56
DOCS.
43,
44
JANUARY
1915
would
naturally
immediately distinguish
one
of
the
systems
U,
U', etc.,
over
the
others.
Although
we are no
such
universal
spirits, if
we
retain the
common
notion
of
“spirit”
and
“body,” surely
we are
not
so
vastly
different
to
it. For
according
to
this
view,
we
must
feel
material
processes occurring
in
the
brain;
and since
we
can
say only
with
uncertainty
that the
intellect has its seat
at
a
specific
point
in
the
brain,
it
looks
as
if it
really
could
perceive
what
occurs
at different locations
of
the brain
and
(with
sufficient
powers
of
discernment)
examine it
directly
for
“simultaneity.”]
I
come
herewith
to
a
close.
It
will
be
of great
value
to
me
to
hear
sometime
what
your opinion
is
on
the
issues discussed.
44.
To
Edgar Meyer
[Berlin,]
2
January 1915
Dear Mr.
Meyer,[1]
Your
letter
had burrowed itself
so
deeply among
the
-
tax
papers (which
I
had
naturally
timorously
let
lie)
that
only
today
do I
come
by your
letter’s
contents.
I
would view it
as
good
fortune to
the Zurich students
if
you
were
to be called
there,
and
I
consider
this
likely
as
well.
But
I
am
somewhat
at
a
loss
as
to
how
I
should react toward
achieving
this. The Zurich
people
are
a peculiarly
obstinate
lot;
when
a
suggestion
is made,
the
opposite
can
easily
result. Can
you
believe
it
that
neither
I
nor
Laue[2]
have
the
least influence in
the
selection of
the successor? At
the
university
it
is
still
the
worst
now.
There
is
an
implicit
agreement among
the
faculty
there
to
act
as
mutual
yes-men
or
not to
nose
into
one
another’s
business,
so
that
headstrong
Kl.[3]
is
bound to be
the
one
to
exert
his
authority. Werner,[4]
who
is perhaps
still
developing
an
independence
of his
own,
is not
at all
well-disposed
toward
me.
The
only
one
I could
possibly
write
to is Schinz.[5]
But
even
there the shot could backfire far
too
easily,
namely,
were
Kleiner to
notice
that
I
had
attempted to
interfere “behind his back.” Added to
this,
a
certain
stigma
also
weighs on
me
because of
my flight
from
the
country.[6]
It
would be
best
if
the
people
could
be
prompted
to turn
to
me
with
their
inquiries;
in
this
way
my
voice
would
carry
the
greatest
weight,
and
I
would
not fail
to
recommend
you
most
earnestly
to
first
place.
To
begin with,
I
am
now
going
to do the
following.
I
shall write to
a
friend
who has influence
among
academic
circles[7]
that
he should endeavor
to have
me
consulted. If this
succeeds,
it
is
far
preferable
to
my
thrusting myself upon
them.
However,
if
you
know of
a
more
promising
way,
then
write
to
me
about
it.
I
am
working
tranquilly
in
my
booth
in
spite
of
the
distressing,
abhorrent
war.
The
general
theory
of
relativity
has
now
been relieved
of most
of its obscurities
so
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