It's not just me, I think many people, at least people who have knowledge of the history of science and the history of thought, will have such questions.
Qin lost its deer, and the world chased it. In the first half of the twentieth century, the most lacking thing was probably genius. Keynes, the father of macroeconomics, and von Neumann, who wandered in many fields, whether it was the originality of thinking or the epic change that his thought brought to the times-the direct product of Keynes's macro tools was Roosevelt's New Deal and von Neumann Mann's contribution to the birth of the computer is indelible-more than Einstein.
The mystery of Einstein in later generations mostly stems from the conclusion: "At the beginning of the birth of the theory of relativity, only ten people in the world can truly understand it." One sentence portrays the appearance of a peerless independent, unfathomable genius or even a "ghost". However, leaving aside the harm to vested interest groups, the success of scholars among the mainstream public is not only innovative and original, but also a more important prerequisite for academic approval. However, the only conclusion we can draw from this sentence is actually There is a fatal lack of Einstein's widespread recognition in the academic world. Imagine if only ten people understand an argument, who will these ten people be: like-minded colleagues, close friends of the same school, in short, this is a niche that is almost solitary and self-respecting. In any era, short-term interests are the shackles of progress, and scholars are hardly immune. If the poison of the Inquisition is still there, it is not impossible for Einstein's epic shocking theory to be classified as a deception.
However, this is the most bizarre chapter in Einstein’s legend: the theory of relativity, which is rarely agreed in the academic world, has caused a swarm of popularity among ordinary people overnight, and young housewives have even participated in Einstein’s The lecture tours are compared to each other as fashion. You must know that no ordinary man will work hard to dig out a paper he can't understand in the academic remains covered with the dust of history, unless the "people's words" sing carols in unison. At the time when the spread of word-of-mouth was limited, mainstream media ruled the shaping of public idols. This is why Einstein is so popular, and Keynes, von Neumann, etc. are only praised by intellectuals, because the media has never deliberately praised them, but the legendary anecdotes about Einstein are endless.
But the question does not end here, and even the question has not been answered at all: the mainstream media is still ordinary people who are easy to be blinded by short-term benefits, what makes them seem a little weird in the academic circle Scientists, "possibly popular" among the traditionally conservative people to make such a bet?
Whether it is the media predicting the epoch-making significance of the theory of relativity, if such an explanation is true, not only will the academic world be discredited, but the absence of Keynes and von Neumann in the popular context is also absurd: Keynes’ macroeconomic perspective, Not only did it cure the damage caused by the Great Depression to the world economy to a certain extent, but the macro-control tools created by it illuminate the future of the world economy like an everlasting lamp; Von Neumann was the first scholar who devoted himself to the study of game theory. He pioneered the use of mathematical methods to interpret the dilemma of human cooperation, and laid an important theoretical foundation for guiding future governments on how to manage and allocate public resources. Moreover, their achievements have a common feature, they go deep into the core of the social economy and face the livelihoods and welfare of the people directly, instead of being as remote as Einstein's pure physics.
Or the image of Einstein's weird genius exudes a mysterious personality, and the media has always been happy to introduce legendary intellectual elites to the public. At first glance, it seems reasonable, but it can't stand up to a little scrutiny: Keynes first became famous at the Paris Peace Conference. After witnessing the trampling of German interests by the victorious country, Keynes left angrily and warned that the victorious country's unbridledness would inevitably lead to a deeply miserable Germany. Make a comeback. The confrontation with Roosevelt during the Great Depression brought Keynes's career to its peak. May I ask, this kind of life can be regarded as the word "legend". More importantly, both Keynes and von Neumann, while dedicating incomparable passion in the academic field, they had an extensive network of contacts among the social elite at that time. Keynes was still an investment expert and was worth a lot of money. They are handsome, active, wealthy, and aristocratic. They are "super concentrated men" in the current language, but somehow they lost in the media "doting" battle to an exiled foreign country, living in a simple way, and full of messy hair Frankenstein. .
