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Albert Einstein, arguably the greatest scientist ever to walk the planet earth, died in 1955 at the age of 76 years.
Only a few weeks ago, I was surprised to learn that Einstein had written an article for Scientific American in April, 1950. (Scientific American is targeted at the layman interested in science.) Since this was in the twilight of Einstein’s epochal career, with all his achievements in hindsight, I wanted to read what he had to offer, and learn. A little researching resurrected the article. In part, Einstein philosophized about how he developed his insights.
Einstein said that the creative person “possesses a passion for comprehension, just as there exists a passion for music [in others].”
He went on to discuss how Leucippus, the Greek who in 500 B.C. developed the theory of atoms and passed it on to his student, Democritus. Leucippus did this purely by thinking. Leucippus observed water freezing, something everyone else had seen. Leucippus saw the same as others, but thought differently. He had a passion for comprehension. Leucippus “was driven to the conclusion that in the [water-to-ice] transition, the essence of the thing had not changed at all. Maybe the thing consists of immutable particles and the change is only a change in their spatial arrangement. Could it not be the same .. with all material objects?”
Those were the creative insights of Leucippus. Leucippus created the idea of atoms because he thought about water and ice in a different way. He had a “passion for comprehension.”
Einstein elaborates further by describing Daniel Bernoulli, how 2,000 years after Leucippus, “Bernoulli wonders why gas exerts pressure on the walls of a container. Should this be explained by mutual repulsion of the parts of the gas … atoms (or molecules) colliding with the walls of the container and in doing so exerting pressure?”
How many people do you know that have blown up a toy balloon for a party? Yet, how many of them have thought about how pressure is exerted on the walls of the rubber balloon? Or cared? How many think and consider that it is the tiny atoms of air, moving about and being forced together that continually bounce against the walls of the rubber? You don’t see the bouncing atoms because there are billions upon billions of them, each making a tiny contribution. Why did Bernoulli have this thought when others did not? He had a passion for comprehension that brought about our whole modern understanding of hydraulics.
Some individuals believe that they possess this passion merely because they are curious, they are interested, because they have a variety of pursuits and like to be different. They like to read. This is not what Einstein meant. Many people are interested and curious and like to read. I am interested in archaeology. I am curious about archaeology. I have read about archeology. But, I do not stay up until midnight studying archaeology. I do not buy tools and sign up for excavations. I do not attend lectures. I do not think about archaeology every waking moment. I do not bore my friends with the latest discoveries, the problems, the difficulties, the political ramifications. I do not save for an archaeology dig instead of buying a new car. I do not live in a cheaper house so that I can travel to the desert, spray for fleas, and sleep in a tent all summer. I have an interest, not a passion, for archaeology. I have a passion for physics.
The person with the passion goes beyond “interest” and “fascination” and “curiosity.” It is never a “job,”, never a “vocation,” never a “hobby,” never a pursuit.
The passionate person has an unction.
I was intrigued considerably by the next part of Einstein’s essay. But before I get into it, I have to introduce you to Michael Faraday. Michael Faraday was born in 1791 in south London to a rather poor family. He received only the basics of a beginning education. When he was 14, he apprenticed himself to a local bookbinder and during the next seven years, read books and educated himself on a wide range of scientific subjects. At the age of 21, Faraday attended a series of lectures given by a well-known chemist of that day, Humphry Davy. Faraday sought a job as a chemical assistant for Davy. He was turned down. But, a year later he was given the chance to set up experiments and mix chemicals for “real scientists.” That was the beginning of an absolutely profound discovery.
When Faraday was 30 years old, he published a paper on electromagnetic induction, the principle behind every electric motor and generator since then. He developed the idea of electric and magnetic “fields” and that principle has guided electrical engineers ever since. No one else had even considered the field approach to understanding electricity. It was profound.
Now, here’s what Einstein had to say.
“Would Faraday have discovered the law of electromagnetic induction if he had received a regular college education? Unencumbered by the traditional way of thinking ….”
So there you have the essence of creativity, “unencumbered by the traditional way of thinking.” Not, unencumbered by education; Faraday was quite educated and knowledgeable, never think otherwise. He worked for years studying and learning. He stayed up nights. He missed meals. But it was not traditional education, Einstein remarked.
You need to arm yourself with an education of facts.
Then, armed with those facts, If you want to be creative, begin to think of things in a different way. You must be known as the person who asks “stupid questions.” You must harden your shell to opinions and think about things in a different way. Ask dumb questions. Try ridiculous things. Most of your ideas will sputter and come to nothing. Some of them will, indeed, be absolutely stupid. Get over it.
Maybe you don’t understand passion.