What is the newest installment of 'Random Thoughts' on Physics Forums?

[WWGD]

Apparently its a very common meme to attribute this tool to Einstein. For example:

http://www.yourfriend4life.com/accumulate-wealth-with-the-rule-of-72/

But its veracity is "undetermined" :

http://www.snopes.com/quotes/einstein/interest.asp

No one seriously involved in physics or math, including Einstein himself, would support the "greatest mathematician of all" part of it.

Yes, and, besides, I would call it more of a discovery and not an invention. It seems when someone does amazing work in one area they have all sorts of
wise sayings in other areas attributed to them too. Just like you have, e.g., ballplayers recommending toothpaste, retirement packages, as if knowing how to hit a ball somehow makes them a better dentist, financial advisor, etc. I don't get it.

 

[zoobyshoe]

It seems when someone does amazing work in one area they have all sorts of wise sayings in other areas attributed to them too. Just like you have, e.g., ballplayers recommending toothpaste, retirement packages, as if knowing how to hit a ball somehow makes them a better dentist, financial advisor, etc. I don't get it.

Yes, but there is, additionally, a distinct difference between hiring a willing baseball player to endorse toothpaste, and fictitiously attributing an idea to some famous person without their knowledge or consent.

The snopes author was unable to trace this back to anything Einstein ever said or wrote. In the case of the baseball player you have a straightforward instance of a perfectly legal kind of 'prostitution,' so to speak; a paid endorsement. The Einstein thing, if the quote and the formula did not come from him, is something hovering on the edge of fraud: people are attributing this idea to Einstein with the intention of getting people to buy their investment instruction manuals.

Some righteous consumer advocate might be able to legally require them to prove the formula and quote originated with Einstein, and, if they can't, completely stop making the claim least they be sued for fraud.

 

[WWGD]

Yes, but there is, additionally, a distinct difference between hiring a willing baseball player to endorse toothpaste, and fictitiously attributing an idea to some famous person without their knowledge or consent.

The snopes author was unable to trace this back to anything Einstein ever said or wrote. In the case of the baseball player you have a straightforward instance of a perfectly legal kind of 'prostitution,' so to speak; a paid endorsement. The Einstein thing, if the quote and the formula did not come from him, is something hovering on the edge of fraud: people are attributing this idea to Einstein with the intention of getting people to buy their investment instruction manuals.

Some righteous consumer advocate might be able to legally require them to prove the formula and quote originated with Einstein, and, if they can't, completely stop making the claim least they be sued for fraud.

But , who would sue for fraud, Einstein's family fund representative?

 

[Ibix]

But , who would sue for fraud, Einstein's family fund representative?

The fraud (if such it is) is being committed against the audience of the advert who may erroneously believe that Einstein invented/endorsed/whatever compound interest. So anybody seeing and believing the advert could have standing to sue, I think. I only play a lawyer on the internet, though, so who knows.

Reminds me of Pepsi's Harrier advert - http://www.snopes.com/business/deals/pepsijet.asp.

 

[zoobyshoe]

The fraud (if such it is) is being committed against the audience of the advert who may erroneously believe that Einstein invented/endorsed/whatever compound interest. So anybody seeing and believing the advert could have standing to sue, I think. I only play a lawyer on the internet, though, so who knows.

I am not sure you even have to have bought the product to sue. All that is necessary is to prove the company knows the claim is untrue, which you would do by warning them to substantiate the claim or stop making it. If they neither substantiate it nor stop making it, then I think anyone could sue in the capacity of a "consumer advocate." I doubt you personally could ask for their ill-gotten gains, but you could force them to repay the people they did defraud and possibly to pay your legal fees.

Reminds me of Pepsi's Harrier advert - http://www.snopes.com/business/deals/pepsijet.asp.

It says Pepsi got off by claiming the offer of a harrier was so outrageous no reasonable person could have believed it. I don't think the Einstein thing could use that defense. It's much more plausible to assert Einstein both developed this formula and that he said something positive about compound interest.

 

[zoobyshoe]

In other news, it's been raining hard here off and on all day and I noticed something I've seen before but can't explain, which is that pigeons seem too stupid to perch out of the rain. They sit there like morons on the utility wires getting drenched. I don't understand why they don't go under a bridge somewhere.

 

[Borek]

Made me think of @Ryan_m_b

 

[zoobyshoe]

Is it true love if her heart's made of spinach?

 

[fresh_42]

Is it true love if her heart's made of spinach?

Yep.

 

[dkotschessaa]

Wow..found more! My poor kid...

 

[zoobyshoe]

Some trees produce stuff that is tasty and good for you. But, in my whole life, I've never quite noticed this before:

Oranges grow in a grove.

