View from the Center and Left Message Board

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Politics : View from the Center and Left

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To: TimF who wrote (23518)	7/10/2006 12:45:44 PM
From: thames_sider	Read Replies (1) of 541391

Pythagoras, Plato and Aristotle thought the earth was a sphere. That was under the ancient Greeks - and I agree, in many ways they were significantly more advanced than mediaeval Europeans. I'd suspect, also, that Arab and Chinese astronomers of the period knew (had deduced) that the Earth was a sphere. However my argument was sadly Euro-centric, in terms of the belief of the Christian body of Europe: and there, I understand the "educated" view was that the Earth was a circular disk probably with the Garden of Eden (or possibly Jerusalem) at the centre... or at least, that was what people were supposed to believe. Again, my comment on flat earthers was an analogy to do with their previous position as holding the common opinion and its gradual replacement by greater and ever-more-incontrovertible fact, and the stubbornness with which people denied evidenced science because it went against what they wanted to believe. I could equally have used the rotation of the Earth about the sun, but didn't want to introduce religious overtones. But overall, it's an analogy. Don't waste your time pushing and trying to deconstruct it.

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