...so was Einstein a Deist?
He believed in a higher power, because chaos has patterns. Patterns point to "intelligence" especially inside of chaos.
He is basing this statement on the fact that the mind cannot grasp eternity/infinity/never-ending.
He is talking about Humanity being in it's infancy versus the knowledge ahead.
The laws and theories acknowledged as part of all knowable knowledge. It deals with exploring reality. Which is what science ultimately does.
And, he is right- we do not know where the laws, of physics comes from. We may never know. Was it planned? Part of a design?
Again, he is talking about exploring reality via science.
He believed in a higher existence. I think I read somewhere that he thought that the next evolutionary process would be to pure energy.
Just my view on what was said.
Why do believers feel the need to fabricate things about Einstein? It's rather entertaining but it sure gets boring fast.
Einstein was a scientist and spent his time thinking about physics. He could care less and thought little of gods and religions. He didn't attend churches, he didn't pray, he didn't do or talk about anything believers want to believe that he did.
Try getting over it, folks.
Einstein was pushed into having an opinion about god and was pretty clear he thought religion and a personal god was nonsense -
"I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own -- a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotisms."
"I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with the fates and actions of human beings."
Hey - I could believe in this god that does not have anything to do with the Universe. Why not?
I certainly wish this is the one you lot believed in.
No he did not. Spinoza's God did no such thing. I would do some research before making such a wrong statement. That is the problem with your beliefs - anything that sounds like it might validate them is instantly accepted as fact and propagated by the faithful.
You will do once you understand Spinoza's God. That Einstein was clear is the only one he could believe in. Look at how you are pressuring me - how much pressure do you think Einstein got?
Dear me. Like I said - anything that sounds like it validates your beliefs is instantly accepted as fact. This is a lie made up by desperate religionists. Do you accept everything you read in an online article as fact so easily?
And if you have read and understood Spinoza's concept of God in those few minutes - I am impressed - because it took me months to grasp.@habee
Your bounded rationality is a blessing for you, but its a curse for humanity
habee, Thanks for sharing the link. I found this information very inspring. Einstein's words were very clear. He wanted to know how God created the world
Awesome!
Just look at you. You don't believe it is possible someone made up those words and put them into his mouth? Interesting that you accept this completely out-of-character reference as a fact. Because religious people are so incredibly honest?
When you understand Spinoza's concept of god - you will understand more.
Einstein though your religion is childish nonsense and said so on many occasions. When pressured - he said he could believe in Spinoza's god - a conceptual being with no involvement in the physical world.
He thought the term atheist was nonsense also - as I do - but am stuck with it because of you guys. How silly. Are you an anazi?
And yes - Al's god and your god are two entirely different things. Al thought that yours could not and does not exist, and that people who thought it did were being childish.I never said Time is a religious magazine. Einstein maintained until his dying day that your god does not and can not exist. Hearsay in an online magazine? OK - must be true.
"I believe in Spinoza's God, who reveals himself in the lawful harmony of all that exists, but not in a God who concerns himself with the fate and the doings of mankind."
Read about Spinoza. Far as I recall, he was thrown out by both the Jews and Christians for heresy and atheism.Because it is taken from a letter that Einstein wrote. And the letter exists.
http://www.einsteinandreligion.com/spinoza2.html
The "direct quote," of yours is hearsay that some else said he said at a gathering.
He said this many times in any case - now go read Spinoza - and you will see what I am talking about.
He was not a Deist - correct me if I am wrong but Deists think God started the Universe and then vanished? Sounds like atheists who do not want to be labeled "atheist."Yes - and? Some of them are like that. I was for a while. So what? Religion does a lot of damage and a lot of people are pissed off because of that.
http://www.relativitybook.com/resources … igion.html
Now tell me where that letter is.
habee is on first name terms with the late Dr Einstein.
Ah - OK - so he believed Jesus existed. What does that mean and how does that have any bearing on his being a Deist or not?
Or are you trying to get some sort of validation by association?
I really found your Time Magazine article amusing
& I am pretty sure you have not read it throughly or you intentionally manipulated it. The whole article provides information which clearly postulates that Einstein did not believe in any kind of scriptural God, rather he understood God as harmony or laws of Universe, much like Spinoza. The following quotes are from the same Time Magazine link you provided above:
1. "Through the reading of popular scientific books, I soon reached the conviction that much in the stories of the Bible could not be true. The consequence was a positively fanatic orgy of free thinking coupled with the impression that youth is intentionally being deceived by the state through lies; it was a crushing impression." (Page 1, last para)
2. Do you believe in immortality?
"No. And one life is enough for me." - Perhaps he did not believe in afterlife.
3. "The main source of the present-day conflicts between the spheres of religion and of science lies in this concept of a personal God" (Page 3, Para 4)
4. Einstein, on the other hand, believed--as did Spinoza--that a person's actions were just as determined as that of a billiard ball, planet or star. (Page 3, Para 6)
5. For some people, miracles serve as evidence of God's existence. For Einstein it was the absence of miracles that reflected divine providence. The fact that the world was comprehensible, that it followed laws, was worthy of awe. (Page 3 ,Last Para)
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/artic … -1,00.html
I BELIEVE NO FURTHER ARGUMENT IS REQUIRED ON THIS ISSUE...So I guess you have nothing relevant to response? Dont try to switch topics like kids do. Its better to admit mistakes than continuing pointless conversations...
I would appreciate if you admit now that you had been WRONG about Einstein.
Will you do it for the sake of truthfulness??
habee, Interesting, Einstein's own words in an interview should be more revealing to everyone than something someone else said about him. I am in total agreement.
Fascinating articles - thank you for sharing them, habee.
It's amusing to see the atheists assiduously claim Einstein as an atheist, with as much fervor as they reject Hitler as one. In his many quotes on the topic of religion, he doesn't bear any animus towards different religious beliefs, only towards nationalism, which he presciently described as an infantile disease. He also says atheists are reacting to a childhood of religious doctrination, which has been my impression, frankly, too.
It's clear to me that Einstein's thoughts on religion were fairly complex, and understandably so given his study on relativity, causality, and other matters related to physics that he was trying to reconcile with his "childlike" wonderment at the unexplainable. He clearly believed that the universe was eventually understandable, but that mankind is still far too primitive to understand any of it.Yes, I think so. But that's just my hope/belief.
It's beyond my comprehension, but hopefully our descendants will continue the process of inquiry and arrive at a greater understanding.
What about you?Yes, it unfortunately seems that way often...which underscores our need for moral development to parallel that of our scientific development, too. (beating swords into plowshares, etc)
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