Apples grow in an orchard.

Bananas grow on a plantation.

 

[zoobyshoe]

And, I just found out coincidentally from a novel I'm reading, blueberries are grown on a blueberry farm. Suggesting, strangely, that they are a sort of livestock.

 

[jim hardy]

Collective nouns for animals -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_terms_of_venery,_by_animal

 

[WWGD]

I pushed fresh date in my frozen dinners to the limit. I put them in my backpack last Saturday and never had a chance to ( or, more accurately, put off) eat them until today. No bad results so far, tho a careless thing to do.

 

[fresh_42]

I pushed fresh date in my frozen dinners to the limit. I put them in my backpack last Saturday and never had a chance to ( or, more accurately, put off) eat them until today. No bad results so far, tho a careless thing to do.

I once had milk four weeks over the date and it was still o.k. However, that frightened me a lot more than if it were sour. What kind of milk is this? I remember the days when my grandma let milk become sour to thicken it to soured milk. Nowadays milk turns red instead. Weird.

 

[WWGD]

I once had milk four weeks over the date and it was still o.k. However, that frightened me a lot more than if it were sour. What kind of milk is this? I remember the days when my grandma let milk become sour to thicken it to soured milk. Nowadays milk turns red instead. Weird.

And the only person that comments about my spoiled food is the one called fresh_42 :) ? Maybe it is the hormones they now give cows, though maybe they do not do so in Germany, maybe they have different laws?

 

[fresh_42]

Yes, I think hormones are forbidden. One reason why people don't like TTIP here. But milk is processed food anyway, and I suppose it doesn't contain the natural bacteria anymore. Not sure whether I want to know what's in it instead.

 

[WWGD]

Yes, I think hormones are forbidden. One reason why people don't like TTIP here. But milk is processed food anyway, and I suppose it doesn't contain the natural bacteria anymore. Not sure whether I want to know what's in it instead.

Good thing they don't allow them, men can then save money not needing a " Manssiere" ; ) , ( Seinfeld).

 

[OCR]

But milk is processed food anyway, and I suppose it doesn't contain the natural bacteria anymore.

Got... raw milk ...salmonellosis ? ...

 

[WWGD]

Kind of bizarre. My breakfast came with , literally, frozen yogurt. I get my oatmeal, and next to it on the tray is a small
plastic cup with a lid, containing some rock-solid-frozen substance. I ask the worker what the substance is, and he just says,
without any noticeable sarcasm ( " without a hint of irony") " Frozen Yogurt" . Two hours later, I enjoyed my , (then) drinkable/edible
yogurt.

 

[zoobyshoe]

So, I liked that Peter and the Wolf business. Not sure why. I guess I got the feeling they were making fun of their own heavy handedness.

 

[OCR]

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[OCR]

Thanks nuuskur....

nuuskur likes this.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Couple weeks ago on North Woods Law, a guy had a flock of 26 wild turkeys eating his garden, so he called the game wardens to arrest them. Didn't go very well: they only caught 6.

Anyway, I was surprised that wild turkey flocks could get that big. In fact, to be honest, I thought the wild turkey was a solitary animal.

 

[Borg]

Rented the movie Hidden Figures from Redbox yesterday. Like any movie, some of the historical accuracy was off but it was still an enjoyable film.

 

[fresh_42]

Like any movie, some of the historical accuracy was off but it was still an enjoyable film.

You should see what Hollywood makes out of non-American history ...

 

[Borg]

You should see what Hollywood makes out of non-American history ...

I know. I can only imagine how the upcoming Dunkirk movie will butcher history.

 

[Ibix]

I know. I can only imagine how the upcoming Dunkirk movie will butcher history.

The US sends a fleet of small ships across the Atlantic to save British soldiers from Hitler, who is personally leading the attack. Brave GIs hold the ports and, after a ferocious gunfight, kill Hitler in hand-to-hand combat. Hitler was played by a double for the rest of the war.

 

[zoobyshoe]

The US sends a fleet of small ships across the Atlantic to save British soldiers from Hitler, who is personally leading the attack. Brave GIs hold the ports and, after a ferocious gunfight, kill Hitler in hand-to-hand combat. Hitler was played by a double for the rest of the war.

This is why Inglourious Basterds was such a wonderful movie. Half of its mission was to mock Hollywood film distortions of WWII.

 

[dkotschessaa]

Took my topology qualifier. I know for sure it wasn't a disaster, but not for sure whether I got a master's pass. I keep going over it in my head... But I literally can't' remember a thing about it other than I answered a bunch of questions. Sometimes I felt more as if I was giving my opinion than showing a mathematical proof, but at least it was an *informed* opinion. :D