When Albert Einstein Met Rabindranath Tagore: Confluence of Science and Spirituality
The Summer of 1930
Philosophy matters. Here is why
When Einstein Met Tagore
On July 14, 1930, Albert Einstein welcomed into his home on the outskirts of Berlin the Indian poet, philosopher, and musician Rabindranath Tagore — the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize. The two proceeded to have one of the most stimulating, intellectually riveting conversations in history, exploring the age-old friction between science and religion. "Science and the Indian Tradition: When Einstein Met Tagore" recounts the historic encounter, amidst a broader discussion of the intellectual renaissance that swept India in the early twentieth century, germinating a curious osmosis of Indian traditions and secular Western scientific doctrine.
Tagore believes truth is about harmony between our thoughts and reality, while Einstein thinks some truths exist independently of humans. They discussed how our perceptions shape what we consider true and how science and spirituality intersect.
Einstein: Do you believe in the divine as isolated from the world?
Tagore: Not isolated. The infinite personality of man comprehends the universe. There cannot be anything that cannot be subsumed by the human personality, proving the truth of the universe is human truth.
Einstein: Two conceptions exist about the nature of the universe: (1) The world as a unity dependent on humanity. (2) The world as a reality independent of the human factor.
Tagore: When our universe is in harmony with man, we know it as Truth and feel it as beauty.
Einstein: This is the purely human conception of the universe.
Tagore: There can be no other conception. This world is a human world, linked to us in a similar manner, making it a human universe.
Einstein: Truth or beauty is not independent of man?
Tagore: No.
Einstein: If there were no human beings, would beauty cease to exist?
Tagore: No.
Einstein: I agree on beauty but not on truth.
Tagore: Why not? Truth is realized through man.
Einstein: I believe some truths exist independently of humanity.
Tagore: Truth essentially belongs to humanity and may be called maya or illusion.
Einstein: According to your conception, is it the illusion of humanity as a whole?
Tagore: Yes, the entire human mind realizes truth.
Einstein: The problem arises whether truth is independent of our consciousness.
Tagore: Truth lies in the rational harmony between subjective and objective reality.
Einstein: We feel compelled to ascribe a reality independent of man to objects we use.
Tagore: The table exists outside the individual mind but not the universal mind.
Einstein: Our natural view regarding truth apart from humanity cannot be explained but is a belief we all have.
Tagore: Science shows that what we perceive as solid objects are appearances and belong to the human mind.
Einstein: Then I am more religious than you are!
Tagore: My religion lies in reconciling the super-personal man, the universal human spirit, within my own being.