So far as the individual success of a scientist or the smooth movement of a scientific community is concerned, the scientific activity to conform morals cannot do without even for a moment. Einstein knew all of it, and he made this thesis clear from the higher level: “I do not need emphasize my respect and appreciation for every possible effort in the direction of truth and knowledge. But I do not believe that the lack of moral and aesthetic values can be counterbalance by purely intellectual effort.” “It is the moral qualities of its leading personalities that are perhaps of even greater significance for a generation and for the course of history than purely intellectual accomplishments. Even these latter are, to a far greater degree than is commonly credited, dependent on the stature of character.”
Not only Einstein had independent personality, but also he had kindhearted humanity and unsullied character. Go without saying, his behavior in the scientific activities was and is a model of each scientific researcher. He pressed forward despite difficulties, always picked not out the thin board to bore, and always wanted not himself to become a hen that every day lay egg. He was persistent, hard to struggle 18 years for the theory of relativity and 40 years for the unified field theory, till his life ended. He always corrected an error when he became aware of it, even didn’t hesitate to abandon his beloved equation or the hard winning result in many years. He took delight in helping others, never refused a request. He treated others as equals, and equally without discrimination. He was strict with himself and lenient toward other. But he was very unhappy and disgustful towards the pressure to require producing achievements in scientific research, towards the behavior to beat a retreat in the face of difficulties, and towards fiercely contending for rising in rank.
(6) The consciousness with regard to researchable consequences: to stop the alienation of science, to eradicate completely the abuse of technology.
Experienced the two world wars, Einstein keenly felt pain at the abuse of science and technology. In the year 1939, out of the consideration to enhance the military force of the democratic nation against fascism and the concern to be rushed ahead owning the atomic weapon by Germany, Einstein submitted a statement to the president Roosevelt, and suggested the United States government to watch the new trend of Germany uranium research and adopts a necessary and decisive step. Who would have thought the development of events entirely ran counter to Einstein’s kind wishes. When he knew that the United States had thrown atomic bombs in Japan, he grievously cried out in alarm. When he was misunderstood and criticized because of discovering mass-energy relation and sending in the suggestion, he many times and calmly explained that he functioned very indirectly. More important, as a firm pacifist he dedicated his own whole life to an objection against the atomic weapons and the criminal wars. In Einstein’s heart of hearts it is very clear that science is a product of human intellect and that science is in itself rational. “And certainly we should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality. It cannot lead, it can only serve.” “The intellect has a sharp eye for method and tools, but is blind to ends and values.” He also understood very clearly, that science itself is not a liberator and the deepest source of happiness. It creates means, not goals. It is up to men to utilize of those means to achieve reasonable goals. When science is abused, the tools of science become as dangerous as a razor in the hands of a child. At the same time, Einstein wasn’t alike to others infatuated with the victory advance of science, and he at that time gained an insight into the alienation of science and its danger. According to his views, the alienation of science seems to manifest itself in two aspects: One is the negative influence of this “double blade knife” of technology as by-product of science, other is specialization and technicalization of science making the two culture split and the human spirit distortional. Then this inevitably causes people’s life to mechanization, atomization, and inhumanity.
For sober cognition mentioned above and in the face of the present situation, while the means became increasingly powerful and goals increasingly confusional, Einstein formally warned scientists: The conscienceless science looks like phantom, the conscienceless scientist is decay of morals and a crime against humanity. Scientists must bravely and consciously undertake the holy and heavy social duty with the greatest moral soul and sense of responsibility, so as to try hard for arresting the alienation of science and the abuse of technology. He appealed to scientists to refuse determinedly all unjust requirements, and at necessary moment even to adopt the ultimate weapon: non-co-operation the strike . He placed great hopes on futuristic scientists and engineers: “If you want life’s work to be useful to mankind, it is not enough that you understand applied science as such. Concern for man himself must always constitute the chief objective of all technological effort, concern for the big unsolved problems of how to organize human work and the distribution of commodities in such a manner as to assure that the result of our scientific thinking may be a blessing to mankind, and not a curse. Never forget this when you are pondering over your diagrams and equations.”
