How Darwin Managed His Inbox

An anonymous reader wrote to mention an MSNBC article on how Darwin and Einstein managed their inboxes. From the article: "A new study finds that the correspondence of Albert Einstein, as well as that of Charles Darwin, followed patterns similar to modern e-mail communication. Einstein sent more than 14,500 letters. But he received more than 16,200, and responded to only a quarter of them. Darwin mailed more than 7,500 letters. He responded to 32 percent of the roughly 6,530 letters he received."

only?

[gtrubetskoy]

Einstein sent more than 14,500 letters.

That's in his lifetime. Since 1998, I sent 27,171 emails (granted, an e-mail is much easier to sent than a snail mail letter). It's hard for me to count how many I received (counting spam it's probably in the millions).

What a surprise

[Da Fokka]

"Their timely responses to most letters show that they were both aware of the importance of this intellectual intercourse,"

Of course they were, they are respectively the most important Physicist and Biologist ever. If they had the intelligence to conceive their theories, it should be rather obvious that sorting their mail was not outside the realm of their wit.

Re:Spam

[tomhudson]

They used the cost of postage as a spam filter.

If I could charge spammers the cost of a stamp for each spam I received, I'd be quite happy.

How does this compare?

[Dekortage]

This is just celebrity research. So Darwin and Einstein handled paper mail like we handle electronic mail. Guess what? I handle paper mail that way too. I bet most people do, and pronbably always have. The article doesn't talk about that, however.

Re:Except they were doing real work...

[JaredOfEuropa]

when you're on a boat studying birds on a far away island or working on important and complex physics problems it's a little more difficult to sit down and read through a letter and actually pen a response.

On the contrary, Darwin must have had ages to write all those letters during his long voyage... bird watching was only a small portion of the time spent, for the rest it was a long and boring sea voyage.

Replies Not Necessary

[Mean Variance]

What is the point of saying he responded to "only" 32% of the letters. Many communications I get in email do not warrant a response. Granted, it's quite simple that I will respond with a "thanks" message. But if it were sent in a letter, I don't think I would bother to write (literally) back with an acknowledgement if it didn't extend the context of the message.

Fascinating?

[DarkIye]

"In both Darwin's and Einstein's correspondence and today's email we find that most responses take short time, but sometimes the responses take a very long time, Oliveira told LiveScience. "In other words, for both email and mail communication, the response times exist in a very broad range of values, and there is no typical response time for which we could say that all response times are around (and close to) that value."

Well, well. This really is specific stuff. I mean, usually these such stories, you get a fake statisic or two thrown in, but this is pushing it.

The upshot: Einstein and Darwin exhibited a "fundamental pattern of human dynamics" that plays out every morning when you check your inbox.

Oh, I suppose Einstien was 'just like me(tm)'? Who really gets 16,500 legitimate emails, even in their entire lives? Let alone sends 14,500?
I don't reckon this should really go into the science category.

Re:Slow News Day (should this been been on FARK?)

[Deffexor]

After reading this article, I closed the window and wondered where my browser with FARK.com had gone. I was sure the "obvious" tag had trumped "amusing" or "interesting". I was genuinely shocked to find this post on Slashdot (but not so suprised to find it coming from MSNBC...) Seems this one was too obvious to make it even to Fark. Maybe it will show up later in the day, though... Heh.

Re:only?

[Narcissus]

How many of those, though, were really just multiple parts of a 'conversation'?

I know I can rack up dozens of emails when I start using it like an IM service. However I doubt Einstein would write something like "So, what time do you want me to come around on Friday?" and then wait for a reply before continuing with "and do you want me to bring anything?"

Re:Spam

[tomhudson]

Imagine how much more you'd receive if paper and delivery were free?

At least with snail mail spam, you know someone's invested some real coin to get it to you. When was the last time you received an offer for a Rolex, or a "warning - your mailbox has a virus" or a "get lots of porn for free" offer in your snail mail?

Re:Slow News Day

[LeonGeeste]

The Simpsons hadn't started airing during their lifetimes.

*someone mod this insightful*

Re:Frist

[lantenon]

I think the assumption that each of the 14,500 letters he sent was a response to one of the 16,200 he received might not be correct ;)

Just like the rest of us

[Nerdposeur]

In other news, historians have discovered that both Einstein and Darwin favored the Non-simultaneous Leg Insertion method for putting on their pants - much like you and I.

Weird...

[DJCater]

Study suggests modern e-mail habits similar to older, letter-writing ones

It's almost as if modern e-mail was created as an electronic replacement to mail!

Re:Spam?

[Anonymous Coward]

Why doesn't everybody use the neutral Underrated then? One Funny and the rest Underrated gives a nice +5, Funny and karma.

Re:What a surprise

[ucblockhead]

Not to mention that both men likely had personal secretaries to do the sorting for them.

That is the most intelligent way to approach any problem. Get someone else to do it.

Re:What a surprise

[networkBoy]

-1 nitpick, but:
Tesla belongs in the first group. His harnessing of alternating current was not only revolutionary, it was counter to the approved scientific "Fact" that it was impossible to do.
-nB

Re:besides that

[Da Fokka]

Thank you for making me realise the pleasure of not being circumsised!