MovieChat Forums > 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992) Discussion > Colombus was a brave moron.

Colombus was a brave moron.

posted 15 years ago by !!!deleted!!! (6787154)
13 replies | jump to latest

It still baffles me that Columbus Day is discovered. Might as well celebrate Pizarro and Vazquez. They made greater changes than he did.

But with the movie aside you have to consider that the majority of their education at the time concerning Georgraphy was definitely not the same as we know it now. relying on Astronomy for measurements is already pretty damn impressive. It's as if you teach a kid Calculus before he even learns how to write. Columbus seemed to have no confidence in himself (in his readings and what some historians have figured out) and for him it was rather a time to try to make something happen before it is too late. Obviously Europe was transitioning from the 30 years War to the idea of a state and a nation and finally evolving in to the renaissance Era. If it wasn't for Columbus's relations with the spanish army he would have still traveled either way. But probably wouldn't have made it.
I'ts more of who you know that gives you the power to do what you dream of.
Obviously everyone has learned that by now and i sure as hell haven't read any news lately regarding obsessed individuals who wish to go to the moon or the skies because their dad told him to just because they dream that it is a place to live.
Oh wait it did happen.

[–] Chainring 15 years ago

All Columbus had to do was sail West and eventually he'd hit something. He would have to be pretty far off to entirely miss North or South America.

[–] rusher-5 14 years ago

Yeah, in 2256 some guy on a space colony will say the same about some bloke who discovered it i.e. you just had to take a space ship and go in some direction, would find a suitable planet or intelligent life...

The fact is, even if he believed the Eart is round, he couldn't know what to expect and how long his voyage will take just as we don't know what really awaits us in space... He didn't know there were South or North America, he didn't know how big the planet really is and how long he has to sail, he didn't know if there aren't giant sea monsters or Pope's Devil won't crawl up his ass in a shape of a giant crab and rape him and drag down to hell because of his sins... and force to eternally suck his co**...

[–] Prismark10 14 years ago

Well he went off looking for India and ended up somewhere else that he thought was India.

Its that man again!!

[–] Smokey_T 8 years ago

Bravo.

[–] dotdashdash 10 years ago

The point is not that he hit America after sailing westwards. That was indeed hard to miss. The point was that he set sail in the first place. His idea was to cross an ocean that his contemporaries would never have thought of crossing, without having any factual basis of how long it would take. This does require a certain degree of bravery, I would say.

[–] howard_w13 9 years ago

The point is not that he hit America after sailing westwards. That was indeed hard to miss. The point was that he set sail in the first place. His idea was to cross an ocean that his contemporaries would never have thought of crossing, without having any factual basis of how long it would take. This does require a certain degree of bravery, I would say.

^^^ THIS.

Columbus dared to do what no one even thought of trying; he literally ventured into the unknown. Right or wrong for his assessment; he should be recognized it.

It wasn't until he came back with valuables that the conquistadors and others with selfish motives wanted to travel back to the "New World" to see what they could plunder for themselves. Columbus should NOT be held accountable for their actions.

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The movie has a plot hole?!?
EVERY FRIGGIN' MOVIE HAS A FRIGGIN' PLOT HOLE!!!!!

[–] saikano 8 years ago

People did know how big the circumference of the earth was.
Eratosthenes (276 - 194 BC) already made a surprisingly accurate measurement of the circumference.

That means they had a factual basis how long the journey to India would take.
That's the reason why his contemporaries didn't think of crossing the ocean.
They did know that the journey was impossible with the technology of the time.
And they were completely right.

Columbus was a firm believer in earth size ideas of Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli.
He believed that the Math of one guy. Was better than all the Math of centuries of cosmological research. He never even inquired why most researchers thought Toscanellis Math was off. He really reminds me of all those Narcissistic people, that latch themselves onto a crank thesis and can never be convinced/proven wrong (because that would prove they made an error).

He was convinced that the journey would be no problem because he was right and India wasn't that far away.

Did that entail some bravery. Yes but it's a fools bravery fueled by the knowledge that he can't be wrong. He just got lucky because there was some land between Europa and India.

[–] dotdashdash 8 years ago

That is all true, but beside the point. The point made here is that Columbus showed extraordinary bravery in setting sail for a journey into the unknown that noone before him ever made (for whatever reason). All that talk about "Anybody could have done it and would have hit America going westward" is missing one crucial thing: There's a big difference between Someone could have done it (in the hypothetical!) and Someone actually did it. That is the entire bottom line of the famous anecdote about the egg of Columbus, which, even though it may be apocryphal, conveys a true message.

[–] CZJFan87 10 years ago

He was a moron, he treated with violence the natives. He was a murderer and for that he was imprisoned in Spain by Queen Isabella I of Castile after his voyages.

[–] michaelohman 10 years ago

Like that was the reason and she cared for the indigenous people on another continent!

[–] dotdashdash 9 years ago

The words "moron" and "murderer" are not synonymous. That's why it baffles me to conclude from his treatment of the natives that he must have been a "moron".

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] J-Street1 8 years ago

I believe no one can argue that he was a smart guy. He was extremely brave and persistent. He believed deeply in his mission and was able to make his theory an incredibly successful reality. He was always learning and eager to learn new information, which is the only reason he made it across the Atlantic.

Obviously, he was also an amazing organizer, motivator, and speaker to state his case to a queen to gain funds to make his trip possible. His story is inspirational.

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