(7) The attitude towards scientific honor: Practical and realistic, generous humbleness.
All (though) the years Einstein led a simple life without worldly desires, and saw the fame and wealth as floating cloud and worn-out shoes. On Vanity Fair that everyone hankered after pursuing he never was a hunter. While filled his résumé, he usually forgot writing the Nobel prize that he had won. He would often receive the myriad certificates of honor and medals, but he didn’t put them on the attractive place or hanged in the wall: they were hidden in “the braggy corner” that he humorously called it. He made every effort to evade the honor and avoided to show himself. Sometimes the reporter gathered news or the adorer came to worship, he would rather egress and concealed himself for hours. It is different from the contemporaries and the moderns that he never craved titular title, arbitrary signing and autograph. He strongly opposed the personality cults, and expressed the blindness to worship the authority is a performance of low intelligence quotient. He always felt his own success in science is in itself biggest recompense, and usually examined himself, controlled himself and blamed himself for gaining excessive honor. Sometimes under utterly helpless circumstances he had to laugh at himself to be apparently become a bedlamite, a swindler, a magician, a hypnotist, a clown of a circus troupe. He wouldn’t deliver a speech in the innumerable conferences, so to let people look at him as a prize bull. He didn’t want to turn into a symbolic leading sheep on which head there is aureole, and only a common sheep in a flock of clean and pure sheep. During his lifetime he even brought up the following requests: After his death not to perform any religious and official ceremony of funeral and interment, not to put a wreath, not to play a funeral music, not set up a grave, not to erect a monument, secretly to deposit his bon ashes, to close his former home for the sake of preventing posterity from a visit, looking at with reverence and making a pilgrimage to a sacred place.
Of the priority of scientific discovery, Einstein was an exampled for scientists. In the year 1908, Einstein sent a postcard to J. Stark angrily: “It astonishes me that you deny my discovery about mass-energy relation.” After he received Stark’s a long letter with goodwill and admiration, he felt extremely conscience-stricken, and openly acknowledged his own errors. He so wrote in reply: “ Those people who contribute luckily to scientific development shouldn’t let this kind of affair break their felt joys for the result that we all have acquired by concerted efforts. In the year 1952, under a widespreading hearsay that Michelson experiment directly causes the theory of relativity, Einstein honestly expressed that the influence of the experiment for him was only indirect, at the same time he praised Michelson as “artist in science”, and appreciated the experiment for its own beauty and consummation of its method. In the year 1953, E. Whittaker’s book, that title of its chapter2 is “Poincaré’s and Lorenz’s theory of relativity”, took Einstein’s work for an insignificant enlargement of Poincaré’s and Lorenz’s result. After seeing Whittaker’s the manuscript Max Born felt very astonishing, and suggested Einstein should enter a protest against Whittaker. Einstein thought that way of doing thing is not sensible. As an old miser protected a few copper cashes that he hard saved up, so Einstein wouldn’t look on his work as his own private property. Einstein’s attitude to priority was practical, realistic and tolerant: “To avoid individual intriguing against each other is right, but it also is important that a individual argues in favor of his own thought.”
Generally speaking, as a knowledge system science could be neutral or value-free. But as a research activity and a social institution, science is value-loaded and ethical. The scientists pursue the true theories, and feel the beautiful poetic charm in sciences. They should also undertake directly or indirectly duty out of the goodness, particularly with regard to the consciousness of the foreground of science and the application of science. Otherwise, even they are not a crime, and also thumb one’s nose at the world. Einstein, as the incarnation of the scientific conscience in the 20th century, not only has eternal and idealistic meaning, but also has realistic meaning for the German intellectuals (Einstein replied on January 28, 1949: “The crime of the Germans is truly the most abominable ever to be recorded in the history of the so-called civilized nations. The conduct of the German intellectuals—seen as a group—was no better than that of the mob.” ) and for the Chinese intellectuals (Up to now they still not enjoy the real academic freedom). If scientists can follow the example of Einstein so to do according to the scientific conscience, then they can bring the function of praising good and denouncing evil of science into full play. It will make our world a more brilliant future.
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