Friday, October 12, 2007

Columbus sailed the ocean blue...sideways


Columbus sailed ships like these. They were heavy, beamy, hard to maneuver and didn't move very fast, averaging around 4 knots (roughly 5 mph.) Due to their square sail rigs, they couldn't point to wind very well and they made a lot of leeway. The best these lumbering craft could manage in a stiff breeze was what we would now consider a beam reach, so basically Columbus crabbed his way sideways across the Atlantic.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's interesting, T, and a belated Happy Columbus Day to all. Thinking about his famous journey to America and the degradation and annihilation of the indigenous people makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

Anonymous said...

Nice nonlogic implied. Let's see if I understand the implication.

No Columbus voyage implies no degradation and annihilation. Then no founding of the journey implies no voyage. So no nationalistic pressures for trade with the "orient" implies no founding. Thus no spice or silk production implies no trade. Hence posts about tea in general should induce warm fuzzy feelings about degradation and annihilation.

Or we could go another way: Then Columbus non belief in a spherical earth implies no Columbus voyage. But wait, No Claudius Ptolemy implies Columbus non belief. And, no Greek society in Alexandria implies no Ptolemy. But no Alexander the Great implies no Greek society in Alexandria. Now consider if there was no Aristotle then Alexander the Great wouldn't have been great. But no Aristotle implies no knowledge of Plato. So any religious, ethical, or philosophical discussion should induces warm fuzzy feelings about degradation and annihilation.

So let's agree to leave the farcical behind and end with: lack of critical thinking implies ridiculous comments.

Anonymous said...

above | s/founding/funding

To correct the logical misspilling.

By the way, "reductio ad Hitlerum" or "argumentum ad nazium," both apply.