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Right, Galileo was sentenced to prison because the consensus about the solar system in the 1600's was geocentric. Just because the mob is with you doesn't make

by brink 5y ago

Right, Galileo was sentenced to prison because the consensus about the solar system in the 1600's was geocentric. Just because the mob is with you doesn't make you right.

dragonwriter 5y ago
> Galileo was sentenced to prison because the consensus about the solar system in the 1600's was geocentric Except that he wasn't sentenced to prison, and what he was sentenced to was not for that reason, either in the superficial sense (that wasn't the nominal offense) or the substantive one (that wasn't the thing that changed between the time when the same people wanted him punished where he wasn't and when he was.)
SquareWheel 5y ago
That was a view from the church which wasn't arrived at scientifically. Using it as a criticism of science thus seems unfounded. Besides, modern climate scientists are hardly a mob. They collate data and come to their own conclusions. Those conclusions happen to agree, indicating a very strong position.
wolverine876 5y ago
> Galileo was sentenced to prison because the consensus about the solar system in the 1600's was geocentric That was not the scientific consensus. > Just because the mob is with you doesn't make you right. Science is not a mob. What basis do you have, other than the mob with you?
malloryerik 5y ago
If I understand correctly he was given life imprisonment by the Church, not by other scientists vying for turf in the department.
tzs 5y ago
Galileo got in trouble for a combination of reasons. 1. His heliocentric theory wasn't noticeably better at explaining or predicting the motion of heavenly bodies than the geocentric theories such as the Ptolemaic system. Galileo, like the Church, believed in a universe that was intelligently designed by an all-powerful God, and he believed that the laws of physics that such a God would choose would be mathematically beautiful and elegant. If observation did not match beautiful and elegant rules, then he would dismiss the observation as error or optical illusion. The Church's position was that God made the universe, and if empirical evidence from observing the universe showed it clearly working in ways that didn't fit what the Church believed the Bible said the mistake must be in the Church's interpretation of the Bible. 2. He had a big ego. His genius brought him fame. He became a celebrity who was regularly invited to hang out with the rich and famous and powerful. His big ego really loved that. 3. He was an asshole. He was rude and intolerant to those he saw as rivals or that he saw as his inferiors (which due to his big ego included pretty much everyone). 4. He had a poor sense of politics. He failed to realize that some of those rivals or inferiors that he was a major asshole towards either had way more political power than he did or they had good connections to such people, and that they could wield that power to make his life miserable if he kept being a major asshole to them.

by brink 5y ago

Right, Galileo was sentenced to prison because the consensus about the solar system in the 1600's was geocentric. Just because the mob is with you doesn't make you right.

dragonwriter 5y ago

> Galileo was sentenced to prison because the consensus about the solar system in the 1600's was geocentric Except that he wasn't sentenced to prison, and what he was sentenced to was not for that reason, either in the superficial sense (that wasn't the nominal offense) or the substantive one (that wasn't the thing that changed between the time when the same people wanted him punished where he wasn't and when he was.)

SquareWheel 5y ago

That was a view from the church which wasn't arrived at scientifically. Using it as a criticism of science thus seems unfounded. Besides, modern climate scientists are hardly a mob. They collate data and come to their own conclusions. Those conclusions happen to agree, indicating a very strong position.

wolverine876 5y ago

> Galileo was sentenced to prison because the consensus about the solar system in the 1600's was geocentric That was not the scientific consensus. > Just because the mob is with you doesn't make you right. Science is not a mob. What basis do you have, other than the mob with you?

malloryerik 5y ago

If I understand correctly he was given life imprisonment by the Church, not by other scientists vying for turf in the department.

tzs 5y ago

Galileo got in trouble for a combination of reasons. 1. His heliocentric theory wasn't noticeably better at explaining or predicting the motion of heavenly bodies than the geocentric theories such as the Ptolemaic system. Galileo, like the Church, believed in a universe that was intelligently designed by an all-powerful God, and he believed that the laws of physics that such a God would choose would be mathematically beautiful and elegant. If observation did not match beautiful and elegant rules, then he would dismiss the observation as error or optical illusion. The Church's position was that God made the universe, and if empirical evidence from observing the universe showed it clearly working in ways that didn't fit what the Church believed the Bible said the mistake must be in the Church's interpretation of the Bible. 2. He had a big ego. His genius brought him fame. He became a celebrity who was regularly invited to hang out with the rich and famous and powerful. His big ego really loved that. 3. He was an asshole. He was rude and intolerant to those he saw as rivals or that he saw as his inferiors (which due to his big ego included pretty much everyone). 4. He had a poor sense of politics. He failed to realize that some of those rivals or inferiors that he was a major asshole towards either had way more political power than he did or they had good connections to such people, and that they could wield that power to make his life miserable if he kept being a major asshole to them.