Everybody thinks they're Galileo
Everybody thinks they're Galileo
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My favorite example is that some dude predicted that cities will swim in horse shit in the future. Than cars were invented and horses in cities are a rarity. All the people you talk about got it right because you never talk about those who got it wrong selectionbias
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"Survivor bias" also applies here.
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Every conversation with Bitcoin cranks: "People doubted the internet!!!" A few weirdos did, but most were on-board for obvious reasons. Meanwhile most tech predictions were pessimistic and correct because most tech advancements do not become a whole new god-damn economy unto themselves.
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Tbf, we should still be laughing at Columbus. He didn't prove the Earth was round, we knew that already. He died believing he had "discovered" India. That and he was a racist, baby killing, monster that inflicted such barbaric actions towards the Native Americans that even members of his own crew were like "Whoa there. They might be godless savages, but this is really fucked up. What the fuck is wrong with you?"
He wanted to prove that earth is small enough to sail around it and he that he discovered a path to "India" to his death
To his defense, what you describe was pretty much the rule back then before the 1700, for "nobles" I mean.
Columbus was wrong. He thought the diameter of the earth was much smaller that the common estimate at the time which turned out close to the actual value.