I cannot then believe in this concept of an anthropomorphic God who has the powers of interfering with these natural laws. As I said before, the most beautiful and most profound religious emotion that we can experience is the sensation of the mystical. And this mysticality is the power of all true science.
The more one chases the quanta, the better they hide themselves.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The pursuit of deeper understanding in quantum physics may lead to greater complexity and elusiveness in the subject matter.
In this quote, Einstein suggests that as scientists delve deeper into the mysteries of quantum mechanics, the truths about these fundamental particles become increasingly complex and difficult to grasp. It reflects the paradox of seeking knowledge in a field where the nature of reality challenges our conventional intuition. The more we seek to define and capture the behavior of quanta, the more elusive the answers seem to become, highlighting the intricate nature of the universe at its smallest scales.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion on the challenges of modern physics, this quote could illustrate the complexities faced by physicists.
More from Albert Einstein
All quotes →If I would follow your advice and Jesus could perceive it, he, as a Jewish teacher, surely would not approve of such behavior.
I want to know all Gods thoughts; all the rest are just details.
In the middle of adversity there is great opportunity.
I do not believe that civilization will be wiped out in a war fought with the atomic bomb. Perhaps two-thirds of the people of the earth will be killed.
To me the worst thing seems to be a school principally to work with methods of fear, force and artificial authority. Such treatment destroys the sound sentiments, the sincerity and the self-confidence of pupils and produces a subservient subject.
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By the way, were we to find life-forms on Venus, we would probably call them Venutians, just as people from Mars would be Martians. But according to rules of Latin genitives, to be “of Venus” ought to make you a Venereal. Unfortunately, medical doctors reached that word before astronomers did. Can’t blame them, I suppose. Venereal disease long predates astronomy, which itself stands as only the second oldest profession.
I can't imagine how many kids around the world will look at pictures of Pluto and think, 'I want to grow up to be a scientist.'
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But it will be found... that one universal law prevails in all these phenomena. Where two portions of the same light arrive in the eye by different routes, either exactly or very nearly in the same direction, the appearance or disappearance of various colours is determined by the greater or less difference in the lengths of the paths.
It would not become physical science to see in its self created, changeable, economical tools, molecules and atoms, realities behind phenomena... The atom must remain a tool for representing phenomena.