Audio log: Einstein searchers

This is a short quote from Albert Einstein about being part of the society of searchers.

## Location

This tape is behind a locked gate near the Entry Area, which you will need to unlock after unlock the main gate. Once done, return to the puzzle panel in one of the towers that had two solutions, and enable the other switch that leads out the back of the tower. Head around the fort to find a now unlocked wooden gate, and follow the trail looping around the walls to another door with a puzzle. On the other side of the door you'll find a broken wall and a tree, where the log is lying.

## Transcript

Of all the communities available to us, there is not one I would want to devote myself to, except for the society of true searchers which has very few living members at any time.

Albert Einstein, 1924

## Literal interpretation

For most people, this will be the first out-of-the way hidden log they are going to find, meaning that this one rewards us for being a 'true searcher'.

## Literary context

This text is part of a longer letter, which reads as follows:

Berlin, 29 April 1924
Dear Borns,

Your letter, dear Mrs. Born, was really excellent. Indeed, what causes the sense of well-being inspired by Japanese society and art is that the individual is so harmoniously integrated into his wider environment that he derives his experiences not from the self, but mainly from the community. Each of us longed for this when we were young, but we had to resign ourselves to its impossibility. For, of all the communities available to us there is not one I would want to devote myself to, except for the society of the true searchers, which has very few living members at any time.

… Bohr’s opinion about radiation is of great interest. But I should not want to be forced into abandoning strict causality without defending it more strongly than I have so far. I find the idea quite intolerable that an electron exposed to radiation should choose, of its own free will, not only its moment to jump off, but also its direction. In that case, I would rather be a cobbler, or even an employee in a gaming house, than a physicist. Certainly my attempts to give tangible form to the quanta have foundered again and again, but I am far from giving up hope. And even if it never works, there is always that consolation that this lack of success is entirely mine.
… With best wishes.

Yours
Einstein

This letter is part of Einstein's great problem with the theory of Quantum mechanics, where he had some very long arguments over with Niels Bohr. Einstein was convinced that Quantum mechanics was impossible and in this context he also stated that "God does not play dice with the universe".
Einstein devoted years of his life to trying to disprove Quantum mechanics, eventually leading to it being accepted in the scientific community, as Einstein had thoroughly exhausted all possible arguments against it.

The quote we see in the game is Einstein saying that he loves the idea of a community that is part of nature and the wider society, but only concerns himself with the companions that are working on digging up the fundamental truths of the universe.

## Relation to the six themes of the Witness

This relates to Theme 1: Skepticism.

Due to how short this quote is it can be difficult to place it, but in the end, it is part of a larger discussion about Einstein not letting others tell him what is true or not and using his skeptical nature to dig deeper and deeper into it until he ends up figuring the truth for himself.
Einstein devoted years of his life to the argument that Quantum physics couldn't ever be true and this is just a minor footnote in that larger discussion. In the end, his skepticism led to us figuring out the truth.

This piece also relates to the idea that we won't find the truth on our own, but we will find it as a community, without people telling us from above, but with feedback to make sure our ideas are actually true.