Original artwork, not a still
Broca's Brain · 1979
The fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
It is a one-line reply to the crank's favourite defence. Plenty of true ideas were ridiculed, Sagan says, but ridicule alone proves nothing, because plenty of nonsense gets laughed at too. The clown makes the logic stick, and it is why the line is quoted any time someone cites persecution as evidence for a theory. It is the blunt version of Sagan's usual demand for evidence.
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In context
Spoilers for Broca's BrainShow the scene
The passage comes from Carl Sagan's essay collection Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science (1979), in chapter 5, "Night Walkers and Mystery Mongers: Sense and Nonsense at the End of Science". Sagan was answering a stock defence of fringe claims: that people mocked Columbus, Fulton and the Wright brothers, so being mocked means you are probably a genius too. He grants the history, then closes the list with a clown, Bozo, who was also laughed at, and nobody remembers him as a visionary.
Sources (2)
- Wikiquote: Carl SaganBroca's Brain (1979) section, Chapter 5 (p. 75)Reference checked
- Wikipedia: Galileo gambitPassage on SaganReference checked
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