Now that I think about the farce of the laughable “classical” buildings that litter the tourist’s path in DC, I wonder how anyone can take the “historical” view on anything seriously.

One of the most absolute givens among historians is that people used to think the world was flat. I wonder if it’s true?

Our ancestors in general didn’t travel much, but I am sure that people who had time to study and name the stars probably noticed the horizon, too. If earth were flat it would look different to anyone who had an eye left.

The Bible does not say the earth is flat. It does refer to the heavens and the firmament being created, and if you want to, you can picture that as saying that the land is flat.

In fact, people who want to show how benighted everybody was never think of it any other way.

Egyptians calculated the circumference of the earth, but it is assumed that is because they were Negroid geniuses.

All the talk about sailors being afraid of falling off the edge of the world comes from writers making fun of them. I do not know if any sailor, even a retarded one, ever actually thought the world had an edge.

I would like to think I have not only outgrown a lot of that crap, but LEARNED something from outgrowing it. I remember they used to say that Columbus proved the world was round.

Actually the argument Columbus had with the thinkers of his day was one in which he was wrong. He had calculated the distance it would take to get to Asia going westward, and he calculated it as much closer than it was. No sane person argued that he would reach the end of the world.

Another total misconception I cannot even get people to NOTICE is about the wheel.

I point out that the wheel was not an early invention. In the comic strip B.C. they make jokes about it. Everyone understands the joke because “all the way back to the invention of the wheel” is supposed to be a term for all the way back before anything else was invented.

But when I mention this to people, they frown and say they never heard such a thing.

People not only do not learn from their most basic assumptions, they don’t even recognize them when they are mentioned.