After being anesthetized by such grand words as “social responsibility” and “people’s mouthpiece” for many years, especially in the face of overseas media that have always promoted independence, such as CNN, New York Times, etc., we can only think of the worst of mainstream media. The most inferior is only as a commercial organization, bloodthirsty fanatics of profit, and they have completely forgotten their instrumental rationality as part of the state apparatus. After witnessing Kennedy's assassination, the mainstream media was silent on the in-depth investigation. Many people naturally think of "coups" and "conspiracies" because "politics" are always "dark". However, once it involves Einstein's popularity, such a seemingly "conspiracy has no value" incident, we have lost our usual skepticism and ability.
Examining the historical background at that time from another angle, we will get a little new revelation: Einstein became famous in the world. It was the rise of the United States during the two world wars, and the world was about to enter the new power structure of the Cold War. In this war, a fact has been deeply imprinted in the minds of politicians all over the world: military strength armed with science and technology enjoys an unchallable dominance on the battlefield. In the new post-war era, facing the former Soviet Union, which has always attached great importance to the development of heavy industry, mathematics and physics talents are like stars, and the United States, which has traditionally devoted itself to economic, legal, and moral education, vaguely saw itself in the upcoming arms race. In the middle, the intellectual support that may face is out of gear.
Therefore, we have a new story about Einstein’s success: in order to excavate scientific elites from post-war Europe and even the former Soviet Union, and to further enhance the country’s military strength, in addition to the excellent living environment and scientific research conditions, the government or research institutions , Whether it can provide the academic atmosphere that scholars have always pursued without restraint, away from performance and political review, is called the key of the key. However, in the countries where the Cold War was overwhelmed by the cloud, especially in these scientific research areas that are related to national security, academic freedom is simply like a fantasy. The US government knows that the penetration of the FBI, the CIA, and the Pentagon in scientific research institutions will discourage outstanding foreign talents. They need a living example, a spokesperson, and even a little illusion that will allow more academic elites to take the bait. They thought of Einstein, the perfect bait. Einstein is a public relations essay sent by the U.S. national military machine to intellectuals all over the world. He continues to say: A scientific elite, at the darkest moment of his life—the Nazis came to power—resolutely chose the United States as his The second hometown, where the sun of freedom does not discriminate against his disheveled hair, and the democratic soil makes the exiled Jews feel the warmth of home for the first time. The American people do not ignore his importance because of his difficulties, but respect him as a guest; the mainstream ideology tolerates his unruly and transcendence. Here, his career has risen to the next level, and his value is praised by the world. As a result, more scholars followed Einstein's glorious cause and rushed to the United States. They did not know that the people's enthusiasm for academics was just a test of the state apparatus at the level of public opinion operation, and the penetration of smarter political skills is still ahead. For them, the future life is endless "national security" and "background checks." . . .
It is hard to believe that the ancestors would give their rights to a group of so-called elites, let them form a so-called government, and enjoy the power of life and death over the giver of power. However, this is the fundamental legitimacy of the existence of the state apparatus. The independent ownership of property needs the protection of violence. For this reason, the owner needs to transfer part of the rights for the supply of violence to maintain a livelihood. There has never been a smart business, only a business that smart people like to do. The result of this blood-remuneration transaction is that a small number of smart people actually own a state machine that belongs to the majority of ordinary people. Ordinary people only know how to use rationality when calculating property and analyzing the gains and losses of interests. Other times, smart people, or politicians, understand how to incorporate emotions into the framework of rational analysis and treat emotional resonance as a general operation of gains and losses. The instrumental rationality of the state apparatus is fully demonstrated by them, including political penetration, information traffic, media operations, and so on.
The sky above ordinary people is like a big net, and the end of the net is in the hands of the so-called elite. They have no choice but to be thrown into such a situation. The people seldom doubt and are not good at thinking. I am used to sharing the spoils in front of the stolen owner, arrogantly making the perfect thieves sloppy, shrewd methods have left fingerprints that are not easily detectable, and "only ten people can truly understand" such foolish excuses have leaked out. The sharp weapon of speculation helped us to open a small gap in this big Internet. After breaking the secret, we have only one way to survive. Continue to ask and continue to think. . . .
Einstein played the violin and liked to eat caviar. Just like us, he was willing to pull a bunch of friends to talk about politics, philosophy, etc. He actively participated in various social thoughts in his later years, and tried to make contributions to the change of the world. . If that picture of Frankenstein with messy grass is the only image of Einstein in your heart, remember, it's just because someone wants you to treat Einstein that way. . . .
View more about JFK reviews
