Just Because You Can Do Something, Doesn't Mean You Should

What?! So this group of scientists want to exhume Galileo’s body so they can do DNA tests on him and determine how blind he actually was? The idea is, if they know how bad his eyesight was, they would be able to make adjustments to their equipment and see exactly what he saw.

Okay. Let’s take this one step at a time.

First, why does it matter how well he could see? He laid the foundation for modern astronomy by breaking the news to the world that the Earth moved around the Sun, and not the other way around. He was actually even tried for Heresy because of that. (Apparently, Earth not being the center of the universe is offensive to God?)

But listen, he used a 20X telescope. Come on. That’s like using the cardboard tube from your Christmas wrapping paper, it’s so weak. I have a stronger telescope myself. So who cares? Plus, they have his illustrations to show what he saw.

But more importantly, they want to exhume his body. Come on. Leave a guy in peace, willya? It’s not like we need his DNA to determine who is the rightful heir to the throne of England. Not like we need DNA to determine whether someone was wrongfully accused of a crime. Not like we need DNA to determine if his descendants are likely to inherit some physical condition.

No. Let’s just dig him up for shiz and giggles. To see how bad his eyesight was. That’s wrong.

Besides, if you were going to dig anybody up to see what was wrong with their eyes, you’d think you’d want to dig up Picasso.