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BillyOblivion comments on Rationality Quotes May 2012 - Less Wrong
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You mean then, or now?
Remember what happened to Larry Summers at Harvard when he merely asked the question?
Does the phrase "Denier" cause any mental associations that weren't there in the late 90s?
At least Copernicus was allowed to recant and live his declining years in (relative) peace.
Nicolaus Copernicus was never charged with heresy (let alone convicted). Moreover, he was a master of canon law, might have been a priest at one point, was urged to publish De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium by cardinals (who also offered to pay his expenses), and dedicated the work to Pope Paul III when he did get around to publishing it. Also, one of his students gave a lecture outlining the Copernican system to a crowd that included Pope Clement VII (for which he was rewarded with an expensive Greek Codex). Even had he lived two more decades, it is very unlikely he would ever have been charged with heresy.
And on that note the Galileo affair was an aberration—it'd be unwise to see it as exemplary of the Church's general attitude towards unorthodox science. The Church was like half Thomist for Christ's sake.
For instance, most instances of heresy were crushed successfully without them bearing fruit or gaining influence. (In some part because most incidences of heresy are actually false theories. Because most new ideas in general are wrong.) The Galileo incident was an epic failure of both religious meme enforcement and public relations. It hasn't happened often! Usually the little guy loses and nobody cares.
(The above generalises beyond "The Church" to heavy handed belief enforcement by human tribes in general.)
Right, but note I said unorthodox science. Heresy was crushed, but it wasn't common for scientific theories to be seen as heretical. Galileo just happened to publish his stuff when the Church was highly insecure because of all the Protestant shenanigans. Heretical religious or sociopolitical teachings, on the other hand, were quashed regularly.
Yes, and Summers has gone on to be a presidential adviser.