Thursday, April 03, 2008
Don't believe the historical hype!
Cracked.com has compiled a list the five most ridiculous lies we were all taught in history class. The Albert Einstein-failed-math myth is of particular interest to me, mainly 'cause it was once mentioned on the Andy Griffith Show, aka The Best Television Show In The History Of Television.
Check this out:
"As it turns out, Einstein was a mathematical prodigy, and before he was 12, he was already better at arithmetic and calculus than you are now. Einstein was in fact so fucking smart that he believed school was holding him back, and his parents purchased advanced textbooks for him to study from. ...
"The idea that Einstein did badly at school is thought to have originated with a a 1935 Ripley's Believe It Or Not! trivia column.
"There's actually a good reason why it's a bad idea to include Robert Ripley among the references in your advanced university thesis. The famous bizarre trivia "expert" never cited his sources, and the various 'facts' he presented throughout his career were an amalgamation of things he thought he read somewhere, heard from somebody, or pulled out of his ass. The feature's title probably should have been: Believe it or Not! I Get Paid Either Way, Assholes.
"When he was first shown this supposed expose of his early life, Einstein allegedly just laughed, and probably went on to solve another 12 mysteries of quantum physics before dinner. By the time he finally kicked the bucket in 1955, it's entirely possible that 'failure' was the one concept that Albert Einstein had never managed to master."
Check this out:
"As it turns out, Einstein was a mathematical prodigy, and before he was 12, he was already better at arithmetic and calculus than you are now. Einstein was in fact so fucking smart that he believed school was holding him back, and his parents purchased advanced textbooks for him to study from. ...
"The idea that Einstein did badly at school is thought to have originated with a a 1935 Ripley's Believe It Or Not! trivia column.
"There's actually a good reason why it's a bad idea to include Robert Ripley among the references in your advanced university thesis. The famous bizarre trivia "expert" never cited his sources, and the various 'facts' he presented throughout his career were an amalgamation of things he thought he read somewhere, heard from somebody, or pulled out of his ass. The feature's title probably should have been: Believe it or Not! I Get Paid Either Way, Assholes.
"When he was first shown this supposed expose of his early life, Einstein allegedly just laughed, and probably went on to solve another 12 mysteries of quantum physics before dinner. By the time he finally kicked the bucket in 1955, it's entirely possible that 'failure' was the one concept that Albert Einstein had never managed to master."
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Thursday, April 03, 2008 
