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These 'rules', maxims would be a more accurate description for them, have become misattributed to physicist Albert Einstein. They originated from a 1979 article where, physicist John Archibold Wheeler, who worked with Einstein late in the latter's life, wrote about Einstein, including his one time mentor's approach to theoretical science. Wheeler wrote 'There are three additional rules of Einstein’s work that stand out for use in our science, our problems, our times. First, out of clutter find simplicity. Second from discord make harmony. Third, in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.'. I am fine with saying that about a blackboard full of equations, but I am unsure how well the maxim applies the further it taken from academia into ordinary every day life.
It should not be surprising that the credit for the quote has migrated to the more famous of of the two physicists. The internet, and our continuous partial attention span, does that. As information travels so it loses tags and origin points. Nor should anyone be taken aback at how the quote gets applied to business rather than the science and the field of physics that it originated in. The internet has fed more inattentiveness in more different directions than any other media in history.
Seeking simplicity and harmony and the midst of what seems at first sight to be ugly and complicated long predates the study of physics, it is the logic behind the beatitudes amongst many other spiritual quotations, that are partially lived out every day. So it is no surprise to me that in the midst of scientific investigation spiritual values are rediscovered.
