"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."
What were the names of those geographers?
Well, among them, Amerigo Vespucci, another Italian working for the Spanish crown. Contemporary of Columbus, traveling at the same time as Columbus later voyages. He's the one that first identified, or at least popularized, that the lands Columbus was still insisting were the East Indies were a "New World". Has a couple continents named after him.
>>Columbus wasn't right, he was lucky.
If Columbus had estimated it right, the sheer magnitude of task would have overwhelmed him from even trying.
Getting into the game even by foolishness increased his chances of getting lucky by huge margin compared to the sailor who was sitting back at home in Spain.
Sometimes you need to be the bozo the clown to be the best entertainer in the world.
I don't really care about the ideas, it's just frustrating to be laughed at every time to want to try something new. There's always something dismissive, some jealousy, some surprised inability to be humble while facing something strange or new.