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

[imsaneru]

I'm a mere 62 years old. We were taught that everyone used to think the world was flat.

Thanks for contributing ozso but what i'm trying to find out is why were our parents generation taught that the earth was flat and yet our generation was taught that the earth was round.

What happened during that short space of time for the Gov to change it's view to now teach round earth.

 

[keith99]

Thanks for contributing ozso but what i'm trying to find out is why were our parents generation taught that the earth was flat and yet our generation was taught that the earth was round.

What happened during that short space of time for the Gov to change it's view to now teach round earth.

Perhaps it is because a flat Earth was not taught in public schools since Europeans made it to America or Oz!

If it was taught it should not be that difficult to find an old text book that teaches it.

EDIT:
I was not that hard to find a text that teaches a spherical Earth. Not sure when it was published, but it does show that the Author died in 1890. One only needs to get as far as the table of contents where there are chapters on the North and South Hemispheres.

First Lessons in Geography by James Monteith

Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by volunteers.

www.gutenberg.org

 

[ozso]

Thanks for contributing ozso but what i'm trying to find out is why were our parents generation taught that the earth was flat and yet our generation was taught that the earth was round.

What happened during that short space of time for the Gov to change it's view to now teach round earth.

I've shown evidence that children were taught the earth is round hundreds of years ago. My parents were born in 1922 and 1924. Now you go ahead and show evidence that kids from that era were taught the earth was flat. Not the anecdotal stories you posted, but rather actual evidence like school textbooks from the 1920s teaching the earth is flat.

Here's a picture of a classroom from 1902:

Globes, Photograph, School, Classroom, Art Nouveau Floor Globe, c. 1902 (Reserved) – George Glazer Gallery, Antiques

www.georgeglazer.com

Once again, a painting painted in the 18th century showing children being taught the earth is round:

 

[Larniavc]

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.

I asked my MIL who is 80+ she gave me a funny look and said ‘round of course’.

I can’t imagine anyone alive being taught in a real school that the Earth was flat.

 

[ozso]

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

Australia being called "the land down under" dates back to 1804. Kinda hard to have a land down under on a flat earth.

 

[imsaneru]

I asked my MIL who is 80+ she gave me a funny look and said ‘round of course’.

I can’t imagine anyone alive being taught in a real school that the Earth was flat.

My friend asked two of her other friends if they remembered the flat earth teaching and they both said yes.
The problem here is that all three ladies went to the same school.

My daughter does aged care and shes going to ask around , and if they say they were taught round earth , then i'm going to have to believe that my friend must of had a woke teacher or something.

But if the results are the same , then I will know that i'm on to something.
Btw...thanks for asking your MIL , was hoping people would do that.

 

[Tuur]

FWIW:

I was taught that the earth is round. My parents were taught the earth is round. My grandparents were taught the earth is round. Not knowing my great-grandparents, I can't say what they were taught but with two grandparents we're in the 19th Century. Columbus and his sailors knew the earth is round; early Christians knew the earth is round (and debated things like antipodal continents); none of this is surprising since it's easily observable.

 

[keith99]

My friend asked two of her other friends if they remembered the flat earth teaching and they both said yes.
The problem here is that all three ladies went to the same school.

My daughter does aged care and shes going to ask around , and if they say they were taught round earth , then i'm going to have to believe that my friend must of had a woke teacher or something.

But if the results are the same , then I will know that i'm on to something.
Btw...thanks for asking your MIL , was hoping people would do that.

Notice that earlier I said that flat Earth was not taught in public schools since the Europeans made it to America and Oz. I'm sure with enough effort I could find some church school that teaches a flat Earth that is the center of the universe.

If these 3 all went to the same school there is a good chance they all had the same teacher. If that one teacher either actively taught a flat Earth or was sloppy and many students heard it as flat Earth it would hardly be shocking.

 

[imsaneru]

If these 3 all went to the same school there is a good chance they all had the same teacher. If that one teacher either actively taught a flat Earth or was sloppy and many students heard it as flat Earth it would hardly be shocking.

Yep that is correct , and I also have to take into account the guy talking about his 90 yr old mother having been taught flat earth at school , because the guy himself is a flat earther.

Normally I would have dismissed that guy given that he is already a flat earther , but when I asked my friend what did they teach her in school and she replied flat earth , well I now had to give that flat earth guy some credibility.

It will probably be about a week or so before I get some more data from my daughter. Others here have said their parents etc were all taught round earth so it will be interesting to see what my daughter comes back with.

