A question about the great Einstein?

Question

Over the years that I was teaching mathematics to highschool and community college students here in California, the non-hackers and grunt-brains would tell me, when I reproved them for not studying or applying themselves, "Mr. (me), Albert Einstein couldn't even tie his shoes until he was twelve!" or some other preposterous bit of slander against the genius, to justify their own stupidity and lack of intellectual curiosity.
Now, my skateboarding glue-sniffer-of-a-grandson has infuriated me by saying the same thing when I told him to turn-off the damned video game and work on his trigonemetric ratios (I knew all of them by the time I was his age, fourteen).
Did the great Einstein truly have learning disabilities? Source, please, and Wikipedia doesn't count.
By the way: I couldn't tie my own shoes until I was twelve, either. As a boy in western Ireland, we all wore woolen sandals ("pampooties")!
Thanks, my fellow Einstein-admirers!

Answer 1

He had a language delay, but was precocious in math and science. This combination is quite common, so much so that it has been called "Einstein syndrom"--like a mild form of Autism or Asbergers.



He was a very good student once he got his language issues sorted out (age 7-8 or so). But he was bored by the style of teaching by rote that was in fashion at the time, so he didn't perform quite as well as he might have. His problem was the opposite of your kids'--too much intellectual curiosity to be satisfied by regurgitation-style learning. He flourished when he figured out to do what was required to please his instructors and satisfy his own interests by studying outside of class.



The wiki article on his early life answers your question directly and has plenty good references if you care to look them up to get something more solid.

Answer 2

It really doesn't matter if Albert Einstein couldn't tie his shoes or not at the age of 12 because no one can really proved it any more. You may have learned all the math that he is learning at the age of 14, but you did not have as much distraction (video game, tv, computer, mp3 players ect....) as he has now a days and i bet Mr. Einstein had less then you had as a child. So you where able to focus more on school work. Any way when you where younger there was more emphasis on respect for elders then it is now so that is another difference he has to you, but i bet he is more aware of the world then you where at his age. Due to greater access to information. it's all about external influences plus your interest equaling your knowledge. So i suggest you just keep telling him to do his school work & expect a resisting force on his part. Just keep hitting on the hammer it will make a dent at some point even though it may be only a scratch, but it is better then nothing.

Answer 3

I recall reading a biography about Einstein when I was in grade school. As I recall (and that was quite a while ago!), Einstein was an average student at best, not because of any delayed development but because of boredom (still a common problem). His interests and focus increased when he, after some difficulty, obtained a job at a patent office. He then went to university and his mathematical abilities were recognized by others (and I suspect by him). While there are many geniuses who were outstanding students and recognized early, there are also many form whom the road taken was less traveled and often difficult. However, they saw their destiny and vision and pursued it, despite having to deal with many morons along the way. Examples include Bill Gates, Albert Einstein, Robert Feineman (sp), and me.

Answer 4

That is exactly the problem with kids today: too many distractions like their precious X-Box, MP3 players, etc. These gadgets are turning kids' minds to absolute and utter garbage. My parents were raised in the same era as this gentleman and they have taught me well. By the time I was fourteen, not only did I know my trigonometric ratios, but I was learning calculus and algebra as well as history and a few languages!



So to those whining about kids' distractions and how we should cut them some slack, you all need to grow up. Clearly this man wants his grandson to use the brain evolution has granted us to solve future problems and dilemmas, and not sit in front of the television like a mindless drone.



Children today are horrible at almost everything: reading, writing, and even speaking! We as a society, instead of hammering down and forcing these kids to learn, are accepting this blatant bastardization of everything we learned! Oxford professors are now accepting graduate dissertations with the phrases "lol" (and the like) along with horribly misspelled words that don't even phonetically make sense. It's absolutely disgusting that we, as a race of supposedly semi-intelligent beings, are allowing the works our ancestors studied for (and in some cases, died for) to be diminished and forgotten in lieu of the "short-hand" internet-speak. Disgusting. Einstein would be rolling over spitting in his grave, were he able to see the intelligence pool of the newest generation.



So, don't vilify or demonize this man for trying to teach his grandson some logic, reason, or some bloody math! I think this man should throw away the TV his grandson loves so much, destroy his skateboard and sit him in front of some books. First, the math (for the trigonometric ratios), and then some good old-fashioned philosophical treatises from the likes of Kant and Descartes.



To answer your question: it does not matter whether Einstein had problems in grade school, for that is not what we remember him for. Also, they're mostly stories told for inspirational value to the intellectually-subdued children of today's modern society. Unfortunately, we live in a time where it is permissible to be scientifically illiterate, yet everything requires a post-secondary degree of some form. This has to change. Just look at all these lay-people passing off half-formed and illogical opinions on matters they know nothing of. And it's these fools who have the ears of Parliament (or Congress). This has to change.



Those students from your past deserve your frustrated reprimanding condemnations. I applaud you for trying to get your grandson off the couch and to put his nose into some books. Quoting Einstein's apparent misfortunes in languages and manual dexterous abilities is not only irrelevant, but fallacious in nature.



I'm sorry I didn't entirely answer your question by providing you with sources, but I had to say my piece. Also, searching for these things is a colossal waste of your time. For, as I've mentioned previously, it is irrelevant to the current generation.

Answer 5

I am no scholar when it comes to Einstein, but from my readings, I believe he had no learning "disabilities" at all... he was merely perhaps a bit "unfocused". Or, he had his mind on something else. Who hasn't been subjected to THAT?



When I was 14, I had never heard of trigonometric functions, but I could tie my own shoes at seven. Hell, I never even heard of algebra until I was 16! But I drove a car.



Needless to say, I never understood squat when it came to calculus either!



I was raised on a dirt farm in the Middle West, we wore no shoes during the summer.

Answer 6

You are a very disrespectful and immature grandfather and teacher. Calling your son and students names and talking of their inadequacies and bad habits to the general public pointlessly (especially since they know the truth and you are the ignorant one...).



And to your question, yes they are right, so don't let your admiration for the man blind you to the truth and don't act like people are wrong to do things that you didn't and/or don't do.

Answer 7

actually, all of einsteins teachers thought he was mentally disabled. he wasn't very school smart, though he was a genius. he eventually took up violin and hated it. not that that matters. but yeah...