History Repeats for Bloggers, Galileo was not allowed write that the earth went round the sun either
I got this email today about legislation to ban 'false information online' regarding websites and social media promoting the 'wrong' news. It appears to be currently passed in one American state at the moment /California/ but makes me wonder if a law like that can be accepted anywhere, then potentially everywhere is at risk.
Galileo: Was Not Allowed to Write Too!
He invented a telescope that proved the Earth went around the Sun, that did not pass the fact checkers of the day, it was considered false information, he was told never to write about it again or else. So the genius shut up. Who do you think lost out there the most?
It was an inconvenient fact for the people in charge in his day, the church, who believed the opposite was true, that the Sun orbited around the Earth. That was the official line, just like today we have new people in charge but the history is repeating.
Copernicus: He Knew 100 Years Earlier
So 100 years before Galileo PROVED the truth, others knew it already. Copernicus had been blogging about it in his own way 100 years before Galileo. If he were here today he would not be allowed blog anything against the official line whether it is true or false, even if it is of enormous benefit to humanity.
It is an eerie sort of history repeating itself!
Galileo Has The Last Word
On display in Florence, Italy, is Galileo's middle finger. Some people say it's pointing up to the Sun, as if to say 'it's where I said it was'. But others say, actually his raised middle finger is at the people who wouldn't let him write, now that he's been proved right!
Will History Repeat and Bloggers Be Silenced?
Anyone in the health niche will know the impact of not being allowed to disagree with the 'official' facts currently dominating the scene. And on a broader scale look at how journalists have been stifled over the years, are they trying to do that to all bloggers now too?
*The message I got in history class was 'history repeats if people are not aware of what happened in the past'.
So let's be aware, some would go so far to say 'let's choose our quantum reality', i.e. let's choose our version of how the future goes and not just sit back and be passively carried along by someone else's idea of how our collective future should pan out.
In any case, Galileo's finger had the last laugh ;)
Recent Comments
30
So, my silly question is why would they preserve Galileo’s middle finger in the first place? “This is Galileo flipping off the universe.”
Grant
...good question. I've heard it said that he insisted on it being displayed along with his inventions / legacy, however I don't know if that is just too good to be true lol! Yes, totally flipping off the powers that be in his era...but I'm not sure fingers were used that way in his time, ...we can dream!
I haven’t flipped anyone off since high school. I think it’s crude and juvenile. I just don’t do it.
I think we need to be talking about it loudly and to each other, they fear big numbers who are aware - the voters who decide if they stay in or not.
..it's a great question - get us thinking and brainstorming on that!
Great post this is a very informative post. I never knew that about Galileo and about his finger. I don't think that history will repeat itself in this case because we are building a business and that is something different than just blogging about other things. I think we will be fine. We have the 1st Amendment on our side. We are in good shape.
Mary
To put things correctly, Copernicus did not discover anything. He used 1700 years known knowledge, from 2 century BC. He spent a year at the Vatican and had access to the Library.
But in his handwriting of the famous book he crossed the name of the Aristarchus and the book was conveniently published as his own big discovery. I have the copy of the page which proves this.
I did not say Copernicus discovered anything, I actually said others knew and named him as one who had been blogging in his own way 100 years before Galileo proved it as a fact, maybe read it again correctly ;)
My point is he was just a thief. There is a proof for this, he stole somebody's 1700 years old knowledge and published as his own, so this is not about 100 years as you write. He does not deserve credit in your blog.
my blog remains accurate on the point, he knew it before it was officially proved, wherever he got the info - or let's put it in context here - people knew stuff hundreds of years before it was proved just like today people know stuff in the health world that has not been declared 'factual' because a placebo controlled double randomised multi-million dollar trial has not been carried out on those 'facts' yet
but you raise another interesting point that is relevant for bloggers today, copying and content theft, never a good thing!
It was "officially proved" by him, remember he was a cleric, but they did not burn him like Bruno. The time came when the facts had to be accepted, but he presented them as his own, this is the issue. And no, people did not know these things, this was hidden in the Vatican library as it is still there. This was the time after Dark Ages.
