The Einstein fake and why it should worry you

Yes, that Einstein fake - the one in the picture above. I do believe that the internet is making some of us .. dumb.

Everyone laughs when they see this one-liner, currently doing the rounds on fb and whatsapp:

"The biggest problem with the Internet is, it's very difficult to make out what is true and what is a hoax - Abraham Lincoln"

Somehow everyone seems to get the humour behind this statement, which invites the reader to experience the a-ha moment, that there was no www when Lincoln was alive.

Yet, consider the image featured at the top of this post, which a whole lot of people seem to be (re)posting with regularity. It purports to be a letter from the University of Bern, advising Albert Einstein that the theory he proposes for a Doctorate application is so radical that his application is unsuccessful. I don't intend going into the lengthy description of why this letter is a massive hoax, but the brief highlights that jump out:

1. It's in English (Bern is a German speaking Canton in Switzerland, and not a snowflake's chance in hell that you'd find the University corresponding in English in 1907).

2. It's completely unacademic language ("... your assumptions to be more artistic than actual Physics"). Yes? Really? Academes use language of this sort, which belongs more to a street hot-dog vendor? Gimme a break).

3. Einstein was actually a PhD by the time this letter is purported to have been written.

However, there is something clearly very appealing in this post, because when I raise the above points, I am often told that the message is so good, it 'doesn't matter' if it is a fraud. Apparently, that a genius like Einstein could suffer rejection is supposed to be massive encouragement to all the kids that face failure every now and then in their academics. And this argument comes from people across cultures, so this is not an argument unique to any particular country or continent (if there are some amongst you who have that unspoken doubt).

Which appalls me even further, because it then seems to say that:

1. 'Failure' by itself is bad, wrong and nothing can be learnt from it. It needs to be 'managed' out in some way.

2. Our kids need fake encouragement to cope with rejection

3. Our kids are so stupid that they can't detect fake encouragement

4. Our kids can get the message that it is ok to commit fraud, as long as the 'intent' of the fraudster is to encourage children (or some such similar high-sounding purpose).

I could go on for a bit, but I think I make the point.

What is it about the internet that seems to result in this massive dumbing down? I have identified the following causes:

1. Information overload. We get so much information and data in a day that we can't process it all and instead of trying to find some way of processing it in a meaningful way, we go the fast-food route and try to make sense of it in a minute (Exam season is on - kids will feel bad- oh what, Einstein also got rejected? cool, my neighbour's kids won't feel so bad now. So I'm going to POST AND REPOST!).

2. In a strange kind of way, the sheer scale of debate and confrontation on the net - fuelled by anonymity - means that at some level we devalue online confrontation with bias and stupidity. In someone else, we ignore it (they'll feel bad). In ourselves, we rationalize it (I know my biases, and if this makes someone else feel good, I am doing it).

3. We reduce it to a 'like' and 'approve' game. It's not wrong because it is wrong; it could be wrong if there were more antagonistic comments than 'likes' and since that is not the case, it mayn't be right, but it sure is not wrong.

4. Sheer laziness. Why bother with verifying the facts, when someone else is going to do so? So what if it conveys a particular image and impression of me online that is .... negative? After all, all of us know, at an intellectual level, that potential recruiters lurk on the net. And we then get surprised when we hear they form conclusions about us based on what we post ...

So what's the solution?

1. Practice skepticism. Lots of people say lots of things on the net and you'll see a lot of stuff. Opinions masquerade as facts. Plain rubbish is quoted. Learn to sift through it. Distinguish opinion from fact.

2. You will also see the unverifiable fact, such as 'in any group of xxxx people, at least yy will have the same birthday' (or some such). Learn also how to challenge statements like these - they may be statistically true, but need not be borne out as a universal truth, so it is important to know what can be used where.

3. Wikipedia is a good friend. Search for keywords and read up. If nothing else you will find out something new! 

4. State the challenge. Be kind, but state it. You owe it to yourself and to the people who read your posts.

Read on and have fun!