Albert Einstein seems to be (along with George Orwell) the most frequent victim of false quotes being attributed to him. Due to the fact that he was an outstanding scientist and a widely known figure, words that he never said are often put into his mouth. We have already described similar cases many times in our service. This time, another Internet chain message attributes the words about “generation of idiots” to the physicist.
Lack of evidence
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This statement has been circulating in Polish social media in recent weeks, especially on Facebook. Like any other quote of this type, this one also re-appears in the Internet space from time to time. It could be seen, for instance, in 2022, 2019 or 2017. Probably the oldest occurrences of this quote in Polish come from 2014 from the Demotywatory service.
Albert Einstein — a false quote
We have not found any evidence in any available sources that would confirm that the words about the “generation of idiots” were spoken by Einstein. Many other fact-checking websites, such as PolitiFact or Snopes, have reached the same conclusions. Quote Investigator notes that these words are not included in the most important source discussing the scientist’s quotations, i.e. „The Ultimate Quotable Einstein”, a comprehensive study of Einstein’s quotations published by Princeton University. There is therefore no evidence that the scientist actually spoke the words attributed to him. Jimena Canales, a historian of science and author of a book about Einstein, also shares the same opinion. She admitted that she had never come across a similar statement during her research.
The aforementioned Quote Investigator, which specialises in verifying quotes, notes that the first instance of the alleged Einstein’s quote appeared in English in 2012. At the same time, they add that the closest iteration of the quote (at least the first half) was said in the 1995 movie “Powder”. The dialogue between the main character Powder (Sean Patrick Flanery) and Donald Ripley (Jeff Goldblum) goes as follows:
Donald Ripley: „It’s become appallingly clear that our technology has surpassed our humanity.”
Powder: „Albert Einstein.”
Donald Ripley: „I look at you, and I, I think that someday our humanity might actually surpass our technology.”
The film’s screenwriter, Victor Salva, attributed the quote to Einstein, but there is no evidence that the scientist ever used such words. However, this dialogue could have served as the basis for a statement circulating on the Internet about the “generation of idiots”,
Summary
This is yet another instance of social media users sharing a fake quote from a famous person without much thought. There is no evidence that Albert Einstein said the words attributed to him. This statement cannot be found in the world’s largest compendium of his quotations, and experts studying the scientist’s life have never come across it. Perhaps it owes its origins to the words of one of the film’s characters, but we cannot be sure about this. As always, we warn against quotes circulating on the Internet, as they tend to have little to do with reality.
Sources
Quote Investigator: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/10/25/tech-exceeded/
Snopes: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/einstein-technology-quote/
