Wednesday Wisdom

Fly on the Wall

The concept of a fly on the wall is a metaphor, listening, observing without participating or affecting the outcome. Imagine being a Fly hang on the wall undetected and listen to two great minds discuss the nature of reality and metaphysics. What if there was a dialogue of profound meditation on the boundaries and overlaps between science, philosophy, and spirituality. Perhaps such a conversation existed, and we don’t need to be a fly on the wall.

There was a knock on the door, it was neither persuasive nor animated but more melodic. Albert answered the door; his hair was graying and unhinged, these matters of appearance were not consequential to a man who was trying to explain the mysteries of the universe. His focus was on bigger issues of the mechanics of the universe. He was looking forward to a conversation with a man he heard much of a man from another continent and culture, a man whose literature to many in Europe was their first introduction into the mystic mind of India.

At his door was a swarthy man with flowing grey hair and a long beard, perhaps central casting has sent the embodiment of a sage man. Language, aah this could be a problem, Albert spoke German, Frech, Latin and English, his guest Bengali, Sanskrit, French and English. Their common language was English for these two men to have an intellectual conversation on metaphysics or the essence of who we are as humans in the universe.

The meeting in Caputh, Germany outside of Berlin in July 1930, which was arranged through mutual acquaintances because both men had a genuine curiosity about the other's worldview. The guest was Rabindranath Tagore who was on a lecture tour in Europe at the time, promoting his philosophy of the "Religion of Man."

Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) was a polymath who left an indelible mark on art, literature, music, and philosophy. Born in Calcutta, India, into a wealthy, Brahim and culturally vibrant Bengali family, Tagore received little formal schooling, preferring self-education in literature, art, and history. He was a towering figure of the Bengali Renaissance, a movement in India which was a period defined by a synthesis of modern Western thought (liberalism, rationalism, and science) with traditional Bengali and Indian cultural forms, resulting in an explosive intellectual and creative period. It brought about the end of the caste system, promoted woman’s rights, a pride in Indian, Bengali culture expressed through arts and literature.  

He began writing poetry at an early age. Tagore's prodigious output spanned over two thousand songs, novels, short stories, dramas, essays, and millions of lines of poetry. His work explored themes of nature, humanism, spiritual freedom, and love. He became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature for his collection of poems, “Gitanjali” (Song Offerings). This achievement brought Indian literature to the global stage. In 1921, he established Visva-Bharati University in Santiniketan, India. The institution emphasized an open-air, holistic education system that blended the best of Indian and Western traditions. Though close to Mahatma Gandhi, Tagore held a more cautious and internationalist view of Indian nationalism. He famously composed the national anthems for two nations: India (Jana Gana Mana) and Bangladesh (Amar Shonar Bangla). Tagore is often referred to as "Gurudev" (Divine Teacher). His vision remains influential in India and globally for his rejection of rigid tradition, his blending of East and West philosophy, and his profound humanism, mankind as a part of truth of the reality and the universe. He passed away in 1941 at the age of 80.

Conversation for the Ages

Does the world exist without mankind? Einstein, the physicist, asserted that truth and the universe exist as an objective reality, independent of any human consciousness, he would assert that the Pythagorean theorem would remain true even if no human were alive. Tagore, the poet and philosopher, argued that the truth of the universe is inherently "human truth," realizing its reality only through the universal human mind. They debated using a simple dining room table as an example, Einstein maintained the table would remain where it is if no one was in the house, proving its independent reality. Tagore countered that while the table exists outside an individual mind, it still depends on the “Universal Mind” or the "Super-personal Man" for its perceptible reality. Tagore viewed scientific truths as the "impersonal human world of truths," which religion then connects to our deeper needs by applying values like goodness.

The closest they came to agreement was when the idea of aesthetics or what is beauty being discussed? Einstein says if there were no more human beings would the statue Apollo of Belvedere not still be beautiful. Tagore responded no because of different cultures and people’s subjective ideas, Einstein conceded the point on beauty but not on truth. Einstein respectively says to Tabor at the end of their discussion, “we come closest to greatness when we are great in humility”.

What can we learn in 2025 from this dialogue

Their 1930 dialogue became a media sensation, with The New York Times running a story under the headline: "Einstein and Tagore Plumb the Truth." We didn’t have to be a fly on the wall as these men discussed, “is the truth independent of human consciousness (Einstein's view) or intrinsically linked to the human and universal spirit (Tagore's view)”.

Ironically, Edwin Schroeder used a paradox about a cat in a box to explain the “Copenhagen Interpretation” of quantum physics put forth by Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg. Because the cat's fate is tied directly to the atom's state, the cat must also be in a superposition, it is simultaneously both alive and dead. The cat is neither alive nor dead was an analogy of observation of atoms. This roughly describes Heisenberg’s “Uncertainty Principle” where one doesn’t know the structure of an atom until its observed also called the “Observation Effect”.

Interestingly, Einstein had issue about this interpretation of quantum physics were entangled particles that simultaneously changed when observed no matter of distance. If one particle was “observed” positive the other entangled particle would automatically be the opposite. This seems to counter Einsteins theory of relativity were nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. Years later he called this “spooky things in the distance” to describe this paradox of physics.

The true irony of this remarkable conversation is that Tagore explains why that observation of humans determines truth and perhaps may even had hinted at understanding quantum physics through the lens of a universal spirit.

Time and space, does it exist if humans are not there to mark it? Perhaps just asking the question is actually the answer the metaphysical question to who we are.

And now you know...

Thank you, Dad, for the gift of curiosity

Philosophy is the art of thinking, the building block of progress that shapes critical thinking across economics, ethics, religion, and science.

METAPHYSICS: Literally, the term metaphysics means ‘beyond the physical.’ Typically, this is the branch that most people think of when they picture philosophy. In metaphysics, the goal is to answer the what and how questions in life. Who are we, and what are time and space?

LOGIC: The study of reasoning. Much like metaphysics, understanding logic helps to understand and appreciate how we perceive the rest of our world. More than that, it provides a foundation for which to build and interpret arguments and analyses.

ETHICS: The study of morality, right and wrong, good and evil. Ethics tackles difficult conversations by adding weight to actions and decisions. Politics takes ethics to a larger scale, applying it to a group (or groups) of people. Political philosophers study political governments, laws, justice, authority, rights, liberty, ethics, and much more.

AESTHETICS: What is beautiful? Philosophers try to understand, qualify, and quantify what makes art what it is. Aesthetics also takes a deeper look at the artwork itself, trying to understand the meaning behind it, both art as a whole and art on an individual level. A question an aesthetics philosopher would seek to address is whether or not beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.

EPISTEMOLOGY: This is the study and understanding of knowledge. The main question is how do we know? We can question the limitations of logic, how comprehension works, and the ability (or perception) to be certain.