Yes, we are still alive, even if we are not updating the blog as often as we used to. The reason for that, among others, has been a lack of progress in the ease to write. It can be quite frustrating to see how there is nothing artistic in one’s product. But I have read something consoling lately. It came from none other than Mr. Albert Einstein.
I have always been interested particularly in the idea of what is real and what appears to be real but is not. Einstein did an excellent job in elucidating what we can consider absolute and what should be considered relative. And no, I am not going to start with the issues of moral relativism or whether there is any connection between absolutes in physics and ethics. Although I admit, the topic is just too tempting to forget about it. But that is not what consoled me about Einstein’s lines.
I was surprised to find out that he wrote a book for lay people; for those who, like me, have no specific training in mathematics and physics but may be interested in the subject. Today, we would call it “relativity for dummies” or something along those lines. What surprised me about the book, which I rapidly snatched from the store’s shelf, is that the horse’s mouth is actually clearer than the regular scientist who tries to explain Einstein’s theories to the general folk. Not easy reading, but understandable.
What consoled me, however, was his approach to writing. “I should repeat myself frequently, without paying the slightest attention to the elegance of the presentation,” he said, “I adhere scrupulously to the precept of that brilliant theoretical physicist L. Boltzmann, according to whom matters of elegance ought to be left to the tailor and to the cobbler”.
I have pursued the muse of writing for quite a bit now. She has avoided me easily and successfully. So it is time to give up on lost causes and pursue more realistic ones. Let us be clear now. Unfortunately, as I write these lines, I received an email from a reporter seeking clarifications about one of my talks. Sigh. Judging by his questions, the muse of clarity seems to be exclusively devoted to Einstein yet. Nonetheless, from now on, I shall flirt with the muse clarity intensely until she gives in. Is this clear?
