How Uri Got His Nobel Prize Pt. 02

Trigger Warning

Those who have lost relatives and friends in the Holocaust may find this upsetting.

The Story Continues.

Uri woke up bathed in sweat. He had a vague and unsettling recollection of having dreamed of being a time traveller. He had seen and chatted with Hitler in Vienna before WW1.

The History Behind Uri's Dream

During the Viennese period, Hitler was not someone who was up for in depth discussions. Hitler wanted to win arguments, especially of a political or artistic nature. Hitler wanted to be the resident expert. Initially he didn't want to win friends and influence people.

It was later in that period that he saw the importance of influencing people.

Hitler ranted at his opponents even in pre WW1 Vienna. Many non historians dismiss Hitler as a mad man. In Uri's opinion Hitler was sane, but evil. As far as Uri is aware Hitler never ever exhibited any symptoms of madness. Hitler could have been a successful artist or architect and been equally passionate in achieving his goals.

Uri knew that this chat with Hitler would have been impossible. Uri spoke only a limited amount of German. But, in the dream Hitler spoke, and sometimes shouted, in English. But Hitler otherwise behaved as Uri would expect Hitler to behave.

For instance, Hitler ate the fancy cakes that Vienna was famous for. When he became the German leader, Hitler was famous for loving cakes and having a sweet tooth. Nowadays he is seen as a vegetarian and, in some quarters, as a role model for alternative agriculture.

Hitler's Agriculture Plan And The "Half Earth" Proposal.

The genocidal SS General Plan East planned for 10 million racially-valuable Germanics (Germans, Dutch, Flemish, Scandinavians and English) to displace about 30 million Slavs and Balts.

The half earth theory asserts

(1) Humans are responsible for a biodiversity crisis;

(2) The rights of nature outweigh human wants;

(3) A half-Earth is an imperative.

"Nature Needs Half" argue that humans should withdraw from half of the entire Earth by 2050. The "International Union for Conservation of Nature" have backed the 2050 deadline.

Uri's Take On This

Uri feels the "half earth" model is purely Hitler's role for Russian agriculture writ in English. That contention is what his under-grad theses sought to prove. After all, the numbers affected by half earth make Hitler's 30 million look like a foothill. Added to this concerns about human population growth (estimated to go up to 10 billion).

As you might surmise, Uri is not popular with the eco warriors. What Uri couldn't put in his theses was that, if Hitler had been motivated by the "half earth" theory then over a billion people would be starved to death. The half earth proposal was potentially worse than Hitler's "General Plan East"

The formal Harvard Debating Club motion read "This house feels that radical measures are needed to reduce the dangers of climate change." Uri was the lead of the "Nay" team. As lead of the team he was able to expound his case against radical action, including half earth.

His opening line was "Hitler had a radical plan that would have had a major effect on climate change. The murder of 30 million Slavs and Balts. Today the twin calls of promoting a Green ecology and reducing population growth would give Hitler a chance to murder a billion people."

Uri took no prisoners. He accepted 2 interventions (which gained him 8 points) and analysed and answered them (he got 7 points) His responses were a tad long (he only got 5 points) and he tended to rely on one topic (4 points) though he had a good presentation manner (8 points).

Uri beat the next best by 3 points.

He won the Harvard Best Speaker prize. The next day the judges displayed all their criticisms. Their conclusion narrative read "Uri should have challenged briefly the contention that there is a need for radical action. However, as a first timer, this is an impressive performance."

Uri keeps a copy of the criticism, the photo of him and the trophy and the certificate (now neatly framed).

Ever since, Uri practised the art of Formal debating. He believes that it helped him get his Upper First.

The Nature Of Dreams

Nobody expects consistency or realism in dreams. Indeed it is the ability of dreams to combine the commonplace, the hoped for, the feared all wrapped up by mankind's innate imagination that fascinates psychologists, ever since Freud. No one knows how the brain does this mixing, But the brain does this mixing whether the person remembers the dream or not.

Perhaps one day we might be able to see the dreams on a TV screen. If Freud is right the dream videos could make for an interesting reality TV series. On second thoughts they would make the ultimate reality TV series.

Ahistorical Nature Of Uri's Dream

Of course Hitler speaking in English was ahistorical. Uri's dream was unrealistic since the impoverished Hitler in his Viennese days, was not one to have civil conversations.

It is possible that Hitler had discussions with a secular Jew early on in that Vienna period. If you believe Mein Kampf, and some historians don't, then Hitler arrived in Vienna with only a small allowance and no experience of Jews.

