Actually, I should rephrase the claim that you redeemed yourself. It appears that I redeemed myself. The bottom line is that both of us came to a very similar vantage point following different paths. Education is in crisis and I feel that creativity and disciplined thinking are not contradictory. I also think Einstein would modify his advice a bit at this point.

Einstein was a confident man and outspoken, but he had the humility of a true scientist (most of the time). He gave a lecture to top level physics students at Princeton one week and laid out an understanding for them. The very next week, he gave another lecture in which part of it contradicted part of the first one. One of the grad students challenged him and said this was wrong. Einstein asked him where he got the information that he was using in the argument and the student said, “From Einstein.” to everyone’s great delight. Einstein responded to him with a smile and told him that “Einstein was wrong!” He then proceeded to inform them what new knowledge he had gained in the intervening week.

I think Einstein would have liked your arguments because you are seeking the truth and not just the comfort of a position – you know, that never in doubt thing – but he would have engaged you in a dialogue and both of you would have emerged richer for the experience. I think the problem isn’t that Einstein should have stuck to physics, I think the problem is the uncritical and unbalanced adherence we as a society and as individuals give to the viewpoints of our cultural icons. Sometimes Einstein is wrong – but almost always worth considering.