Nokoni
Member
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2017
- Messages
- 697
In 1950 Velikovsky published Worlds in Collision. In it, he claimed that ancient myths told the stories of things that actually happened. That global catastrophes happened on earth in recent times. And that these things were witnessed and lived through (or very often not) by our ancestors. It was an amazing synthesis of knowledge from a wide variety of fields (especially when considered jointly with his subsequent Earth in Upheaval), and it instantly became a worldwide sensation and a major bestseller.
It directly challenged prevailing orthodoxy in many fields, and the leaders of these fields orchestrated a truly impressive destruction of both Velikovsky and his book. And they did so before the book was even published. Shortly after the book came out the publisher, Macmillan, which had a thriving textbook publishing portfolio, was forced to stop publishing it ("Our entire school will never buy another textbook from you" type of stuff), despite the fact that it was among the greatest publishing successes they'd ever had. Doubleday, which was not in the textbook business, and therefore not subject to academic extortion, then took over publication. (Dr. Irving Wolfe tells the story of Velikovsky's destruction here.)
Now here's Dr. C.J. Ransom, who claims, in this presentation, that basically all Velikovsky's major new ideas have now been accepted by the specialists in the various fields, while the name of Velikovsky remains anathema. (Note that his speaking skills are not great, but he makes his points well enough, and his academic background is pretty impressive.)
This is just how people are. Money, reputation, and especially fear of humiliation are huge motivators. So it is possible that some day all of Peat's ideas will be widely accepted while Peat himself remains anathema. I certainly hope that's not the case, and therefore that the thesis of my title is wrong. Very obviously he deserves tremendous credit. But when people are criticized and feel threatened, they can be truly vicious. (Which is probably not news to forum denizens anywhere on the internet
)
It directly challenged prevailing orthodoxy in many fields, and the leaders of these fields orchestrated a truly impressive destruction of both Velikovsky and his book. And they did so before the book was even published. Shortly after the book came out the publisher, Macmillan, which had a thriving textbook publishing portfolio, was forced to stop publishing it ("Our entire school will never buy another textbook from you" type of stuff), despite the fact that it was among the greatest publishing successes they'd ever had. Doubleday, which was not in the textbook business, and therefore not subject to academic extortion, then took over publication. (Dr. Irving Wolfe tells the story of Velikovsky's destruction here.)
Now here's Dr. C.J. Ransom, who claims, in this presentation, that basically all Velikovsky's major new ideas have now been accepted by the specialists in the various fields, while the name of Velikovsky remains anathema. (Note that his speaking skills are not great, but he makes his points well enough, and his academic background is pretty impressive.)
This is just how people are. Money, reputation, and especially fear of humiliation are huge motivators. So it is possible that some day all of Peat's ideas will be widely accepted while Peat himself remains anathema. I certainly hope that's not the case, and therefore that the thesis of my title is wrong. Very obviously he deserves tremendous credit. But when people are criticized and feel threatened, they can be truly vicious. (Which is probably not news to forum denizens anywhere on the internet
)
