Einstein and the Myth of Consistent Skepticism

"The Myth of Consistent Skepticism: The Cautionary Case of Albert Einstein" by Todd C. Riniolo and Lee Nisbet (May/June 2007) is a good common-sense article that skeptics should always keep in mind. Unfortunately, the article's authors fell victim to their own biases. Apparently they started the article with the conception that Einstein approved and even supported the USSR Communist regime and its actions. While his early attitude toward the USSR was not the blatantly anticommunist one many of us had and still have, it was not wholly approving either. I suggest that anyone interested in what his attitude really was should read Walter Isaacson's Einstein: His Life and Universe. Although, in the prewar years, he would not join efforts to condemn the atrocities of Stalin and his cohorts, he never would accept invitations to speak or teach in the Soviet Union. In fact, he was blasted by a group of their scientists for his attitude and actions. It is uncertain why he didn't immediately condemn Soviet atrocities in view of his lifelong abhorrence of dictatorial organization and control. There are a number of possible reasons for this mystery, but this is not the place to go into that. His postwar years were definitely anticommunistic as were many of his prewar statements. It is disconcerting that the authors did not give a complete picture of this situation.

Was Einstein consistent? Skeptics should not be consistent in their decisions, e.g., always maintaining the same conclusions. Decisions should be based on the latest facts known, and there are times, in the face of new knowledge and differing situations, that they should be reversed. Thus, this lifelong pacifist signed the letter to President Roosevelt that probably ensured the atom bomb would be developed. He was never a mindless pacifist and always let it be known that he thought nonuniversal disarmament would lead to disaster. After the bombs were dropped, he was sorry he had endorsed their development, having based his decision on faulty information (that Germany was also energetically developing one).

This scientist also helped start quantum mechanics but spent the last half of his life actively assaulting it.

Einstein was a genius, but he was a genius who was human.

Frank Hanema

hageffa@comcast.net

Einstein has consistently been portrayed as an ineffectual and naive idealist in regard to his pronouncements on various social issues. Now his views on Stalin and Hitler are being used to illustrate that all skeptics are, at best, selectively skeptical. Riniolo and Nisbet's point is fairly taken. However, the myth that Einstein was a naive and superficial thinker on nonscientific issues was shattered by an April 2007 publication from the Princeton University Press.

Readers interested in the depth and sophistication of Einstein's views are encouraged to check out Einstein on Politics: His Private Thoughts and Public Stands on Nationalism, Zionism, War, Peace, and the Bomb. Walter Isaacson, author of the recent bestseller Einstein: His Life and Universe, said, "This book is both fascinating and valuable. By reading Einstein's political writings in their proper historical context, we can see how his politics reflected a deep sense of moral responsibility and a coherent vision of justice and social order."

Wayne Rowe

Fife Lake, Michigan

Todd Riniolo and Lee Nisbet maintain that "consistent skepticism" doesn't exist, then they strongly criticize Albert Einstein for not possessing this nonexistent quality.

Their beef with Einstein is that he was not sufficiently critical of the Soviet Union. They quote a 1948 letter in which Einstein wonders if the excesses of the Soviets were necessary for their survival. But, during World War II and shortly after, the Russians were considered our great allies: at the cost of great suffering, they were instrumental in defeating the Nazis, and we looked forward to a nuclear-powered world paradise hand-in-hand with the Russians. Our disillusionment came later. But even in that 1948 letter, Einstein said: "I am not blind to the serious weaknesses of the Russian system of government and I would not like to live under such government." Moreover, the article did not mention whether Einstein changed his views after 1948 (he lived until 1955). Skeptics respond to new information, but it may take time to evaluate the information.

Riniolo and Nisbet are too eager to pass judgment on Einstein. They object to his inclusion on the list of ten outstanding skeptics of the twentieth century. But Einstein was a skeptic. And he was certainly outstanding.

Marvin J. Schissel

Roslyn Heights, New York

I was a little surprised to see Riniolo and Nisbet refer somewhat routinely to Einstein's "great mathematical mind." It is true that he was a good mathematician by lay standards (any physicist is), but mathematicians themselves do not rate him very highly. Most of the "hard" mathematics of relativity (especially the general theory) was done by co-workers. Einstein himself freely admitted his (relatively) poor mathematical abilities. Oh, and musicians did not rate his musical skills highly either. Einstein's great feat was explaining simultaneously a huge number of previously problematic observations (such as mass-energy equivalence). Journalists have unfortunately built up a huge mystique around Einstein that often does not agree with the scientific facts.