Recently, I've read 'What life means to Einstein' and my take is that einstein is the type to believe in a side, defend and think about it.
Despite having thought about philosophy most of my life, different views, ways of thinking, and defending views of my own, at this point in time, I've come to the conclusion that there are different ways of thinking and there's nothing wrong with that.
My attitute towards philosophy is that its quite depressing, and I've found myself having a passive attitude towards it.
I believe that having strong views is what allows him to come up with his magnificent theories and I'm afraid that my passive way of thinking will never allow me to become a physicist close to himself.
For example, the argument do we have free will or not? Einstein believed that we do not.
This extract is from 'What life means to Einstein'.
"In a sense," he added, "we can hold no one responsible. I am a determinist. As such, I do not believe in free will. The Jews believe in free will. They believe that man shapes his own life. I reject that doctrine philosophically. In that respect I am not a Jew."
"Don't you believe that man is a free agent at least in a limited sense?"
Einstein smiled ingratiatingly. "I be-lieve with Schopenhauer: We can do what we wish, but we can only wish what we must. Practically, I am, nevertheless, com-pelled to act as if freedom of the will existed. If I wish to live in a civilized com-munity, I must act as if man is a responsible being.
"I know that philosophically a murderer is not responsible for his crime; neverthe-less, I must protect myself from unpleasant contacts. I may consider him guiltless, but I prefer not to take tea with him."
"Do you mean to say that you did not choose your own career, but that your ac-tions were predetermined by some power outside of yourself?"
Personally, I believe in neither. Or perhaps I might as well say that I don't know. I understand both sides of the argument, but I can't truly believe a side.
Is this kind of personality or view bad in becoming a good physicist?