I was on a plane a few months ago, looking out a window facing west, at sunset, in a perfectly cloudless sky, with the Mediterranean sea below me, all the way to the horizon.
I’m telling you all these details because I believe each one was crucial to a once-in-a-lifetime scientific discovery:
I could clearly see the Mediterranean Sea below me, looking cool and darkened. But there was a line ahead, towards the west, past which the sea gradually became warm-colored and bright, being still lit up by the setting sun.
Like I said, this was once-in-a-lifetime scientific discovery for me. I believe it was the first time in my life I had convincing first-hand evidence that the Earth is in fact round.
For much of my life, I’ve had sympathy for Flat Earthers, the people who insist, today, in 2024, that the earth is or at least might be flat.
I don’t necessarily have the “water can’t cling to a spinning ball” kind of sympathy… or the “Antarctica is a giant ice wall to keep you from falling off and finding out the truth” kind of sympathy.
Rather, I have sympathy with what I feel the Flat Earth movement is really about. Because after I first heard that Flat Earthing is a thing, I asked myself, “How do I know these people are wrong? How can I be sure the Earth is round and not flat?”
I’ve been told that’s how it is…
I’ve also seen pictures, illustrations, and videos, supposedly from space…
I’ve even been given models of the solar system, and arguments about rotation and magnetic fields and gravity…
… but I had zero first-hand experience. At least until that flight across the Mediterranean a couple months ago. I now believe 100%, though I’m certainly not trying to push my strong faith on you, that the Earth is in fact not flat, but round.
And I STILL have sympathy with the Flat Earthers.
Yes, the world is immensely complex.
It’s inevitable that much of what we believe about it gets passed on to us unquestioned. We couldn’t function otherwise.
But there’s still value in proving some things to yourself, regularly.
Not everything — there’s too much of that. But some things.
It can give you confidence when you find proof for yourself, beyond the confidence of being given proof.
It can lead you to insights you might not have otherwise.
And possibly, every so often, more often than you might think, it can help you find extra stuff, which others have swept under the rug.
Which things you choose to question is of course up to you.
But maybe stuff that’s directly connected to your work, success, or professional competence is a good place to start.
And if making sales or writing sales copy comes into what you do, then here’s a way to get first-hand experience and proof, which nobody can take away from you: