Thomas Kuhn talks about how hard it is to overcome previous paradigms. Newtons physics became a bit of their own and Einstein faced a lot of push back with relativity.
It's almost certainly fake, yes. And, even worse, it's not like people can't understand the cannonball thought experiment! Why not just show people how you can derive an axiom from observing things and thinking about first principles?
I think it's because people want to hear stories of divine inspiration. Religious fundamentalism will consistently tear down the likes of Newton, who carefully reasons for years on end while having access to centuries of deep thought in writing. That's not the way it works, they will say.
They have the alleged tree where it happened at Cambridge, where Newton was a student and professor, so some people believe the myth. But when he wrote about the theory of gravity, he never brought it up. Disconnect...
It's just like the story of George Washington and the cherry tree he owned up to cutting down when confronted. His biographer made that up. But it got taken for truth precisely because Washington was an honest and honorable man.
Jobs did Newton wrong by naming their failed PDA after him. Or perhaps the Newton was instrumental in handhelds to follow like that phone in your pocket
I think Jobs's naming convention may be good for this reason you cite, that the Newton was a very necessary step toward a more comprehensive model. It really was groundbreaking, and it helped to prove the concept if nothing else.
Precisely, and that's an excellent analogy. If you can find me one more example of where a fake fruit tree story added to a myth (besides the ultra-obvious Garden of Eden), I'll write something about this. It's too good to pass up!
I can't believe people are stupid enough to keep falling for the ridiculous claim that an apple fell on Newton's head. I mean, if you're a genius like me, you'll know it was a pear.
(Sidenote: Thank God Newton's "cannonball" mental exercise didn't come from such a direct personal experience.)
Thomas Kuhn talks about how hard it is to overcome previous paradigms. Newtons physics became a bit of their own and Einstein faced a lot of push back with relativity.
Certainly. Overthrowing Newton was really something!
He became a bit like Aristotle: worshipped instead of questioned. Ideas should ALWAYS be questioned and never worshipped.
The apple story is the only thing most people know about Newton, and it's fake?
It's almost certainly fake, yes. And, even worse, it's not like people can't understand the cannonball thought experiment! Why not just show people how you can derive an axiom from observing things and thinking about first principles?
I think it's because people want to hear stories of divine inspiration. Religious fundamentalism will consistently tear down the likes of Newton, who carefully reasons for years on end while having access to centuries of deep thought in writing. That's not the way it works, they will say.
They have the alleged tree where it happened at Cambridge, where Newton was a student and professor, so some people believe the myth. But when he wrote about the theory of gravity, he never brought it up. Disconnect...
It's just like the story of George Washington and the cherry tree he owned up to cutting down when confronted. His biographer made that up. But it got taken for truth precisely because Washington was an honest and honorable man.
Jobs did Newton wrong by naming their failed PDA after him. Or perhaps the Newton was instrumental in handhelds to follow like that phone in your pocket
I think Jobs's naming convention may be good for this reason you cite, that the Newton was a very necessary step toward a more comprehensive model. It really was groundbreaking, and it helped to prove the concept if nothing else.
Precisely, and that's an excellent analogy. If you can find me one more example of where a fake fruit tree story added to a myth (besides the ultra-obvious Garden of Eden), I'll write something about this. It's too good to pass up!
“Never let a good crisis go to waste” is my life's motto :)
This is the way. It's silly to be any other way, really.
Perhaps the story is to teach us that better things come from apples than cannonballs…
I can't believe people are stupid enough to keep falling for the ridiculous claim that an apple fell on Newton's head. I mean, if you're a genius like me, you'll know it was a pear.
(Sidenote: Thank God Newton's "cannonball" mental exercise didn't come from such a direct personal experience.)
Fortunately for the learned world, cannonball trees were very rare in England at the time.