When people think of Albert Einstein, they often think of E=mc². Yet, one of his most profound contributions was something he initially rejected: quantum entanglement. In 1935, he and his co-authors described what seemed like an absurd paradox—particles influencing each other instantly across vast distances. Einstein dismissed it as “spooky action at a distance,” but decades later, experiments proved entanglement real, shaping fields like quantum computing and cryptography.
This reminds me that some ideas take time to be fully understood. What seems uncertain or even wrong today might later form the foundation for something transformative.
Entangled States, Legacy and Influence
I’ve been fortunate to discuss and develop some of my own ideas thanks to John Messing, a former Silicon Valley lawyer and crypto inventor, whose insights helped me see connections between law, technology, and governance. Equally, I’ve been inspired by the legacy of great thinkers and inventors—Da Vinci, Newton, Nobel, Marie Curie, and many others—whose work often gained true recognition long after their time.
A particularly meaningful example is Franz Kafka. His writings, largely unread during his lifetime, became legendary after his death, influencing generations of thinkers, writers, and philosophers. His story reminds us that the impact of an idea is not always immediate, but that does not mean it lacks value.
Back to Einstein and, from this TED-Ed talk below, as highlighted by John Messing to me last year, “when you think about Einstein and physics, E=mc^2 is probably the first thing that comes to mind. But one of his greatest contributions to the field actually came in the form of an odd philosophical footnote in a 1935 paper he co-wrote — which ended up being wrong. Chad Orzel details Einstein’s “EPR” paper and its insights on the strange phenomena of entangled states. Lesson by Chad Orzel, animation by Gunborg/Banyai”:-
The Shade of Trees We May Never Sit Under
A concept I deeply admire is the All Blacks’ philosophy of legacy—the idea that one’s role is not just to succeed in the present, but to leave something greater for the next generation. They talk about “planting trees whose shade you will never sit under.” That resonates with me.
If there is any real value in Ward’s Law, or in The Gav Ward Code, I hope it won’t be because my name is attached to them. I hope these ideas might be useful to people I will never meet, in ways I can’t yet imagine. If that happens, it won’t matter whether my name is remembered—it will matter that something good came from it. Your time is limited. You can’t connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking back. Take the path less travelled by. And that will make all the difference…
Einstein couldn’t have foreseen how entanglement would revolutionise technology. Kafka didn’t live to see his influence on literature. Ideas often take longer to find their place than their creators do. But they may be worth exploring if they can be useful to others, even decades from now.
