Giordano Bruno, born Filiipo Bruno, in Naples, Italy, in 1548.
"Bruno was a brash, opinionated and a PR nightmare" to the church and their exitentialist views.
According to Wikipedia " Bruno was an Italian philosopher, poet, alchemist, astrologer, cosmological theorist, and esotericist.[1][2] He is known for his cosmological theories, which conceptually extended to include the then-novel Copernican model. He practiced Hermeticism and gave a mystical stance to exploring the universe. He proposed that the stars were distant suns surrounded by their own planets (exoplanets), and he raised the possibility that these planets might foster life of their own, a cosmological position known as cosmic pluralism. He also insisted that the universe is infinite and could have no center.
Let's just say 'Bruno was a rennaisance man, he was way ahead of his time and had diverse views that pissed off the church, whom eventually arrested him and later burnt him at the stake.
The legend says he was imprisoned and jailed for 7 years for his well documented trial.
Each and every year he was asked to denounce his beliefs publicly and they would have mercy on his soul.
'Bruno wanted no part of denouncing something he believed in so deeply, even as he was being burnt at the stake alive he was asked to repent, he refused to do so, figuratively speaking giving the church a middle finger.
Bruno was born maybe less than 5 miles from where i was born, I know of the San Domenico Maggiore in Naples, where he studied. A structure that is still standing today, in the historic center of Naples.
Bruno Filippo, changed his name to Giordano Bruno, at age 24. During his time in Naples, he became known for his skill with the art of memory and on one occasion traveled to Rome to demonstrate his mnemonic system before Pope Pius V and Cardinal Rebiba.
By the way, Galileo Galilei , came after Giordano Bruno, whom paved the way for Galileo in the future.
Bruno traveled and was at kings services in France, Germany, and England. He was widely known until his apprehension in Venice.
His trial was overseen by the Inquisitor Cardinal Bellarmine, who demanded a full recantation, which Bruno eventually refused. On 20 January 1600, Pope Clement VIII declared Bruno a heretic, and the Inquisition issued a sentence of death.
Bruno's accomplishments in his beliefs in the universe, and his work with the art of memory, a loosely organized group of mnemonic techniques and principles, and those principles can be used in handicapping as looking at horses requires a tremendous memory and ability to recall many experiences and situations when studying the past performances.
I have used my own attention to detail to come up with information on horses, as I have been accused of having the memory of an elephant. My conviction is from my positive experiences to make wise decisions.
Most handicappers make emotional decisions, they are emotional about jockeys, trainers. I tend to look at the horse and how they perform within a thin set of guidelines, not whether i like the trainer personally, or professionally, or whether I have had luck with that jockey, as one handicapper referred to Julian Leparoux as his 'kryptonite', another 'I never have had any luck at that track', its like being French and somebody yells 'the Germans are coming...' and you throw your hands up to surrender.
Handicappers emotionally burn themselves at the windows because they refuse to let go of their personal emotions torwards the participants.
You have owners who give horses to specific trainers solely on the basis of cashing a ticket on their horses, if I personally did that I would have horses with everyone with a license on the backstretch.
These people are smart people, but are yet handicapped because they handle everything emotionally, they lack critical thinking and most of all common sense.
Common sense isn't so common in handicapping.
I sat in the pressbox for many years in California and heard it daily, people, media, rooting against an owner or a trainer, even another handicapper and it constantly bit them in the arse.
Handicappers, or even as human beings, we have our beliefs, but trust me, it feels great, even though you may not be a fan of someone or somehorse, when you cash a bet on them.
If you can overcome your prejudice and judgements, you unlock a world where you can open your mind and achieve success at an unprecendent level, and you won't be burned at the stake for it.