Archive for May 13th, 2021

We were wrong

Here’s a quote, attributed to Carl Sagan (1934-1996), that seems apt today:

In science it often happens that scientists say, ‘You know that’s a really good argument; my position is mistaken,’ and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn’t happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion.

I feel obliged to point out one counterexample: In 1992, Pope John Paul II officially declared that Galileo was right, that the earth indeed moves around the sun and not vice versa. A reversal that took only 359 years.

Image by Reimund Bertrams from Pixabay

I’m looking for a counterexample in politics. Any ideas?