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I have no idea what the title "An Ancient Greek Philosopher Was Exiled for Claiming the Moon Was a Rock, Not a God" has to do with the detailed explanation in t
by VLM 7y ago
I have no idea what the title "An Ancient Greek Philosopher Was Exiled for Claiming the Moon Was a Rock, Not a God" has to do with the detailed explanation in the last three paragraphs of how he was exiled.
The misleading implication of the title seems to be the ancients were dumb for exiling someone who had a controversial scientific opinion; we'd certainly never do that now (LOL); the records and detailed explanation imply he was exiled simply for supporting the wrong politician.
Its exactly analogous to claiming James Watson was attacked because people didn't like the chemical bond structure of DNA.
- itp 7y agoThe article writes: > Anaxagoras was arrested, tried and sentenced to death, ostensibly for breaking impiety laws while promoting his ideas about the moon and sun. This provides the context to understand that while the title is true at a surface level, his claims around the moon likely served as pretext rather than true cause. You write: > Its exactly analogous to claiming James Watson was attacked because people didn't like the chemical bond structure of DNA. I disagree. An exact analogy would require that James Watson was actually attacked for his belief in the structure of DNA, which served as a pretext for the real claims against him. James Watson was attacked directly for his views on race.
- Nasrudith 7y agoIf they would throw away the thinkers and ideas over those things does it really make a difference if it was a pretext or actual fundamentalism? It still goes down as rejected heresy and the avenue halted. Also even though James Watson's racist ideas are pannes nobody questions the shape of DNA.