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Unfolding Nature Shop: Unfolding Nature: Being in the Implicate Order

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Albert Einstein got bored +
    #7698385 -

I read an interesting quote from that guy. He found his reason for being alive in his work it seems.

He said (to paraphrase) That he was getting old and a little feeble. He didn't have his work and so sometimes wished it was all over. He said the only reason he didn't end it was because his survival instincts were so strong that they got in his way.

I find this quite interesting on several levels. Any thoughts?


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"Don't believe everything you think". -Anom.

" All that lives was born to die"-Anom.

With much wisdom comes much sorrow,
The more knowledge, the more grief.
Ecclesiastes circa 350 BC

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Re: Albert Einstein got bored + [Re: Icelander]
    #7698394 -

smart man.


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ilove my woods...

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Re: Albert Einstein got bored + [Re: habitat0789]
    #7698405 -

If he was so smart how come he didn't figure out something to live for once his mono focused life experience changed?


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"Don't believe everything you think". -Anom.

" All that lives was born to die"-Anom.

With much wisdom comes much sorrow,
The more knowledge, the more grief.
Ecclesiastes circa 350 BC

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Re: Albert Einstein got bored + [Re: Icelander]
    #7698409 -

Intelligence does not always translate to wisdom.


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Re: Albert Einstein got bored + [Re: Icelander]
    #7698445 -

I wonder if you have the exact quote? Could you post it?


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Once, men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free.
But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.

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Re: Albert Einstein got bored + [Re: trendal]
    #7698636 -

"To one bent on age, death will come as a release. I feel this quite strongly now that I have grown old myself and have come to regard death like an old debt, at long last to be discharged. Still, instinctively one does everything possible to postpone the final settlement. Such is the game that Nature plays with us."


--------------------
"Don't believe everything you think". -Anom.

" All that lives was born to die"-Anom.

With much wisdom comes much sorrow,
The more knowledge, the more grief.
Ecclesiastes circa 350 BC

Edited by Icelander (11/30/07 02:11 PM)

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Re: Albert Einstein got bored + [Re: Silversoul]
    #7698680 -

Silversoul said:
Intelligence does not always translate to wisdom.


I have been reading about his life and he seemed quite wise to me. Of course all humans have blind spots. I'm not fooled by the perfect master bs.


--------------------
"Don't believe everything you think". -Anom.

" All that lives was born to die"-Anom.

With much wisdom comes much sorrow,
The more knowledge, the more grief.
Ecclesiastes circa 350 BC

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Albert Einstein got bored + [Re: Icelander]
    #7698709 -

Icelander said:
"To one bent on age, death will come as a release. I feel this quite strongly now that I have grown old myself and have come to regard death like an old debt, at long last to be discharged. Still, instinctively one does everything possible to postpone the final settlement. Such is the game that Nature plays with us."


Of course I have taken liberities in interpretation of this quote but I base that on my other reading and other quotes by him.

The question is, what makes life worth living and is there a time when that is no longer good enough? Without some "work" to do is all the other joys of living enough to see one through. Of course this is in general as mileage will vary from person to person. What then happens if one does not find satisfaction in the work available.

I was thinking along the lines of work as distraction. If we stay distracted and interested in abstract things (being in a flow state) then we stay content. Without that we might just dwell on the human condition and get depressed.

These are just questions as I'm not sure of my POV.


--------------------
"Don't believe everything you think". -Anom.

" All that lives was born to die"-Anom.

With much wisdom comes much sorrow,
The more knowledge, the more grief.
Ecclesiastes circa 350 BC

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Albert Einstein got bored + [Re: Icelander]
    #7698748 -

I think he sees death as something that must happen in life, but that it is put off for a time to live one's life. He is saying that even though he can know this to be true, he still has that instinct to live.


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Once, men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free.
But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.

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Re: Albert Einstein got bored + [Re: Icelander]
    #7698766 -

I don't understand how getting old would get in the way of his work. He was a (among other things) a theoretical physicist wasn't he? Not exactly something that arthritis and bad knees would interfere with. Unless his mind took a turn that is..

