And the Debate Continues ..

It has been 400 years since Galileo observed the sky with the telescope, and since that time, the way people look at the sky shifted. In the case: which one is accepted as true in scientific notion, is it Heliocentric or Geocentric? But i will not write about the historical review of Helio-Geocentric, nor Galileo. Nonetheless, after 400 years, the debate about helio-geocentric still ensues, at least in Indonesia.

In 2007 i wrote a popular articles about which one is true based on astronomy finding (written in Indonesia), To my surprise, that article incite a never ending debate about geocentric & heliocentric. There are numerous argument flying around, but from what i have learnt, the case against the heliocentric (or pro geocentric) mostly stemmed from the lack of basic understanding of science. Disregard that both helio or geocentric can be accepted because to some degree both are explainable, and science cannot claim absolute knowledge, science is always open to falsification. So the case is not pro or against one or the other, but to give the proper understanding about the phenomenon.

As for Galileo, his endeavor to uncover the knowledge, is like the astronomers from the ancient time up to the recent, always try to unveil the universe in the scientific understanding, so it is always open to debate, because while they uncover some new knowledge, another mystery wait to be answered. Long ago human perceived that the Earth is the center to the universe, but they have to move the center to the Sun. But , we learn that there is no center of the universe, as the Sun also moves to the center of the Milkyway Galaxy, and that our galaxy is merely one from many many galaxies in the universe, and so on and so on. Well, that is the legacy of astronomy, to unveil the mystery of the universe that we know (and not fully understand yet). One can argue about one thing compared to another, and the debate continues ..

But, wait! Am i discussing about the debate of helio-geocentric? well yes, because on Feb 15th is the Galileo’s birthday, but there are other debatable issues that i found interesting to write.

The first one is .. The Derby della Madonnina! What? What is that? Yes, the Milan Derby! That is a football match between the Italian clubs AC Milan and Inter Milan. Previous night (in my local time), i watched live match the grande-partita between the two teams, and that was the 270th match. Because of the match played on 2 AM in my local time, so i have to stay awake, to watch it. Maybe not everyone will agree that football is the most interesting sports on the earth, but for me, that would be the case.

If something to debate from that clash, that was the controversial Adriano goal helped Serie Inter Milan to a 2-1 victory over AC Milan which all but ended the Rossoneri’s title hopes. Will it? The controversy, the first goal of Inter was obviously a handball, but still counted. The lucky handball of Adriano might gave Inter a win, so Inter stole three points, but will Inter end this season as the champion? (See this incident from youtube)

With a huge points gap, it seems all hopes faded to all the competitors (eleven points with AC Milan) & nine points to Juventus. Mathematically, the favor will go to Inter as the winner, but the season still a long way, as Inter & Juventus have to fight in the Champion League (Inter vs Machester United & Chelsea vs Juventus) next week! Surely there will be lot of pressures for them, compared to AC Milan, who will face Werder Bremen this week on UEFA cup. So the tension rising among them, most the time the math does not work on sports! I am not one of those big three fan, but i always like a good sport, the more tensions, the more i like! So, who will win the Lega Calcio (Italian League)? So the debate continues ..

And for another debate, now this is the most heated debate from my homeland! There is nine years boy, just an ordinary boy, like any other boy in the rural area of Indonesia. His name is Mohammad Ponari. Not so a month a go, Ponari was hit by lightning (literally), but surprise surprise, the boy survived, unharmed! To add to more amazement to his survival, he return home with a stone the size of egg, and claim that he possessed healing powers. Is the power is true? Ask the peoples that already visited him, since he ‘found’ the stone, thousands people have visited his house every day to seek cures for various ailments. Even the queuing of the people already took lives, they did not care, because they want to cure whatever their ailment is.

Is it a miracle? Is it true that the boy has the power of healing? Why do the people so eager to go for healing from Ponari? Maybe this article could give good description about Ponari. Maybe the boy have been blessed with a gift for healing, and the people believed in him because of they want to believe in him. But for me, this substantiate a deeper ‘problem’, if this is something debateable. Why do the people still so eager to have the healing from Ponari until this day? Maybe because they also wants to be healed by a miraculous recovery? (Well, most people in Indonesian are religious)? Or because of they prefer the alternative method of healing instead go to the medical center, because the medical center usualy so expensive for most people? Or maybe because of the bad medical service from many medical center? (There are numerous reports on malpractice in Indonesia). Whatever that is, i hope that no one will exploit Ponari. Ponari still a young boy, who still wants go to school, playing with his friends, and do anything like any other child on his age. And the debate continues ..

All in all, what i have learnt that is: we can debate about anything, agree or disagree, like which one, helio-geo, both have the reasons, who will win the Lega Calcio? The winner always defined by the final whistle. Does Ponari truly blessed by the lightning? (Maybe he should be the real ‘Flash – The Fastest Man Alive’)? Does Ponari possess the power of healing? We can argue, but we have to understand, million more than meet the eyes, as we observe how vast the mistery in our live & yours to discover can be comprehended from our daily live also.

Btw, happy birthday Mr. Galileo!