by Dan Hodges
The world is round. It’s a shame, I know. Personally, I’d love a flat world. Think of the excitement of being able to go on “Edge of the World” tours. Sneak up to the boundary; take a peak into infinity.
But alas, it’s not to be. We’re just so mundane. Too damn spherical.
Once upon a time, people thought the world was flat. It had to be. What else could it be? Then, all of a sudden, everyone knew the earth was round. Of course it was. How could anyone have ever though otherwise.
But in between there must have been a transition period. A time when views gradually shifted:
“I was chatting to my mate Ampelius the other day. About this round world stuff”.
“Yeah”?
“Yep. You know what? I think there may be something in it”.
“Get away…”.
And then there would have been the hold outs. The diehards who clung to the earth in all its glorious flatness right till the very end: “I don’t care what they say. It’s flat, and that’s all there is to it”.
What happened to those people? The “circumference deniers”. Were they mocked? Oppressed? Or did they just fade away?
I’ll tell you what they did. They upped sticks and joined the Labour party.
