Quote:
Originally Posted by herr_oberst
Yeah like the flat earth society. Drill down deep enough and .... oh, wait. Science.
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I'll tell you a story.
A writer by the name of Washington Irving best known for fantastical fiction wrote a book about Columbus discovering the new world.
The grain of truth - Columbus had a disagreement about the ability to sale west to reach the existing desired trade in the far east.
The original contention, is that Columbus would not have the range to reach the far east by sailing west, which indeed, his ships and supplies did not.
Columbus, thought the earth was smaller than it was, and was wrong.
Irving, in his story, wanted Columbus to be right.
Irving, loved the rediculous.
Irving made a switch.
The disagreement was changed from the size of the earth to a disagreement about the shape of the earth.
This allowed Columbus to the brilliant hero of his story, and allowed Irving to make a lot of rediculous tales spun into his account.
Most people I encounter seem to believe Irving's fantasy tail that Columbus was contending that the earth wasn't flat.
So yes, grain of truth but distorted has resulted in a lot of flat earth falsehood.
So there, I've told you a story.
