> > If he's a socialist/collectivist, I'd have to take anything he says
Well, if one is to be consistent in applying moral judgment to
everyone, then yes, those were his morals. That he chose to steal
with votes rather than a mask and gun is no excuse to me. I can,
however, separate the genius and scientific integrity of the man
from his lack of personal integrity.
> > with a HUGE grain of salt. Looters aren't to be trusted, ya know.
>
> Imagine Albert Einstein breaking a store window and grabbing the
> merchandise, running away with a boom box on his shoulder, his wispy
> white hair flying in all directions as the German physicist anxiously
> looks back over his shoulder for pursuing cops.
> That's the kind of morals and ethics he had, right, Terry?
> In my experience, many if not most pure scientists and mathemeticians
> lean towards socialism...
A consequence of definition: "pure" scientists and mathematicians are those in academia rather than in productive enterprise. Since our system socializes education and a lot of research, it is expected that those who do well in that environment think of it as natural and normal. If you look at scientists and mathematicians who actually work for a living--say those doing R&D in big industry, insurance actuaries, bookies--I'm sure you'll get a different picture.
-- Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com> <http://www.piclab.com/lcrocker.html> "All inventions or works of authorship original to me, herein and past, are placed irrevocably in the public domain, and may be used or modified for any purpose, without permission, attribution, or notification."--LDC