Her(r) Einstein

Finished reading biography of Einstein by Walter Isaacson. What a beautiful life! He is an example of a pure genius. After getting to know his story many scientists I thought were geniuses are demoted to ‘scientists who are much smarter than me’. First and foremost, Einstein was a rebel. He found a peculiar joy in challenging he authority, whether it is the authority in science or politics. It is this rebelliousness that prompted him to challenge the century old dogma created by the founders of modern physics. He had a deep understanding of what was the existing knowledge gap. He was deeply philosophical, reading all major philosophical thoughts from Kant to Spinoza. It gave him clarity of thought. A clear idea about what is right and what is wrong (in his own mind). He was not afraid to make mistakes, and always willing to correct mistakes whenever it was evident to him, two important qualities needed for any scientist. He had a very romantic outlook. He loved nature and its deep-rooted mysteries hidden from ordinary minds.  A pure human being! After reading this book, I was a little disappointed because I realized that I could never be an Einstein (you might be thinking this:" We already knew it after reading all junk you have written here, you Einstein"). People like him are born, not made.

This week I also found time to watch ‘Her’ a very nice movie by Spike Jonze. It is a story of search for love and companionship in a near future world. The main character (Theodore) of movie is in the verge of a divorce and obviously is lonely. That is when a new operating system (OS1) was introduced. It has a very advanced algorithm and its response to the user evolve continuously from the feedback it gets from them. Theodore fall in love with the female voice of OS1 (Samantha) that he interacts it. Samantha also responds to cues from Theodore. In a way Samantha is nothing but the reflection of Theodore thoughts. The OS evolved to satisfy the expectation of Theodore and started responding accordingly. He therefore got a companion of his dreams. But OS1 started evolving beyond the world of Theodore. As Samantha says towards the end, that Theodore is a book that she loves very much. She does not want it to end, so she is reading it so slowly assuming that space between the words is infinity. Once you finish reading a book you do not want to keep on re-reading it. For various reasons Samantha leaves Theodore (and all others who was in love with OS1). Although that was a shock Theodore re-invent his concept of love. It is a painful learning process of Theodore, but something that would help him to face his fears, i.e. dealing with real emotions. When do you feel loved? I think it happens when someone get into our mind and feel the fears and pains we experience to lessen them and share our joys to amplify them.