Now when you say work, are you referring to ideas, creativity, thinking and the like or toiling, grunting and sighing?


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Re: Albert Einstein got bored + [Re: WScott]
    #7698787 -

E was past his prime in brain function most likely. He hadn't come up with anything new for some time. Most of these big brains only come through with one or two big ideas in a career. From the other things I read he was getting depressed at his declining abilities both physically and mentally and was a little fed up with the human race to boot. Not to mention two failed marriages of his own with kids that really didn't want a close relationship with him. I suspect he was a bit absent as a daddy.


--------------------
"Don't believe everything you think". -Anom.

" All that lives was born to die"-Anom.

With much wisdom comes much sorrow,
The more knowledge, the more grief.
Ecclesiastes circa 350 BC

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Re: Albert Einstein got bored + [Re: Icelander]
    #7698815 -

I think I would rather be Albert Einstein than Isaac Newton. Newton is a prime example of someone who was consumed by his work. Some have speculated that he was gay due to the fact that he never married, never had kids, and as far as we can tell, never had a relationship. But what seems more likely is that he was so obsessed with his work that he didn't feel he had time for any relationships. I think he might have been the biggest workaholic in history.


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Re: Albert Einstein got bored + [Re: Silversoul]
    #7698824 -

If his work was as fully consuming as you say then he must have spent much time in a flow state and so I would choose to be him.


--------------------
"Don't believe everything you think". -Anom.

" All that lives was born to die"-Anom.

With much wisdom comes much sorrow,
The more knowledge, the more grief.
Ecclesiastes circa 350 BC

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Albert Einstein got bored + [Re: Icelander]
    #7698833 -

I think this is where my mind wanted to go with this. What is important in life is the amount of time spent in a flow state. As far as personal happiness and fulfillment go. Nature could most likely care less.


--------------------
"Don't believe everything you think". -Anom.

" All that lives was born to die"-Anom.

With much wisdom comes much sorrow,
The more knowledge, the more grief.
Ecclesiastes circa 350 BC

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Albert Einstein got bored + [Re: Icelander]
    #7698881 -

He could have been depressed, but there may be more to the desire to die than emotional pain. I knew a guy who was 94 when he died. He hadn't taken a shower for years. It was too painful. He would sponge himself with a washcloth in the morning.

He was ready to go and said so. He said that if he got cancer, he wouldn't want treatment. Less than 3 months later I learned of his death... from cancer. I should note that he seemed quite happy considering his position.


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rahz

comfort pleasure power love     truth awareness peace I am      I feel      I do     I love  I speak    I see    I know

To shrink a person's vocabulary is to shrink their capacity to think.

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Re: Albert Einstein got bored + [Re: Rahz]
    #7698893 -

Sure, physical decline and pain would be reason to want it to be over.


--------------------
"Don't believe everything you think". -Anom.

" All that lives was born to die"-Anom.

With much wisdom comes much sorrow,
The more knowledge, the more grief.
Ecclesiastes circa 350 BC

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Re: Albert Einstein got bored + [Re: Icelander]
    #7699169 -

Quote:
What is important in life is the amount of time spent in a flow state.


And this is where diuretics come in. :tongue2:


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Re: Albert Einstein got bored + [Re: Icelander]
    #7699223 -

Perhaps he realized that this is the most basic and fundamental question of life... Why live?

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Re: Albert Einstein got bored + [Re: daytripper23]
    #7699495 -

Sometimes I kinda think that the secret of life is that there is no secret and that were just here and should do what we can to make ourselves happy. Its like thinking someone has this big secret and you really want to know what it infact you need to know and then they tell you...... there is no secret. Leads me to believe some people should spend less time worrying about what happens later or why were here and more time making the best for themselves and the people they care about. No offense to anyone who believes otherwise.

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Re: Albert Einstein got bored + [Re: CJJ]
    #7699528 -

Right on man.

By the way, you dont have to tiptoe around peoples beliefs around here. Trust me...

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Unfolding Nature Shop: Unfolding Nature: Being in the Implicate Order

General Interest > Philosophy, Sociology & Psychology
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