifist. But the rise of Nazism and the horrifying events of World War II forced him to reconsider his anti-war position. Concerned the Nazis were building an atomic bomb, he urged the United States to build one first. Six years later, when the bomb was dropped on civilians, Einstein openly regretted his action and became a champion of nuclear disarmament for the rest of his life.
He definitely was firmly opposed to fanatical nationalism and how it is used by governments to build armies and convince it's young to march off and slaughter one another.Quote:
Originally Posted by TafkaB
Most of his political statements were made during or after WW2. The quote containing "It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder" needs to be considered in context of his efforts to have all nations abolish war and solve differences diplomatically. A noble philosophy held by him, many before and since. Unfortunately not a philosophy universally embraced.
Being a German born Jew and witness to what nationalism can do he was fully aware there are times when personally distasteful but justified things must be done.
“I made one great mistake in my life... when I signed the letter to President Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be made; but there was some justification - the danger that the Germans would make them.”
I agree with that.Quote:
The quote containing "It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder" needs to be considered in context of his efforts to have all nations abolish war and solve differences diplomatically. A noble philosophy held by him, many before and since.
From another site..
NAPF - Albert Einstein: Man of Imagination
I like Einstein's quote in this one, how right he was.Quote:
With the onset World War II in 1939, Europe was further destabilized and Einstein feared that the Nazi regime would be victorious. At the urging of fellow scientist Leo Szilard https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif, Einstein wrote a letter to US President Roosevelt warning that the US must develop the atomic bomb before the Germans did. As a result, President Roosevelt initiated a research project to create an atomic bomb, and the Nuclear Age was set in motion. However, as the realization of nuclear weapons drew near, Einstein looked beyond World War II to future problems that such weapons could bring. In December 1944, Einstein wrote to physicist Niels Bohr,“When the war is over, then there will be in all countries a pursuit of secret war preparations with technological means which will lead inevitably to preventative wars and to destruction even more terrible than the present destruction of life.”
Quote:
Originally Posted by English Noodles
That's okay then. Just so long as he regretted it.:rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by TafkaB
You can read his letters here. Einstein's Letters to Roosevelt
we don't have a correct definition of light - no-one actually knows what it is, a continuous stream of photons or an electromagenetic waveQuote:
Originally Posted by English Noodles
the speed of light can be measured, so we do know that constant
the time it takes for a light to reach a certain distance is its speed
and of course the speed of light can be used in any equation and squared
you are not squaring the actual physical speed, merely using the amount in the equationQuote:
Originally Posted by English Noodles
I'm not squaring anything, merely copy and pasting from other websites.:)Quote:
Originally Posted by DrAndy
The use of these nucleur weapons probably shortened the Second World war by years as well as saved millions of lives.Quote:
Originally Posted by English Noodles
Whilst Einstein publically stated his regret with regard to his association all those involved, including the people that delivered the weapons on site are regarded as heros by many.
By having bigger and better weapons will always be a deterrent against the aggressor but dangerous if in the wrong hands. That's the problem........
I don't disagree with your sentiment, my point was in reference to the quote on the t-shirt and the irony of it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Loy Toy
The alternative being Hitler having it first. Wonder how many lives that would have cost? Tough choice. Not.Quote:
Originally Posted by English Noodles
You missed the point. I was pointing out the irony in his quote.Quote:
Originally Posted by Norton
Understood mate and I wasn't being picky.Quote:
Originally Posted by English Noodles
I guess every soldier who has participated in a war has regrets along with some amount of pride particularly if they are victorious and for the right reasons.
I doubt if many TD members have ever gone to war and I feel strangely out of my depth contributing my opinion on such a subject.
I thought you told me Noodles was tall not short.Quote:
Originally Posted by Loy Toy
Good to see you back on your usual TD form LT :)
So what's the speed of dark?Quote:
Originally Posted by DrAndy
the reasons are always right if you winQuote:
Originally Posted by Loy Toy
Quote:
Originally Posted by English Noodles
can't you look that up too?
Darkness is the absence of light. There is no speed of darkness.
I guess you could say that darkness "arrives" when light departs. So the speed that light "leaves" the observed space would be the speed of darkness; meaning the speed of darkness would be the speed of light, about 3.00 × 108 m/s.
Is this the mysterious Black Hole?Quote:
Originally Posted by DrAndy
So if your car could travel at the speed of light, would your headlights work?Quote:
Originally Posted by DrAndy