Phuz

So twice now I've been asked by passengers while I'm at work whether or not the Earth is actually flat.. Maybe its the new basic economy fares bringing a different crowd, but in both cases it was twenty-something year old men who appeared to have poor hygiene, none the less how would you explain to someone that the Earth is actually a sphere without laughing and calling them a moron? Keeping it professional of course =)

Best I came up with was pointing out that all the other planets, moons, and stars appear as circles if you look at them through telescopes. And the only way that works is if they are all spheres, because flat discs would be at all random angles and some would appear as flat lines. So if they are all spheres then why aren't we?

Anyway.. Nobody ever went over how to prove the Earth was round in ground school so curious if anyone else has a clever explanation? Has anyone else run in to the same question from pax?

SpeedyVagabond

Not much of a surpise. If they can convince themselves that the Earth is only six thousand years old or that adding CO2 to a closed system doesn't in fact explain the easily discerned changes which are taking place, then it's not much of a reach for them to look out the window and declare the Earth flat. I simply don't interact with such types. I just smile and say hello and move along.

GogglesPisano

You can't.

As The Vagabond alluded to, fully a third of this country believes a literal interpretation of the Bible (as in the Earth is 6000 years old and Adam and Eve were real.)

People would rather watch "Dancing with the Stars" than "Cosmos."

This is directly contributing to increased wealth inequality in this country as the scientifically educated are increasingly becoming the haves in the new knowledge economy while every else works in retail and fast food.

We are quickly becoming a scientifically illiterate nation. And apparently we're content with it.

Now, when is "Celebrity Chef" on?

pokey9554

Yeah, well then where did Xi throw the bottle?

LNL76

Wait, what?! The earth is round?

Bert Sampson

I blame the liberalization of marijuana laws for this.

WutFace

Try harder.

SpankysLadder

While in Hawaii, overheard a guy ask the tour guide if the Hawaiian Islands were anchored to the sea floor with a gigantic chain. The guy was dead serious. Can't make this stuff up. Reverse Darwinism at its best.

CBreezy

Yeah? Well Representative Hank Johnson, a member of the US Congress told an admiral this regarding Guam: "My fear is that the whole island will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize." And he was caught on VIDEO saying this.

qball

Don't you think maybe he was joking?