Comments

• By rblion 2022-09-088:201 reply

  This is very similar to an Einstein quote:

  "How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he sometimes thinks he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people -- first of all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness is wholly dependent, and then for the many, unknown to us, to whose destinies we are bound by the ties of sympathy. A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving...

  I have never looked upon ease and happiness as ends in themselves -- this critical basis I call the ideal of a pigsty. The ideals that have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth. Without the sense of kinship with men of like mind, without the occupation with the objective world, the eternally unattainable in the field of art and scientific endeavors, life would have seemed empty to me. The trite objects of human efforts -- possessions, outward success, luxury -- have always seemed to me contemptible.

  My passionate sense of social justice and social responsibility has always contrasted oddly with my pronounced lack of need for direct contact with other human beings and human communities. I am truly a 'lone traveler' and have never belonged to my country, my home, my friends, or even my immediate family, with my whole heart; in the face of all these ties, I have never lost a sense of distance and a need for solitude."

  -- Albert Einstein

  By lr1970 2022-09-0822:25

  I am curious, did Einstein wrote this quote in English or in German (his native language) and it was later rendered in English by a translator?

• By bilekas 2022-09-085:55

  I do get a sense of "throne room writing" with this one.

  His words resonate and one could easily slip in "I did not invent what I have improved" in there, or something to that effect.

  But the "Sent on my iPad" at the end just nails it.

• By cmrdporcupine 2022-09-0813:492 reply

  It has the style/tone of a snippet from Herbert's "God Emperor Of Dune."

  Our industry -- probably more than any other -- attracted more than its fair share of pontification, over-intellectualization and frankly, narcissism. A sense of the over-importance of everything we're doing, which is really just about using ever more complicated computing tools to make money faster and faster and faster.

  By TrevorJ 2022-09-0818:321 reply

  On the other hand, if we take the last, say, 5,000 years of history, digital technology must be in the top 3 inventions that have most effected humanity.

  By way of cost-benefit analysis, I'd say that erring on the side of pontification, over-intellectualization and navel gazing, while pretty crass, is far preferable to the alternative. The sheer power of what has been invented, for good or ill means that we can really never be too careful or introspective about it.

  To be even more specific: given the fact that energy prices rising 10x in a matter of months is now a reality, isn't the kind of introspection in Steve's email precisely the kind of thing we'd hope more of our CEO's were concerned about? Seems to me that our reliance on outside systems for our survival is a super relevant concern to anyone who's paying attention.

  By wang_li 2022-09-0823:46

  Digital technology is not even a top ten most impactful invention. Ahead of it we’ve got the germ theory of disease, the haber-Bosch process, use of fossil fuels, the internal combustion engine, analog electronics, anesthetics, antibiotics, hydro electric dams, architecture, and Portland cement. And a lot more really.

  By philistine 2022-09-0814:08

  It is by will alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of sapho that thoughts acquire speed, the lips acquire stains, the stains become a warning. It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.