Fact is: The Earth is round.
It is only ever flat in fictional settings. Think Terry Pratchett's Discworld - just to use one example.
Nothing wrong with that. Everything goes in fiction!
And I am a massive fan of weird and wonderful worlds.
Do I believe they exist? Nope - not necessarily; especially if the world in question is a distortion of Earth as we know it. Give me a more believable version of a faraway galaxy, where things might just be very different, and I might be inclined to allow my mind to imagine, and indulge in the "what if" scenario.
It is only ever flat in fictional settings. Think Terry Pratchett's Discworld - just to use one example.
Nothing wrong with that. Everything goes in fiction!
And I am a massive fan of weird and wonderful worlds.
Do I believe they exist? Nope - not necessarily; especially if the world in question is a distortion of Earth as we know it. Give me a more believable version of a faraway galaxy, where things might just be very different, and I might be inclined to allow my mind to imagine, and indulge in the "what if" scenario.
A line needs to be drawn to take such "beliefs" - and that's what it is: unfounded beliefs, which defy all of our scientific knowledge. Remember Galileo Galilei? The Italian scientist, who claimed rightfully, that Earth was not the centre of our solar system? ...and almost paid with his life for his perceived "heresy."
Now - one could argue, that back in "those days" - we write the year 1615 and find ourselves well and truly in the dark ages - scientific methods were not advanced enough to prove beyond doubt, that Galilei's heliocentric version of our solar system was right.
Fast forward to present day: Mankind is travelling to space. The International Space Station (ISS) is NOT a myth. The Hubble Space Telescope is operating and sending images back to us.
Are there really people out there who believe that the Hubble space-telescope sends falsified, rounded images of a flat Earth? Oh no - wait - Hubble can't even take images of Earth, which aren't blurred.
Now - one could argue, that back in "those days" - we write the year 1615 and find ourselves well and truly in the dark ages - scientific methods were not advanced enough to prove beyond doubt, that Galilei's heliocentric version of our solar system was right.
Fast forward to present day: Mankind is travelling to space. The International Space Station (ISS) is NOT a myth. The Hubble Space Telescope is operating and sending images back to us.
Are there really people out there who believe that the Hubble space-telescope sends falsified, rounded images of a flat Earth? Oh no - wait - Hubble can't even take images of Earth, which aren't blurred.
What is good, great, and outright desirable in fiction is nothing but unfounded, dangerous, and often outright ignorant in real life.
There are too many deniers out there, who avert their eyes from the inconvenient truth. They aggressively, inconsiderately, and destructively argue the unwarranted toss out of scientifically proven facts like - the Earth is round, climate-change unfortunately exists, vaccines save lives, Earth is not ruled by strategically placed alien reptiles... and this is by no means a comprehensive list! Please feel free to add.
Image of Earth taken by the crew of Apollo 17 in 1972
Image by NASA; downloaded from National Geographic
There are too many deniers out there, who avert their eyes from the inconvenient truth. They aggressively, inconsiderately, and destructively argue the unwarranted toss out of scientifically proven facts like - the Earth is round, climate-change unfortunately exists, vaccines save lives, Earth is not ruled by strategically placed alien reptiles... and this is by no means a comprehensive list! Please feel free to add.
Image by NASA; downloaded from National Geographic
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