What did they teach you in school , flat or round earth?

[imsaneru]

I just watched a vid where the guy says that he asked his 90 yr old mother if she thought the earth was round or flat , and she said it was flat , said she learnt that in school.

So I asked an 80 yr old friend of mine the same question , and she said it's flat too , and that that's what they taught her in school. She said if it was round we would fall off you idiot...lol

So I said well when I went to school they taught us the earth was round , and we were both left scratching our heads....
So if there is anyone here aged around 80 plus , what did they teach you in school , round or flat earth?

Please let's not make this another flat earth thread , there is enough here already.
I'm more interested in what we were taught at school , and at what point did they cease teaching flat earth to teaching round earth.

My daughter works in aged care and said she would help by asking her elderly customers. Looking forward to the results of that , should be interesting.

 

[St_Worm2]

Hello @imsaneru, I was NEVER taught that the Earth is flat, whether in school, in church, or in any book that I've read, and I'll be 68 in less than a month (Dv).

I remember being fascinated by the beautiful globe of the Earth in my father's den (a large, hand-painted heirloom), a place that I would head to often as a little boy (especially when someone told me something wondrous about a place that I'd never heard of before .. like Australia ).

As for school, there were globes in all of my history/social studies classrooms, and in some of my other classrooms too, and I remember that many of the pull-down flat maps were drawn like a flattened globe.

God bless you!

--David
p.s. - here's a picture of part of the library at the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina. The Estate was finished, and George Vanderbilt and his family began living there near the end of the 19th Century. Take special note of the globe on the far side of the fireplace, which is very similar to the one that I used to be fascinated with as a little boy, actually. This, of course, means that globes were quite common LONG before I was born.

 

[Lost4words]

Schools never taught that....

Only people who believe in a flat earth are ones that are easily led into internet lies, conspiracy theories and who massively misinterpret God's Word.

 

[imsaneru]

Hello @imsaneru, I was NEVER taught that the Earth is flat, whether in school, in church, or in any book that I've read, and I'll be 68 in less than a month (Dv).

I remember being fascinated by the beautiful globe of the Earth in my father's den (a large, hand-painted heirloom), a place that I would head to often as a little boy (especially when someone told me something wondrous about a place that I'd never heard of before .. like Australia ).

As for school, there were globes in all of my history/social studies classrooms, and in some of my other classrooms too, and I remember that many of the pull-down flat maps were drawn like a flattened globe.

God bless you!

--David
p.s. - here's a picture of part of the library at the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina. The Estate was finished, and George Vanderbilt and his family began living there near the end of the 19th Century. Take special note of the globe on the far side of the fireplace, which is very similar to the one that I used to be fascinated with as a little boy, actually. This, of course, means that globes were quite common LONG before I was born.

View attachment 352890​

Thanks for this interesting post and great pic too....Wow!
Btw I'm not a flat earther , just trying to figure out why one generation was taught flat earth and my generation round earth.

I did ask my 80 yr old friend why they taught her flat earth when they also had those globes around , she said the teacher said it was because they can move them around easier and can show everything about the earth much better on a round surface rather than a square or flat surface.

She doesn't have dementia as far as I know ..lol
Anyway for me it's an interesting subject and I hope to find out more. I only started this interest today after listening to that vid and then talking to my elderly friend.

I did manage so far to work something out. The guy in the vid is an Australian and he and his mother live in a different state to us , so the two women went to different schools , because I was thinking my friend might have been going to a strange school , or had a strange teacher.

 

[imsaneru]

Schools never taught that....

Well so far it seems they did here , i'm still looking into it , only just got interested in this today.

 

[trophy33]

Well so far it seems they did here , i'm still looking into it , only just got interested in this today.

It has been known that the Earth is a globe for centuries. If some school in the US taught its flat, 80 years ago, then it was a tragically low quality school.

 

[imsaneru]

It has been known that the Earth is a globe for centuries. If some school in the US taught its flat, 80 years ago, then it was a tragically low quality school.

If you know any elderly people it could be worth asking them. So far I only have two people in OZ saying this , hope to find out more later.

 

[Lost4words]

Well so far it seems they did here , i'm still looking into it , only just got interested in this today.

