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Divide comments on Rationality quotes: March 2010 - Less Wrong
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But five hundred years ago ancient Greeks hadn't lived for centuries already.
They (Italians and other Europeans) still knew the Earth was round. Indeed, if you live near a sea port this is a very easy thing to figure out. The resistance Columbus faced was that everyone thought the world was much too big to get to the Indies in a reasonable period of time by sailing west. And of course everyone was right and Columbus had no idea what he was talking about.
Edit: And actually I'm pretty sure the authorities cerca 1492 were basing their beliefs about the size of the Earth on work done by the ancient Greeks.
note that it wasn't Europeans alone who 'knew' this by that time.
Right, I just didn't want to start listing cultures since I'm not sure who had this down and who didn't. Actually, I'd be surprised to learn of any seafaring cultures that hadn't figured this out. There is also the question of how much this information and trickled down to the non-educated person. In seems plausible some landlocked and illiterate European peasants might have believed the Earth to be flat.