Classifiable or Quantifiable

The world that we live in is comprised of classifications and labels. In science, politics, and history we have seen how classifying objects and people have had repercussions on society. For example, as we have been learning, we classify physics as being quantifiable or measurable. For the most part, up until Einstein, people have accepted the truths about science being that a theory is only right if it is measurable. Einstein came along and tried to disprove what scientists in the past have stated as truth. No wonder he is such a controversial figure in science, as he tried to show the world that science isn't as clear cut as previously stated, and there is mystery in science. A scientist's job is to find answer to life's mysteries, so when scientists such as Heisenberg and Einstein said that it is impossible to find measurements for everything there was controversy. Isn't it cool to think that there isn't an answer to everything and no matter how hard one tries jsomethings just can't be explained? That is the beauty of the world.

In the 1930's, Stark and Lenard instituted this idea of classifying science as"Aryan Physics" or "Jewish Physics". Aryan Physics was non Jewish, perfect and pure science. Aryan Physics did not agree with relativity and quantum mechanics because it left unanswered questions. Once again, Einstein is belittled and hated among the German scientific community for his work. Einstein also did not agree with the National Socialist party, as he was part of the anti-Fascist movement. This discord between his political views and the National Socialist party, as well as, his scientific views gave Stark a reason to hate Einstein.

As Hitler slowly took power, the German citizens were classified as either Aryans or non-Aryans. These classifications allowed people to start to reject non-Aryans in the educational and scientific realms. There was a law against the overcrowding of German schools and universities, which essentially was an excuse for Germans to not accept Jews into their schools. The creation of all these bogus laws, justified the Germans' claims, and to the average citizen made the Germans' actions appear legal. I don't understand how a government can legally classify a person and how the Nazis got away with their actions. A non-Aryan was defined as someone who had one practicing Jewish grandparent. This definition is quite vague, and not until the 1935 Nuremberg laws did Germany have a concrete definition. Under these laws, a non-Aryan was a person who had three grandparents who were registered as practicing Jews. The reason behind having such an extensive family guideline was because many grandparents were dead or wouldn't change their faith, thus people couldn't easily change their faith. It is easier for a person to say that they are Jewish if they have extensive family lineage that demonstrates Jewish practices, then going by one relative who could have converted. Once again, this idea of the government not being able to easily classify things upset the Nazis. It was easier for the government to take control over scientists' practices, schools etc. if they have a "black and white" law instead of a "gray" one. Classification, in this instance, put the government's worries at ease. It allowed for the easy extermination of Jews years later, as well as, the ability of the Nazi's to take over science, education, and ultimately the German government.

Throughout our readings we have seen many concepts classified and the scientists, government officials, etc. use these classifications as justification for their actions and beliefs. Whether we are classifying science as "Aryan", "quantifiable", or "pragmatic", science should be universal and respected, and these classifications should not have any effect on how people view the concepts. Similarly, if we classify people as "Nazi", "Jewish" "White Jews" etc., we are saying that we must section people off and we can not see "eye to eye". By classifying something it give a sense of status and states that one group is not related to another. Society might be able to understand each other and the inner workings of the world, by erasing all of these classifications and labels and just looking at a concept or a person for what it is worth.