Nope. They got it wrong my friend...

 

[imsaneru]

Nope. They got it wrong my friend...

Yeah but what if it's right?
One way to find out , ask around , the elderly that is , those 80 and over.

 

[St_Worm2]

I did ask my 80 yr old friend why they taught her flat earth when they also had those globes around , she said the teacher said it was because they can move them around easier and can show everything about the earth much better on a round surface rather than a square or flat surface.

Actually, I always thought the opposite, that flat maps are easier to see in many ways than globes are, especially when they are the huge wall-mounted kind. What I liked about the globe is the perspective that it gave me of the world. Then again, I don't believe that the world is flat.

There is also the actor, turned temporary astronaut, William Shatner (he played Captain James Kirk in the original Star Trek series), who wrote a book called Boldly Go after heading off into space with Jeff Bezos in his Blue Origin rocket. Here is the title to chapter 4 of that book (BTW, it's definitely a very worthy read if you have the time ).

— CHAPTER 4 —
IT’S ROUND. I CHECKED.
​

~Shatner, William. Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder (p. 79). Atria Books. Kindle Edition.

p.s. - for what it’s worth, William Shatner is 93, and he was either 90 or 91 when he went into space, making him the oldest person (thus far) to do so.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

I just watched a vid where the guy says that he asked his 90 yr old mother if she thought the earth was round or flat , and she said it was flat , said she learnt that in school.

So I asked an 80 yr old friend of mine the same question , and she said it's flat too , and that that's what they taught her in school. She said if it was round we would fall off you idiot...lol

So I said well when I went to school they taught us the earth was round , and we were both left scratching our heads....
So if there is anyone here aged around 80 plus , what did they teach you in school , round or flat earth?

Please let's not make this another flat earth thread , there is enough here already.
I'm more interested in what we were taught at school , and at what point did they cease teaching flat earth to teaching round earth.

My daughter works in aged care and said she would help by asking her elderly customers. Looking forward to the results of that , should be interesting.

Seriously? I'm sure the 90 year old has a sense of humor. It wasn't taught then and is not taught now. Blessings!

 

[imsaneru]

Actually, I always thought the opposite, that flat maps are easier to see in many ways than globes are, especially when they are the huge wall-mounted kind. What I liked about the globe is the perspective that it gave me of the world. Then again, I don't believe that the world is flat.

View attachment 352897​

There is also the actor, turned temporary astronaut, William Shatner (he played Captain James Kirk in the original Star Trek series), who wrote a book called Boldly Go after heading off into space with Jeff Bezos in his Blue Origin rocket. Here is the title to chapter 4 of that book (BTW, it's definitely a very worthy read if you have the time ).

— CHAPTER 4 —
IT’S ROUND. I CHECKED.
​

~Shatner, William. Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder (p. 79). Atria Books. Kindle Edition.

p.s. - for what it’s worth, William Shatner is 93 today, and he was either 90 or 91 when he went into space, making him the oldest person (thus far) to do so.

Yeah she said they had those too , used to pull them down over the black board.

 

[imsaneru]

Seriously? I'm sure the 90 year old has a sense of humor. It wasn't taught then and is not taught now. Blessings!

Well we know it's not taught now , but how do you know it wasn't taught then ?
That's why we should be asking the elderly , because they say that flat earth was taught to them.

 

[keith99]

I'm 71.

We were taught that the Earth was a sphere, just like the other planets!

I do not recall any conversations with my parents, grandparents, uncle, aunt or great-grandparents that would imply that they were ever taught that the Earth was flat.

 

[imsaneru]

I'm 71.

We were taught that the Earth was a sphere, just like the other planets!

I do not recall any conversations with my parents, grandparents, uncle, aunt or great-grandparents that would imply that they were ever taught that the Earth was flat.

Thank you Keith because that is exactly what this thread is about.
My I ask if you actually asked them that question , whether or not they were taught that the earth was flat ?
Because i'm starting to wonder if this was just an Ozy thing.

 

[keith99]

Thank you Keith because that is exactly what this thread is about.
My I ask if you actually asked them that question , whether or not they were taught that the earth was flat ?

No, I did not directly ask them that question.

