All the "smart people," circa 1400 AD
"To believe that the world is not flat and the universe does not revolve around earth is ludicrous. It is well documented fact that only complete nothingness lies beyond what we know to be the 'edge' of the earth, and there are no lands and no peoples beyond the sea. We know this to be fact because no one has ever provided evidence AT ALL to the contrary. We have seen no evidence to indicate that any such lands exist, and surely no other beings exist, because we know they have not visited us and left evidence of their presence. Anyone who thinks that the earth is 'round' and that there is anything but death beyond the edge of our flat earth is at best a fool and at worst insane."
[sarcasm]Surely intelligent life beyond our imagination cannot exist and undoubtably it has never visited earth. [/sarcasm]
All the "
smart people' were telling everyone that the world
was round in 1400. And, being killed as heretics for it, by the church, FYI.
Eratosthenes proved the world was round in the 6th century B.C.E. It took roughly 2000 years for "dumb" people to believe it.
As for the heliocentric model, it's been around since 390 B.C.E. (Philolaus, Greece)
Copernicus (generally given credit for the idea) published his complete model, purposely, on the year of his death in 1543, a full 13 years after he had finished it, and 36 years after he started it, simply because he didn't want to be labeled as a heretic and meet the same fate as others. He actually prefaced his publication with a dedication to Pope Paul III.
So, the
SMART PEOPLE knew these things a very long time before the
DUMB PEOPLE.