Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-01-20
By WESTBROOK PEGLER

By WESTBROOK PEGLER
NOTHING could shake me
worse than to discover one
day all across page one Of the
papers that instead of being a
genius and wizard, Prof. Albert
Einstein was just plain crazy,
but it is something to think
about, nevertheless, ecause,
after all, how do we know?
II man is so smart that no
body else can understand him.
how do we know he is smart?
How do we know he isn't maxi
ing il up out of his head. and
even when he writes IL down,
why, you can't even print il.
don't have any words
or letters for it. and you have
to take pictures of it and print
the pictures instead.
Like when little Kids are just
learning TO make chicken tracks
on a piece of paper.
QUT you take. for instance.
- down at Princeton they have
thing they call the department
for advanced thinking, and. gust
like regular colleges, they get
together a certain number OF
hours a week and think.
They get around blackboard
and make signs on it like you
make playing hopscotch- or like
you Mrite-eH- the-wafE of the !.
phone booth when you are wait y
ing for your party but they
claim these marks mean some
thing mysterious, and the way
they talk il up you just take il
for granted and everybody says
they certainly are marvellous.
and how can they stand il TO
be so smart.
WHAT I warrt to know IS how
lido we know II isn't all n
gag. and maybe they get to-
gether in -somchnd1.S-reaH,-at-
night and play tiektaektoe. and
decide they will juice il up and
call in the reporters and tell
|. them they have gust discovered
new kind Of gas in the sun.
and these scorecands of the tick
tacktoe tournament=Well- they
represent the idea. but If any
body wants 10 know Just how
they figure that out they say
you are too dumb to under
stand.
Because even If we have got
some reporters from Harvard
now, well. after all. you ask any
girl who has been 10 an affair
with Harvard student and
they will tell you they get their
share of dummies al Harvard.
too. and Einstein could fool
them as easy as he could fool
the next one.
I MEAN if you think a thought
L that doesn't make any sense
and you tell ii to me. well. nat
urally | look you over 10 see il
you have been gnawing crock.
because If your idea doesn't
make any sense il means | am
dumb or you are drammed up.
But1hese wizards they make
lot of marks that aren't let
ters at all or even numbers but
just hooks Like you check
laundry list and plus and minus
and divide by a mark that looks
like a mistake. and they say
that is their wonderful new idea
and you are supposed 10 col
lapse.
How do'-they know so much
about the sun just from looking
at il through a piece of creased
paper or spyglass and putting
down marks when my eyes are
as good as anybody's. and IL
they say space curves you are
supposed to give them a big
writeup.
Or SUPPOSE ! get a press
" agent to spread il around
how / have made up some posi-
lively new thoughts but nobody
can even understand what they
are about. Are they going TO
give me a house and a salary
TO come down 10 Princeton ana
just quietly think in carpet slip
pers and an old sweater. because
! am a wizard?
Or will the family go TO the
judge and say they are afraid
to have me around talking that
way and making goofy marks
on paper, so how about giving
me test. and if / can't explain
il to the jury well you know
where thew will put me.
They will put me away under
glass somewhere until I come
out of it,
If the jury can't understand
me I can't say the jury is crazy
and you better put them away.
They will say I am the one
who is nuts. and that is what
bothers me about Professor Elm
stein and the rest of the ad-
vanced thinkers at Princeton.
because to hear them tell YOU.
the rest of the world is feeble
minded and we all ought to be
locked up because we don't
understand them
/ don't know. Maybe we are
nuts and they are smart. when
you come to think how all they
have to do is live at Princeton
free with a pretty good salary