You praise the wrong person this is the point, and with this you are participating in what everybody else is doing, this is how they were teaching you in the school. Think about the forgotten genius Aristarchus, it costs nothing to credit the right person, but you are not willing to do so. Ask yourself why.
Love the essence of this post and fully agree with the thrust of what you are saying...
Just a small correction re "Galileo inventing the telescope"
The earliest existing record of a telescope was a 1608 patent submitted to the government in the Netherlands by Middelburg spectacle maker Hans Lippershey for a refracting telescope. The actual inventor is unknown but word of it spread through Europe. Galileo heard about it and, in 1609, built his own version, and made his telescopic observations of celestial objects. (sourced from Wikipedia)
But essentially everything else is correct and its good to bring it to peoples attention. I am living and working in China and this type of thing (control of what is printed, published and talked about on the news, written about on websites and social media) has been going on for years and unfortunately America is now following suit.
On May 1 of this year, China will begin a new program. It has developed a “social credit” score, based on things such as failing to pay parking tickets, spreading fake news, or otherwise causing trouble such as not towing the government line. Last year, in a beta test it stopped 6.15 million people from taking planes or trains because of bad 'social credit' scores.
So, what you have highlighted is just the beginning of a "new America" that is going to surprise and shock many who think such things will never happen in the USA. It has already begun!
Great article and thanks for bring this to our attention.
That's the second time someone has come along and misquoted me
Note: I said he invented "a" telescope, not "the" telescope, the difference between the indefinite and definite article is significatn
And yes he certainly had to do a DIY job on the one he used
That's worrying about China, that is the sort of thing needs to be heard, though I'd heard some countries could not access the internet. The senator behind that ban is Asian, coincidence? I'd expect he knows what is going on out there.
You must be a fan of the great Edmund Burke Mary!!
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
"Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it."
"Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little."
LOL! Thanks for the quotes! Love them!
I'm not actually a big reader but must have heard these without realizing who they were from. The first two are always on my mind, I must look up EB!! The third one is new to me but I love it!!! WOW!!!
There is nothing to worry about. Galileo was prohibited to write by the church, but 400 years later in 1992 he was rehabilitatede by the pop John Paul II.
History is repeating itself. Therefore bloggers will be rehabilitated within 400 years from now as well. Nothing to worry about.
Hellmut
lol, yes that is amazing about it taking till 1992 !
just 400 years to wait then!
but without some health niche people speaking out against some of the stuff that is happening to people and the planet there's more than a slight chance no one will be left in 400 years
I'll never see a telescope the same way again -- let alone THAT one!
All valid points and concerns --- part of why the whole "net neutrality" laws mattered.
I am an unapologetic cynic (reformed optimist = realist), but I tend to feel that science and those WHO WANT TO BE HEARD will prevail in the end against governmental thuggism and ignorance.
Nicely framed -- I really enjoyed this one. Thanx!
lol thanks Jason
so many people in here thought net neutrality was not important, but when I googled this piece of legislation I got the impression there was more to it, and a lot of moves or strategy in play on a bigger scale...
I guess we do evolve but with google and fb so powerful they can tank the rank of anyone not passing their 'fact checkers' if they so wish!
Good friends of mine have suffered on You Tube (esp. last April during the so-called "Adsense Apocalypse") when they lost advertisers suddenly on their content-driven channels and blogs, whereas cat videos and teens falling off skateboards remained firmly monetized.
Now we have a woman that allegedly shot up their HQ as a result of her becoming angered and down-trodden with the system. Why? Because of losing financial backing from YT suddenly, without warning or explanation.
I, too, took a hit last year with my blog (b4 WA), but I pulled through and won my appeal. Still, it's been a long road to get the traffic back up, which is part of the reason I came here.
Safety in numbers, it would seem... plus lots of smart folks to help me and others learn how to avoid the mistakes that get us burned by Google and its labyrinthine set of rules.
All part of moving onward and upward, with one hand typing, and one hand a fist held in the air (with, perhaps, a raised middle finger, like the G-man you spoke of)!
Cazart!
See more comments
Interesting. Something to think about.
Tried and true
Elaine