 

[Larniavc]

woke

Why use that word?

 

[imsaneru]

Why use that word?

Didn't realize I actually said that , silly.......

 

[Maria Billingsley]

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.

School books! I collect vintage and Antiquarian.

 

[imsaneru]

School books! I collect vintage and Antiquarian.

I've got a lot of digging to do Maria , the school that taught these kids flat earth is only 45 mins up the road by car , and i'm going to try and look up it's history and anything I can find on it. Apparently it was an all girls school at that time , and that's all I got at the moment.

I did ask this lady if she remembers any text books they may have had on flat earth and her answer was no she can't remember.
And i've yet to speak with her other friends. Anyway it's all going to take time , so if I come up with anything interesting i'll come back to this thread.

 

[The Liturgist]

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.

At least not schools in the civilized world. Perhaps if one went to a school run by militant Islamist preachers in the middle of the Sahara, in an area not under French colonial control, or in Western China or Afghanistan, they would have taught the world was flat, since this was historically the teaching of Muhammed, who reportedly taught that the gradual disappearance of sails at the horizon was an optical illusion, and indeed the Quran features a wacky Surah where a character that was probably intended to be Alexander the Great travels to the farthest West and finds the sun relaxing in an oasis, and spends a bit of time chilling with the Sun before his luminous friend is required to make a hasty departure, I think via an underground river as in ancient Egyptian paganism, to travel to the East In time for sunrise.

 

[The Liturgist]

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.

Indeed, that was a great leap forward, establishing that space travel can be done safely. The previous record holder for the oldest man in space was John Glenn if I recall, who took a shuttle flight in the 90s and remarked that it was a much smoother ride than the single stage Atlas rocket his flight used.

 

[The Liturgist]

Notice that earlier I said that flat Earth was not taught in public schools since the Europeans made it to America and Oz. I'm sure with enough effort I could find some church school that teaches a flat Earth that is the center of the universe.

If these 3 all went to the same school there is a good chance they all had the same teacher. If that one teacher either actively taught a flat Earth or was sloppy and many students heard it as flat Earth it would hardly be shocking.

Your attempted dig at Christianity is noted, but I will remind you only early Islam during the Ummayid caliphate and traditional Chinese philosophy taught that the world was flat. As Arab sailors traversed more of the globe, Islam dropped its belief in a flat Earth, and Christianity, at least, those denominations of Christianity which account for the majority of Protestants, Catholics and Orthodox has never officially taught the world was flat. So any group you found insisting that the world was flat and that this was part of the Gospel would be both obscure and heterodox, since I would note that even most Christians who subscribe to the Flat Earth belief system do not regard belief in a Flat Earth as essential to salvation.

You would have better luck among various non-Christian religions that are actually dogmatically invested in the world being flat. I would suggest investigating some of the more isolated Islamic populations in Central Asia outside of the former Soviet Union, and the very interesting John Frum and Kastom religions on Tanna, as a starting point.

 

[The Liturgist]

I've got a lot of digging to do Maria , the school that taught these kids flat earth is only 45 mins up the road by car , and i'm going to try and look up it's history and anything I can find on it. Apparently it was an all girls school at that time , and that's all I got at the moment.

I did ask this lady if she remembers any text books they may have had on flat earth and her answer was no she can't remember.
And i've yet to speak with her other friends. Anyway it's all going to take time , so if I come up with anything interesting i'll come back to this thread.

Was this a public school (or what the British call a “state school”) out of curiosity?

 

[Jipsah]

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.

My grandparents were all born in the 19th century, and 2 of them in the rural South, and two in Korea. They were all literate people, and they all knew perfectly well the the earth was round. As best I can tell, the "flat earth" lunacy is primarily an internet phenomenon. Up until about maybe 10 years ago I never met anyone whi expressed a belief that the earth was flat. I've met precisely two people personally who claimed to believe in a flat earth.

Interestingly enough, my white grandparents believed in a six day Creation, but qualified it by citing Psalm 90, that
"A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.", to mean that one of God's "days" could have been a whole lot longer than ours.

 

[The Barbarian]

This, of course, means that globes were quite common LONG before I was born.

A very long time. The ancients knew it was a globe. Eratosthenes, centuries before Jesus was born, even figured out a way to accurately measure its circumference, and came up with a very good estimate.

 

[pgp_protector]

1940's books for sale.