Albert Einstein Copypasta

1999copypastaclassic

The Albert Einstein Copypasta is a fictional email-era story in which a religious student rebuts an atheist professor's argument that God must be evil, and is revealed in the last line to be a young Albert Einstein. Snopes traced early versions to 1999 chain emails and flagged the story as apocryphal, though it kept spreading through blogs, Facebook, and Reddit variants for two more decades.

copypasta memeshoax memesfake quote memesforum era memeschristian humor memes

Overview

The Albert Einstein Copypasta is a fictional dialogue in which a bright religious student rebuts a professor's argument that God must be evil, and is revealed in the final line to be a young Albert Einstein1. The exchange runs through three parallels. The student argues that cold does not exist (only the absence of heat), that darkness does not exist (only the absence of light), and therefore that evil does not exist (only the absence of God) before the twist ending names him2.

Snopes classified the story as apocryphal, pointing out that Einstein's real writings on religion were closer to agnostic than to the pious apologist the text portrays1. The copypasta kept circulating anyway, and its 'That young man's name was Albert Einstein' punchline outgrew the debate itself.

How It Spread

An early public web post landed on April 14, 2008, when the story went up on the yoga blog Sahaja Power under the title 'Evil Does Not Exist'2. A member of the Hyperacusis Network Forums reposted it in November 2009, and on April 14, 2012, Facebook user Cory Jones shared a variation that pulled in over 402,600 shares in the following three years; two days later, Redditor Waja_Wabit posted a screenshot to r/atheism where it hit 6,000+ upvotes and 690 comments3.

Parody versions soon overtook the sincere original. A 4chan riff from 2011 swapped Einstein for a 'liberal Muslim homosexual ACLU' professor teaching Karl Marx, Tumblr user Tossiblog reposted the parody that November for 3,600+ notes, and on October 21, 2013, Redditor i_forget_my_userids posted a /r/circlejerk joke revealing science communicator Carl Sagan to be Einstein. The absurdist form spiked on February 25, 2019, when an r/dankmemes post featuring Billie Eilish handing a young Elon Musk a roll of 'Air Conditioning Pair Coil' hit 73,400+ points, and Musk himself retweeted the image on May 16, 2019, drawing over 504,000 likes and 92,200 retweets3.

How to Use This Meme

The template typically opens with a mundane scene and short dialogue, includes a piece of insight or a gifted object, and closes with the twist line 'That young man was [famous person],' following the structure of the original Einstein story2. Common substitutes include Elon Musk and Carl Sagan, and the final reveal line is often quoted on its own in threads to mock hyperbolic tall tales3.

Frequently Asked Questions

Albert Einstein Copypasta

1999copypastaclassic

The Albert Einstein Copypasta is a fictional email-era story in which a religious student rebuts an atheist professor's argument that God must be evil, and is revealed in the last line to be a young Albert Einstein. Snopes traced early versions to 1999 chain emails and flagged the story as apocryphal, though it kept spreading through blogs, Facebook, and Reddit variants for two more decades.

copypasta memes hoax memes fake quote memes forum era memes christian humor memes

Overview

The Albert Einstein Copypasta is a fictional dialogue in which a bright religious student rebuts a professor's argument that God must be evil, and is revealed in the final line to be a young Albert Einstein1. The exchange runs through three parallels. The student argues that cold does not exist (only the absence of heat), that darkness does not exist (only the absence of light), and therefore that evil does not exist (only the absence of God) before the twist ending names him2.

Snopes classified the story as apocryphal, pointing out that Einstein's real writings on religion were closer to agnostic than to the pious apologist the text portrays1. The copypasta kept circulating anyway, and its 'That young man's name was Albert Einstein' punchline outgrew the debate itself.

How It Spread

An early public web post landed on April 14, 2008, when the story went up on the yoga blog Sahaja Power under the title 'Evil Does Not Exist'2. A member of the Hyperacusis Network Forums reposted it in November 2009, and on April 14, 2012, Facebook user Cory Jones shared a variation that pulled in over 402,600 shares in the following three years; two days later, Redditor Waja_Wabit posted a screenshot to r/atheism where it hit 6,000+ upvotes and 690 comments3.

Parody versions soon overtook the sincere original. A 4chan riff from 2011 swapped Einstein for a 'liberal Muslim homosexual ACLU' professor teaching Karl Marx, Tumblr user Tossiblog reposted the parody that November for 3,600+ notes, and on October 21, 2013, Redditor i_forget_my_userids posted a /r/circlejerk joke revealing science communicator Carl Sagan to be Einstein. The absurdist form spiked on February 25, 2019, when an r/dankmemes post featuring Billie Eilish handing a young Elon Musk a roll of 'Air Conditioning Pair Coil' hit 73,400+ points, and Musk himself retweeted the image on May 16, 2019, drawing over 504,000 likes and 92,200 retweets3.

How to Use This Meme

The template typically opens with a mundane scene and short dialogue, includes a piece of insight or a gifted object, and closes with the twist line 'That young man was [famous person],' following the structure of the original Einstein story2. Common substitutes include Elon Musk and Carl Sagan, and the final reveal line is often quoted on its own in threads to mock hyperbolic tall tales3.

Frequently Asked Questions