According to Mein Kampf, in Vienna Hitler first saw an orthodox Jew and been "horrified" at his smell, strangeness of dress and mannerisms. Hitler had initially ignored the antisemites selling antisemitic propaganda. But he now purchased an antisemitic leaflet "for a hela" from a street vendor.

According to Hitler, he wanted to see if the antisemitic leaflet he had purchased was "scientific". Hitler had therefore read the scientific racist literature in the right wing library. After reading the racist giants, including the rabidly antisemitic, Houston Stewart Chamberlain. After reading H S Chamberlain, Hitler forever saw the Jews as a race and not a religion.

The antisemitic literature reinforced the evolutionary Darwinian views that were held worldwide. HS Chamberlain added a layer of racial antisemitism to the racial theories that were nearly universally accepted. Darwin himself saw black Africans as "nearer to the apes than Western mankind". But Darwin himself was not antisemitic or at least Uri didn't know of any antisemitic remarks or assumptions that Darwin made.

So it would be highly unlikely that, after coming under the influence of HS Chamberlain, Hitler would talk to a Jew, even a secular Jew like Uri. As you will see later in fuller detail, Hitler criticised the Mayor of Vienna for having Jewish friends.

The Dream

Uri dreamed that he tried to persuade Hitler that the racist science was rubbish. He didn't deal with the antisemitic overlay. But, even in his dream, Hitler wouldn't listen to counter arguments. Uri woke up frustrated at the impossibility of getting Hitler to change his mind. His pillow was drenched with his sweat. He needed a bath because he smelled of sweat.

Uri recalled saying to the post-grad tutorial class about meeting Hitler "I'd kill the bastard".

In his dream he hadn't even thought about murdering the monster. Uri felt he was only repeating the arguments that Hitler actually had. After all, the majority of Vienna was antisemitic.

Their antisemitism was different to Hitler's. They were social and / or religious antisemites. The difference between religious antisemitism and racial antisemitism led to a philosophical difference when it came to Jews who had converted to Christianity. The Church considered the Jewish converts to Christianity as Christians and the Nazi officials regarded converts as Jews because racially and genetically they were

Types Of Viennese Antisemitism

The Mayor of Vienna was a political antisemite, adroitly using antisemitism to gain votes and power. But the Mayor dined with his Jewish friends. He was famous for saying "I will decide who is a Jew".

Hitler's regime had a new type of antisemitic understanding. For Hitler Jews weren't a religion or even a social grouping. Jews were a race. Science ordains who was a Jew, not some Mayor, however much Hitler admired the Vienna Mayor.

Uri saw his dream as his attempt to discern whether Hitler was a Holocaust "intentionalist". Some historians suggest that Hitler intended, in principle, to wipe out Jews perhaps as early as when he was at Vienna. The "intentionalists" do not say that Hitler had in his mind the death camps. But his intent was to get rid of Jews by fair means or foul as early as Vienna

Other historians argue that Hitler decided on the Holocaust at a later date. He, so to speak, made it up as he went along.

The "anti-intentionalists" point to Table Talk and Hitler's conditional statement "IF the Jews won't emigrate THEN there is no alternative but to eliminate them."

They argue that initially Hitler merely wanted to get Jews out of a multicultural society. The concept of the Holocaust came only when Greater Germany arose, that is, after 1945.

Uri Finds The Holocaust Historians Holy Grail

Uri had to interpret from his dream whether this meant Hitler was an "intentionalist" or not. And if so, how pronounced his intentions were

The legitimate Holocaust historians all agree that the Holocaust is a Historical Fact. Their debate is on the process that led to the 6 million deaths. Uri speculated on his dream. It seemed to Uri that Hitler had sufficient concern about the "science" and multi-cultural Vienna to assume that he had the intent of the Holocaust at that stage. All it required was for Hitler to gain total power and for what a leading historian called "people working towards Hitler".

Uri Takes On Too Much

Uri decided that he must see if time travel was scientifically possible. He thought of himself as some kind of Superman. He could understand complex historical situations and clarify them for those of generalist interest. He could keep lots of information about key and mid level participants in the 1930s and Nazi period. As part of his duties he lectured to undergrads and helped them with their undergrad theses. He had a fine reputation for his undergrad lectures. He could answer specific questions from even the best Harvard History undergrad from memory. His lectures were well attended. He was popular with the undergrads.

He also had his own postgrad theses to write. That was going well. All looked set to become a Professor and then get tenure. Tenure is the holy grail of academia. It is said that a tenured Professor can only be dismissed if he kills all the University students. It is counter claimed that even killing the students wouldn't be enough to lose him tenure.

This was ironic since Uri would later ask a student to put his life at risk. But he had a lot of issues to face before he even met that student.

