Many historians believe it is likely but not certain that he was gay.
He never married or publicly courted a lady, and he lived with his ‘best friend’ for much of his life. On the other hand, we have no private letters or diaries that support this, as we do for many other figures.
Correct me if I’m wrong but I think Newton had stated that his chastity was a result of him attempting to emulate his biggest role model – Jesus Christ. (Could’ve also been a safe excuse)
It would be cool as hell if he was actually gay though… I’ll just imagine he was :P
TheFogan@programming.dev
on 04 Oct 19:27
nextcollapse
Newton is so strongly the posterboy for how you can be brilliant in one area, and still so wrong in so many others. He spent about equal time looking at physics, alchemy and some bullshit da-vinchi code search for secrets in biblical numerology. Can you just imagine how much further he could have pushed physics and mathmatics if he hadn’t spent 2/3rds of his time chasing red herrings.
I mean the obvious thing is, I know I’m not capable of being that great, I do actually note how much better I could be at my expertise if I spent a bit more time studying it and less on meme’s… however it’s pretty clear I’m not anywhere near the running of pushing humanities understanding forward.
humorlessrepost@lemmy.world
on 04 Oct 23:48
nextcollapse
Same with Pythagoras.
He banned beans because he thought they contained souls, demanded his followers endure years of silence, and claimed to remember his past lives (including being a Trojan hero and a fish). His secretive brotherhood treated numbers like divine beings, and he supposedly lost his mind over the idea that the planets hum cosmic harmonies. He was a math genius, but also one philosophical fever dream away from starting a numerology space religion.
_stranger_@lemmy.world
on 05 Oct 00:12
nextcollapse
We could be living in the ruins of a greek-built Mons Olympus theme park on Mars itself, but no, BECAUSE beans smelled weird.
DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social
on 05 Oct 07:26
collapse
Pythagoras is generally considered to be pseudo-mythological these days. Take any claims about his direct actions with a large grain of salt, there’s little telling what he did and said compared to what his cult made up after he died.
Newton was evidently searching for meaning in the universe and God, and I don’t think it was a bullshit code search. The scientific establishment back then was extricably connected to Christianity, and esoterically with alchemy. It wasn’t the scientific establishment post-Victorian as we know it now.
The Victorians popularised Utilitarianism, which cut away those elements that otherwise Newton was a part of.
Bible studies! Starring an obsessive compulsive, petty, grudge-carrying narcissist who died a virgin and of old age!
Remember when baby bush was governor of Texas, and a woman on death row wrote asking for clemency, from supposedly “one born-again christian to another”, she had become a christian and wanted to remain in jail, helping other inmates.
Remember bush’s response, in front of reporters?
He mocked her, going - “Please don’t kill me! Please don’t kill me!” - in a shrill voice. And this asshole fancied himself as a devout christian.
That’s exactly the sort of posture Newton took as the head of the Royal Treasury or Royal Mint or whatever it’s called, a forger facing beheading or the gallows.
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world
on 04 Oct 23:22
collapse
Starring an obsessive compulsive, petty, grudge-carrying narcissist who died a virgin and of old age
threaded - newest
Actually it’s the other way round: mostly nigredo in alchemy, as it’s by far largest part, and in physics he literally invented the rainbow.
Huh, that’s a neater way to look at it!
He didn’t “invent” the rainbow. He stole it from God.
That’s intellectual property, copying is no theft when credit is given, and sure he did give all the due credit to God and them some more.
including “indigo”. Seriously? I am colourblind, even I know that’s bullshit.
.
<img alt="" src="https://mander.xyz/pictrs/image/643b591e-1a9e-4b71-b23e-e46d42d5d612.jpeg">
Totally understandable, just look at that god damn jaw 🥵
(Though he was most probably homophobic, judging from the times he lived in and the fact that he was a devout christian)
Those “christians” regularly flood the gay apps when in town I heard.
Many historians believe it is likely but not certain that he was gay.
He never married or publicly courted a lady, and he lived with his ‘best friend’ for much of his life. On the other hand, we have no private letters or diaries that support this, as we do for many other figures.
Correct me if I’m wrong but I think Newton had stated that his chastity was a result of him attempting to emulate his biggest role model – Jesus Christ. (Could’ve also been a safe excuse)
It would be cool as hell if he was actually gay though… I’ll just imagine he was :P
Baroque cycle is quite a book about that.
Well, there was that young Swiss mathematician that Newton really liked sending letters to after his “best friend” moved out (or did he die? idk).
And the whole thing about him being very devout but never becoming ordained also screams gay.
I want to believe
awww, they were roommates!
Newtons racesism 💀
Newton is so strongly the posterboy for how you can be brilliant in one area, and still so wrong in so many others. He spent about equal time looking at physics, alchemy and some bullshit da-vinchi code search for secrets in biblical numerology. Can you just imagine how much further he could have pushed physics and mathmatics if he hadn’t spent 2/3rds of his time chasing red herrings.
Imagine how further could you push physic and math if you hadn’t spend all your time chasing memes
I mean the obvious thing is, I know I’m not capable of being that great, I do actually note how much better I could be at my expertise if I spent a bit more time studying it and less on meme’s… however it’s pretty clear I’m not anywhere near the running of pushing humanities understanding forward.
Even art can push humanity forward. There is no excuses for anybody for being lazy
I think that if I really double down on my time spent studying memes I can make some real breakthroughs.
He also lost untold money in the stock market.
Same with Pythagoras.
He banned beans because he thought they contained souls, demanded his followers endure years of silence, and claimed to remember his past lives (including being a Trojan hero and a fish). His secretive brotherhood treated numbers like divine beings, and he supposedly lost his mind over the idea that the planets hum cosmic harmonies. He was a math genius, but also one philosophical fever dream away from starting a numerology space religion.
We could be living in the ruins of a greek-built Mons Olympus theme park on Mars itself, but no, BECAUSE beans smelled weird.
Pythagoras is generally considered to be pseudo-mythological these days. Take any claims about his direct actions with a large grain of salt, there’s little telling what he did and said compared to what his cult made up after he died.
Newton was evidently searching for meaning in the universe and God, and I don’t think it was a bullshit code search. The scientific establishment back then was extricably connected to Christianity, and esoterically with alchemy. It wasn’t the scientific establishment post-Victorian as we know it now.
The Victorians popularised Utilitarianism, which cut away those elements that otherwise Newton was a part of.
Bible studies! Starring an obsessive compulsive, petty, grudge-carrying narcissist who died a virgin and of old age!
Remember when baby bush was governor of Texas, and a woman on death row wrote asking for clemency, from supposedly “one born-again christian to another”, she had become a christian and wanted to remain in jail, helping other inmates.
Remember bush’s response, in front of reporters?
He mocked her, going - “Please don’t kill me! Please don’t kill me!” - in a shrill voice. And this asshole fancied himself as a devout christian.
That’s exactly the sort of posture Newton took as the head of the Royal Treasury or Royal Mint or whatever it’s called, a forger facing beheading or the gallows.
who, their god?