Riding the Light Beam 1

[Guest guest]

There has been a lot of discussion here about the

primacy of empiricism in solving the mysteries and

problems of the world. The argument that the senses have

narrow threshholds and, in addition, are flawed seems

not to have persuaded some that it is better to look

for other, more intuitive means of acquiring

knowledge.<br><br>So, I thought that I would bring in an expert in

science and scientific thought, namely, Albert Einstein,

to illuminate the subject a bit more. Einstein is

the scientific icon of the twentieth century and if

anyone should know something about how to find the truth

about nature and man it is he. But first, a little

biography. Einstein's mother was disturbed by how long it

took him to learn how to talk. As a child, Albert

Einstein appeared deficient. Dyslexia caused him great

difficulty in speech and reading. poor language skills

provoked his Greek teacher to tell the boy, "You will

never amount to anything." Einstein received a book on

geometry when he was twelve. Over the next two years he

taught himself calculus. Einstein disliked school,

however, and losing interest, either dropped out of or was

expelled from high school. He flunked his first college

entrance exam. After finally completing his bachelor's

degree, he failed to attain a recommendation from his

professors and was forced to take a lowly job in the Swiss

patent office. Until his mid-20s, he seemed destined for

a life of mediocrity. <br><br>So how did this

apparent loser manage to publish his Special Theory of

Relativity at age 26? The answer is that he used not his

empirical senses but his imagination. While sitting in his

math classes, Einstein used to imagine what it was

like to sit on a light beam while travelling through

space. Einstein believed that you could stimulate

ingenious thought by allowing the imagination to float

freely, forming associations at will. For instance, he

attributed his Theory of Relativity not to any special gift,

but to what he called his "retarded" development. In

his "Autobiographical Notes", Einstein recalled

having the first crucial insight that led to his Special

Theory of Relativity at age 16 while he was daydreaming.

<br><br>Another example of invention and discovery, not through

empiricism is the story of Elias Howe who invented the

sewing machine. Howe labored long gnd hard to create the

first sewing machine. Nothing worked. Then, one night,

Howe had a nightmare. He was running from a band of

cannibals -- they were so close, he could see their spear

tips. Despite his terror, Howe noticed that each spear

point had a hole bored in its tip like the eye of a

sewing needle. <br><br>When he awoke, Howe realized what

his nightmare was trying to say: On his sewing

machine, he needed to move the eyehole from the middle of

the needle down to the tip. That was his

breakthrough, and the sewing machine was born. <br><br>to be

continued