Time Travel Is Possible

Uri understood that Einstein had created the famous e=mc2 equation. He knew that Einstein was a patent clerk when he created the equation. Uri knew that Einstein had postulated that time travel and the nuclear bomb were both theoretically possible. Uri was aware that several German Nobel scientists rejected the finding since it was "Jewish science". But it wasn't just antisemitic students who didn't accept Einstein's revolutionary theories. They flew in the face of common sense and Newton's "sensible" theories.

Proving Einstein's Theory

Uri knew that scientists had tried to verify the equation but had been interrupted by WW1. Uri knew that the readings of light distortion at a full moon eclipse were taken and initially they did not support Einstein. Only after a further investigation of the data was e=mc2 accepted as correct. Uri was aware that physics specialists want "beauty" which he interpreted as "the elegance of mathematical simplicity". But Uri would be able to accept that e=mc3 just as readily.

Did The Data Really Prove Einstein's General Theory?

Uri was not aware of a recent controversy about the proof. There wasn't just a single reading of the distortion of light. That was key to Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. In fact there had been 3 data sets. Two became the official result and the third was discarded as defective. However, in 1980 2 philosophers of science claimed that the discarded data set was fully valid. This data set was not consistent with Einstein's prediction. Therefore there was no valid proof of General Relativity.

The Bomb Yesterday, Time Travel Tomorrow

However Uri was aware that Einstein said that the nuclear bomb was "theoretically possible but probably not achievable in practice". But Einstein was wrong and the bomb was created, without his help. Einstein was too "left leaning" and was barred from the project on security grounds.

Uri reasoned that Einstein's theoretical support was sufficient for him to believe in time travel. After all, the 4 first nuclear bombs were only created because they were needed in WW2. Einstein had warned the American President in a written letter that Hitler was researching a nuclear weapon. The race was on and Einstein's "Jewish science" helped win WW2.

Uri was also aware of the advent of public knowledge of black holes due to' "A Brief History Of Time''. Now he was acutely aware of the many discussions about black holes. He decided to set aside time in his diary for research on time travel. He didn't want to overstretch himself. He had been on time management courses and needed to make best use of this valuable tool.

But soon the time he had allocated was insufficient. He stole time from his other duties. He had become infatuated with the idea that a black hole contained space and time and mass in one place. He dreamed of black holes and slept fitfully. He was unaware that he was losing weight and looked increasingly haggard.

Uri especially wanted to prove Einstein was right and Hawkins was wrong about time travel. He went to sleep with concerns about conflicting statements about black holes. He became obsessed with online tutorials and YouTube videos. He became convinced that a black hole can enable time travel.

Uri knew that space rockets used the gravitational pull of the planets to "sling shot" them to the furthest reaches of the galaxy. Uri was aware that there are small black holes and he thought that a machine might use a similar tactic. He couldn't see the weakness of his theory. Uri wanted time travel and not to travel across a finite (or was it infinite) space. But Uri wanted to prove it was possible to sling shot black holes.

A Fly In The Ointment

The Piaget theory is that children progress through four distinct stages, each representing varying cognitive abilities and world comprehension: the sensorimotor stage (birth to 2 years), the pre-operational stage (2 to 7 years), the concrete operational stage (7 to 11 years), and the formal operational stage (11 years and beyond).

A child at a lower level is incapable of understanding concepts at a higher level. The child has to mature intellectually through each stage. A pre-operational child is incapable of understanding concrete operational concepts.

Uri had an intellectual deficit when it came to maths. He was literally, a Maths pre-operational child trying to understand formal operational Mathematical concepts. He was inevitably "cruising for a bruising". Uri couldn't prove the sling shot theory because you need formal operation maths. He only had the capability to do maths within his intellectual limitation. Uri could never understand that leval of maths, even if he was given centuries to do so. He was battling against his inability and losing the war.

Uri was following this blind alley. This was because he hadn't learned about the science of black hole creation. He knew, via Hawkins, about what may happen when a black hole dies.

And worse than going down this cul de sac, Uri began to try to find a scientific (that is mathematical) explanation of it. Piaget would have told Uri that this attempt to master the un-masterful was doomed to failure. But Uri didn't recognise the symptoms of obsession. He was, after all, a Superman. He didn't recognise that maths was his Kryptonite.

Uri's nightly dreams included finding an equation as simple and elegant as Einstein's. He dreamed of equations. He dreamed of defending them at the annual gathering that Hawkins held for leading physics professors. He literally dreamed of getting the Nobel Prize for physics.

But, like an over-tightened spring, Uri's body and mind could take so much pressure. The inevitable happened when a minor incident caused Uri to have a nervous and physical breakdown. He was about to get worse. He was about to face possible expulsion from Harvard.

To be continued