Re: "destabilizing core technologies: was Re: An RDF wishlist

Henry,

On 7/2/2010 7:11 AM, Henry Story wrote:
>
>    
<snip>
>> Well, I am not so sure that we need to "rewire the brain of millions of people." so much as we need to have our technologies adapt to them. Yes?
>>      
> When it was discovered that the earth was round, the brains of everyone on earth had to be rewired.
> Of course people only selectively did that. Those who believed it and understood the implications rewired the brains of just enough people so they could make fortunes, colonise whole continents and rule the world for centuries.
>
>    
Actually the "discovery" that the world was round, I assume you mean by 
Columbus, is a myth. It was well know that the earth was round long 
before then. The disagreement was about how large the earth was. As a 
matter of fact Columbus had seriously under estimated the distance to 
make the voyage.

Nor did he or any of the opponents to his voyage expect to discover a 
new continent.

The most accessible account on the myth about the world being flat is 
Umberto Eco's "Serendipities: Language and Lunacy." 1998 - See the 
chapter "The Force of Falsity".

Hope you are having a great day!

Patrick

-- 
Patrick Durusau
patrick@durusau.net
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Received on Friday, 2 July 2010 11:35:22 UTC