History of Science: What was Einstein's context in writing, “Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal," and what did he mean?
Our entire much-praised technological progress, and civilization generally, could be compared to an axe in the hand of a pathological criminal.via http://en.wikiquote.org/w
- Letter to H. Zangger (1917). Quoted in A Sense of the Mysterious: Science and the Human Spirit by Alan Lightman (2005), p. 110, and in Albert Einstein: A Biography by Albrecht Fölsing (1997), p. 399.
- Sometimes paraphrased as "Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal."
I haven't seen the primary source (the letter). Is it online? What was its context and what did he mean?
2 Answers
Eistein used phrase "Our entire much-praised technological progress, and civilization generally, could be compared to an axe in the hand of a pathological criminal", sometimes paraphrased as "Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal." (slightly different versions are available too) in his letter to Heinrich Zaggler of December 6, 1917, where he very probably reacted to atrocities of the WWI (Einstein and Zangger shared their mutual dismay at the ravages of the World War I and exchanged several letters about the topic). See below link for further context.
http://books.google.sk/bo
The letter should be contained in the book The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volume 8 : The Berlin Years: Correspondence, 1914-1918 (English translation), unfortunately not available online:
http://www.amazon.com/Col
http://books.google.sk/bo
The letter should be contained in the book The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volume 8 : The Berlin Years: Correspondence, 1914-1918 (English translation), unfortunately not available online:
http://www.amazon.com/Col
(I preface this by citing that I am no historian by any means + unsure of the exact context of the quote in time.)
It appears to be a response to the atrocities of war which he had bore witness to as Vladimír Hoffman alludes to. It may also very well be his reflection upon how his work would, could or had been used. Most importantly it brings to the forefront the important intertwining of ethics + scientific inquiry (be it in theory or practice) - something that seems oftentimes overlooked + much less distinct today on account of profit-motivated funding, corporate intervention, military/governmental sponsorship, tenure, publication pressures, etc.
It appears to be a response to the atrocities of war which he had bore witness to as Vladimír Hoffman alludes to. It may also very well be his reflection upon how his work would, could or had been used. Most importantly it brings to the forefront the important intertwining of ethics + scientific inquiry (be it in theory or practice) - something that seems oftentimes overlooked + much less distinct today on account of profit-motivated funding, corporate intervention, military/governmental sponsorship, tenure, publication pressures, etc.
