4 ms·

Cultivared men were not jerks then as a general rule.

jacquesm 14y ago
The position of women in society in 1914 is in no way comparable to today. We have come a long long way since then, and we still have a long long way to go. Cultivated men are still jerks today, as a general rule. It's just that we are too blind to see (just like Einstein was in his day) that. Give it until 2110 to tell you just how much. In 1914 it was totally normal for women not to have the vote, not to have a say in the family finances and to be given consideration only after the sons in the family (but before the daughters). They were not considered capable of higher education (exceptions allowed, sometimes these dressed as men to get around the limitations) and so on. Cultivated men made those rules and whole pile of others, and decades of erosion by activists and others have restored the balance. Partially. Einstein was - as far as I can see here - not much different than what I know about how life was back then in general. Plenty of his peers would have done much worse than this, and only an extremely small (vanishingly small maybe) portion of society would have done much better. The fact that we have Einstein on a pedestal today does not mean that (a) he wasn't human and hence bound to make mistakes and (b) that he wasn't a product of his time.
- derleth 14y ago
  > Cultivated men are still jerks today, as a general rule. It's just that we are too blind to see (just like Einstein was in his day) that. Give it until 2110 to tell you just how much. Same with women, and we'll have to wait just as long to see it.
- philwelch 14y ago
  Einstein's first wife was also his classmate. She was a graduate student in physics.
- theorique 14y ago
  Cultivated men are still jerks today, as a general rule. Extraordinary claim. What evidence do you have for this one?
  - jacquesm 14y ago
    > What evidence do you have for this one? My eyes.
    - theorique 14y ago
      Cultivated men look like jerks? I must have missed it.

The position of women in society in 1914 is in no way comparable to today. We have come a long long way since then, and we still have a long long way to go. Cultivated men are still jerks today, as a general rule. It's just that we are too blind to see (just like Einstein was in his day) that. Give it until 2110 to tell you just how much. In 1914 it was totally normal for women not to have the vote, not to have a say in the family finances and to be given consideration only after the sons in the family (but before the daughters). They were not considered capable of higher education (exceptions allowed, sometimes these dressed as men to get around the limitations) and so on. Cultivated men made those rules and whole pile of others, and decades of erosion by activists and others have restored the balance. Partially. Einstein was - as far as I can see here - not much different than what I know about how life was back then in general. Plenty of his peers would have done much worse than this, and only an extremely small (vanishingly small maybe) portion of society would have done much better. The fact that we have Einstein on a pedestal today does not mean that (a) he wasn't human and hence bound to make mistakes and (b) that he wasn't a product of his time.

derleth 14y ago
> Cultivated men are still jerks today, as a general rule. It's just that we are too blind to see (just like Einstein was in his day) that. Give it until 2110 to tell you just how much. Same with women, and we'll have to wait just as long to see it.
philwelch 14y ago
Einstein's first wife was also his classmate. She was a graduate student in physics.
theorique 14y ago
Cultivated men are still jerks today, as a general rule. Extraordinary claim. What evidence do you have for this one?
- jacquesm 14y ago
  > What evidence do you have for this one? My eyes.
  - theorique 14y ago
    Cultivated men look like jerks? I must have missed it.