There are however reasons why they would have mentioned it if they had been taught that the Earth was flat.

My father served as a machinist's mate in New Guinea in WW II. That straight out of High School. He spoke often of some aspects of that. If he had been taught that the Earth was flat he would most likely have seen it as a lie at that point and it would most likely have included that in his stories.

Mom was rather good at Math and Science. As in Phi Beta Kappa at UCLA as a Chem major. She was cut from the same cloth as her parents who first met in a math class in elementary school. If she had been taught that the Earth was flat at any point it would have been contradicted by HIgh School and likely mentioned at some point.

I had more than my share of teachers who knew less than I did about class subject matter, starting in elementary school. IF mom had been taught about a flat Earth that almost surely would have been mentioned in some of the discussions about my problems with poor teachers.

I think it is worth pointing out that the reason the question never directly came up is because it is so absurd in the context of a decent or even poor educational system. No one in the family would even consider the question outside of a site like this one.

 

[keith99]

Actually, I always thought the opposite, that flat maps are easier to see in many ways than globes are, especially when they are the huge wall-mounted kind. What I liked about the globe is the perspective that it gave me of the world. Then again, I don't believe that the world is flat.

View attachment 352897​

There is also the actor, turned temporary astronaut, William Shatner (he played Captain James Kirk in the original Star Trek series), who wrote a book called Boldly Go after heading off into space with Jeff Bezos in his Blue Origin rocket. Here is the title to chapter 4 of that book (BTW, it's definitely a very worthy read if you have the time ).

— CHAPTER 4 —
IT’S ROUND. I CHECKED.
​

~Shatner, William. Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder (p. 79). Atria Books. Kindle Edition.

p.s. - for what it’s worth, William Shatner is 93, and he was either 90 or 91 when he went into space, making him the oldest person (thus far) to do so.

This post reminded me of classrooms in the 60's and 70's. In the front there was always a chalkboard. Most of the time there were pulldown maps and charts.

Perhaps some students thought that meant the Earth was flat.

Thinking about classrooms leads to thinking about classes. When I was in school it was taught that Columbus was trying to find a shortcut to India. The foundation and echos of that are hard to deny. After all the native Americans were called Indians until very recently.

Implicit in the Columbus story is the claim that until Columbus at least the common man thought the Earth was flat, but now we know better.

 

[St_Worm2]

This post reminded me of classrooms in the 60's and 70's. In the front there was always a chalkboard. Most of the time there were pulldown maps and charts. Perhaps some students thought that meant the Earth was flat.

Hi Keith, I hope not, but you never know. The wild thing is that now, 55 or so years later (and after multiple men and women have seen it with their own eyes from various spacecraft that have orbited the planet, and now from a space station too), there are still some arguing that it's flat

Of course, if it wasn't for topics like this, I'd probably never have a good reason to use all of these fun emojis (I do think that CF is clearly and desperately in need of a "beating a dead horse" emoji, as well, don't you ).

Thinking about classrooms leads to thinking about classes. When I was in school it was taught that Columbus was trying to find a shortcut to India. The foundation and echos of that are hard to deny. After all the native Americans were called Indians until very recently.

Implicit in the Columbus story is the claim that until Columbus at least the common man thought the Earth was flat, but now we know better.

I remember that too, as well many other things that were never true, or at least never happened (the most concerning of those perhaps being that the entire planet would be in a full-blown ice age again by 1990 if we didn't stop dumping carbon into our atmosphere immediately).

 

[ozso]

I'm a mere 62 years old. We were taught that everyone used to think the world was flat. That Columbus sailed around the world to prove it was round. And that Galileo and others not only proved the earth was round, but that it orbited the sun, whereas it was previously believed the sun and planets orbited the earth.

Globes of the Earth were being manufactured as early as the 15th century. Below is an image of the oldest surviving globe that was made around 1490. It's notable though that globes and maps back then were way off regarding the shape and locations of continents.

From: Erdapfel - Wikipedia

Older than that are armillary spheres that represented the rotation of planets and stars around the Earth. They date back to the 3rd century. The little ball in the center represents the Earth:

From: What in the World Is an Armillary Sphere?

 

[ozso]

From: Globes were all the rage in the 18th century