The Flat-Earthers Annual Cruise Turns Tragic
Judge not lest ye be judged. We've heard this phrase a time or two, usually when we've got a bad case of "whiskey mouth," and there's something to be said for not taking our judgments too seriously.
To wit: We think "When Harry Met Sally" is one of the top-five films of all-time. We think people come down a little too hard on John Mayer. Hell, we think Gov. Bredesen acquits himself well in that weird little duet with Dolly Parton that keeps popping up on the local TV stations.
Thoughts like these may lead some to believe we're nuts. And maybe they've got a point. But our little piccadiloes ain't nuthin' compared to the beliefs of one Tennessean...
A day after the anniversary of Columbus' Spanish departure, the BBC reports on the existence of a few remaining flat-earthers. People who don't believe the world is round. And wouldn't you know it, one of them is from the Volunteer state!
John Davis, a 25-year-old computer scientist, is quoted as saying he believes the Earth is horizontally infinite and "at least 9,000 kilometers deep." Mr. Davis then goes on to say that people are prejudiced against flat-earthers like him. To which we respond: LOOK AT WHAT YOU JUST SAID.
The article itself is pretty fascinating, if for no other reason than discovering what flat-earthers call the rest of us ("globuralists," naturally). And if you read closely, you just might find reason not to fear for the state of a Tennessee public school education.
Turns out, Mr. Davis is originally from Canada. Thank god for that, eh?
Comments
No such thing as a "remaining flat-earther." Flat-earthism is a fairly recent development, and was unknown at the time of Columbus.
Posted 08/04/2008 at 04:29:50 PMFlat-earthism is a fairly recent development, and was unknown at the time of Columbus.
Dang. Yet *another* thing I learned wrong in school.
Posted 08/04/2008 at 07:50:50 PMThe beef the Portuguese had w/ financing Colon's trip was that the crown's 'learned men' knew that the diameter of the earth was bigger than what Columbus proposed, so financing a trip into "Las Indias" via the open sea was akin to flushing your reales down the Duero. So Colon took his dog and caravel show into Castilla y Leon and conned my illustrious ancestors into paying up.
What Colon/Columbus/Colombo didn't take into account was running smack into The New World. And if it had not been there, all ships would have been lost, and the Portuguese would have totally pwned the Spaniards.
Posted 08/06/2008 at 12:47:57 PM