Is it satisfying?

So, I missed the last blog entry and I'm really sorry for that. I guess I knew what I wanted to say, but I didn't really feel like I knew how to address it. And that last question of class really threw me off, "Are you satisfied?" or "Is it satisfying?" however it was phrased. Mostly, I wasn't sure what to be satisfied about, but I've just had this clarifying moment while reading Galileo, that what you, Professor Bary, meant by the question was, "Is knowing the big picture satisfying?"

Yes, it's immensely satisfying, thank you for asking. I guess it's satisfying in the way that a mind opening experience can be... and it's been very difficult, I guess, to get to said point in this affair, what with all the reading we've had to do (I'm not complaining, just pointing out the price you must pay to be really knowledgeable).

Now that we're all teary-eyed, let's address the prompt. I'm going to go with #2, the anti-church, anti-Galilean extremes, since it seems most relevant to the mind-opening theme of my blog. I guess I'm really pleased to have been briefed on the history of the church at the time as well as Galileo's relationship to it--which was, for the most part congenial up 'til the Inquisition, etc. That in itself was interesting to read about. I guess I never really thought about Galileo being Catholic or even Christian for that matter so to find out how adamant he was about his work yet how apologetic he was for being so quick with the punches really set a different tone to the idea of the "Galileo Affair."

I never knew there was an anti-Galilean position, much less that Koestler would be profess such a position, but I guess I'm not surprised, ha ha. It's interesting to see how Galileo would be perceived to be in the wrong. Combining Galileo's snarky attitude, his semi-false reasoning on certain arguments (the most important point), and what the world could be perceived to be (IE: people flying off the earth at the equator from sheer speed), it's not a surprise to me that some people did think he was totally off.

So yes. I'm satisfied. [emphatic thumbs up]