QI -series 3, episode 1 - The world was never flat

[mattidumke]

Would anyone happen to know, what letters he's talking about? Complete disaster?

[gcrav]

The majority of educated Europeans in the middle ages believed the world was round. That was, however, a small minority of people in the world.

[Slime2112]

my dear good sir, i think thats a load of bullshit!!!

i love the show, but i think that some "facts" r just pushing it

[JSCwrd]

@Slime2112 You can have dear, or good. Now who's pushing it?

[liftwell]

Just blew a climate skeptics argument out of the water with this. He argued that human climate change will eventually prove to be wrong because "It only took one person to prove that the world wasn't flat." Referred him to this youtube video, he had absolutely no comeback.

[jackbox1971]

Rich Hall! I haven't seen him since 1984 when was on Not Necessarily the News!

[GarethJonesify]

Well unless there are some pretty crazy circumstances where stars can be other shapes that we havent forseen, all stars should be round because over a certain mass things are rounded by thier own gravity, although the shape could be slightly distorted temporarily by the gravity of other nearby objects.

^ Pretty sure anyway.

(I have been to every star except 4 of them.)

[Nikon05]

"You've set Sir off again". hilarious

[Solensherre]

Us awesome norsemen still thought it was flat ^^

[Cheesyman987]

Stephen Fry: 195373323412370852347878912398­4

Alan Davis: 1

[dim432]

Its like an Ilusion cause now you see it on steet view on Google earth.

[jules13571]

he is actually wrong the Ancient Greeks did originally think that the Earth was flat with the water falling off the edge, then they believed that the earth was the cylindrical (kind of like the shape of a tuna tin!) and floated on water. It wasn't till mid 6th Century BC that it became a popular belief that the world was spherical.

[321womble]

@jules13571 he sais in the middle ages which is from 4th c

[EnigmaDrath]

I'd love to see how Stephen would fair in a bar fight.

"You've set me off! You've set sir off again!" XD

[cbrewitt]

Stephen got my letter! Yeah!

[Islamfromallah]

thenoblequran (Ctrl+Enter)

[ilikelemontrees]

Like if you found this via another video.

[Xanatos712]

In 830AD, Islamic astronomers managed to determine the Earth's circumference and were only off by about 3%.

[Braun30]

@Xanatos712 Some greek bloke worked a good estimate some centuries earlier, don't ask me the name.

[Nemesis13Blades]

The greatest trick the devil pulled was making everyone believe he doesnt exist so yeah all of you felled to the trick sad day indeed

[martybow1]

@Nemesis13Blades Lol KAISER SOZE!

[Tranter195]

@martybow1 Idiot.

[HRCSJSUAMMAS]

@Nemesis13Blades God pulled the same trick on me.

[LondonIrishRover]

@Nemesis13Blades Every other religious deity has a habit of pulling the same trick. Strange.

[hazza1o1]

@Nemesis13Blades you're an idiot

[Tranter195]

@Nemesis13Blades idiot.

[adamae]

I have the same shirt as Bill Bailey! Except in green. I'm the happiest girl in the world!

[AvalaDemson]

Rich is right - i would beleive anything stephen fry says without question! Unless it contradicts something Bill Bryson has said; he is the font of all my knowledge.

[zinnycat1597]

I'm learning...and I'm enjoying it....this must be some sort of trap! ;P

I love this show. I feel Stephen is the teacher and Alan is the class smart alec :)

[bk123cartoons]

i love Rich Hall

[Wade2st]

lol these guys are hillarious! Bravo! I watched it twice in a row it was that funny.

[AnoukvdS]

I think they're all spherical because of gravity :).

[Katz1065]

Bill Bailey looks a bit like a monkey. His hair is also offensive to me. I can't help it, I have an irrational dislike, more like a disgust, for Bill Bailey because in my head, he is a monkey. I fucking hate monkey's.

[Piatasify]

@Katz1065 But he doesn't have a tail! (is that all that sets apes appart from monkey btw, or am I generalising?)

[Katz1065]

@Piatasify Actually, pretty sure I'm the one generalising..... Hairy creatures that hunch and hulk around...that's a monkey :P Bill Bailey did a lot of hunching and acting like an unintelligent beast in Black Books, so perhaps that is where it stems from...

[Piatasify]

@Katz1065 haven't seen Black Books yet, think I'll check it out now.

[Katz1065]

@Piatasify It's excellent, you definitely should. Dylan Moran is particularly great in it.

[purklefluff]

@Piatasify augh black books is excellent. it really is hilarious. =D

[chrisofnottingham]

Not only did people understand the world was round, Eratosthenes calculated its circumference to within 1% using a perfectly valid method in about 200 BC.

[efagels]

i'd love it if the world was shaped like a pinecone, pearshaped or square

[SuperOfficerDibble]

Actually, we DO know that not every star in the Universe is 'round', there is a star in the Pleiades called Pleione which spins so quickly on its axis that it is a saucer shape :)

[Tsugo582]

I think majority of people didnt really care as indeed we dont now actually care that its round if it was square it wouldnt actually bother me id rush to the edge.

Haha and i love bill bailey. (:

[WillP999]

Stephen Fry = Douche.

[Duckpasties]

And why is that?

[MasterofMayhem1394]

@WillP999 Leave. Now.

[WillP999]

@MasterofMayhem1394

lolumad

[MasterofMayhem1394]

@WillP999 Um, no, but at least I can spell. And Stephen Fry is not a douche, he is a very intelligent, witty person which is much more than I can say for you.

[WillP999]

@MasterofMayhem1394

l2internet bro

[MasterofMayhem1394]

@WillP999 I have 'learnt to internet' it's just I don't see the point of not taking time to type properly when this isn't a real-time conversation. Now l2 Stephen Fry or stfu and gtfo.

[WillP999]

@MasterofMayhem1394

Good Google.

[MasterofMayhem1394]

@WillP999 LOL, now you're just claiming things that neither you can prove nor can I disprove. And I thought this ...argument?... couldn't get any stupider.

[WillP999]

@MasterofMayhem1394

Deary me! Put a steak on the BBQ!

[MasterofMayhem1394]

@WillP999 Ok... I've never heard that phrase, unless you mean it litterally.

[WillP999]

@MasterofMayhem1394

I just love steak.

[MasterofMayhem1394]

@WillP999 *No comment*

[WillP999]

@MasterofMayhem1394

But that is a comment.

[M1ST3RHYDE]

@WillP999

WillPOOO + Douche = A Great Big Vinegar smelling Mangina.

[WillP999]

@M1ST3RHYDE epic troll fail.

[Crazyivan777]

"Is that something you find difficult to understand?"

Steven owns the competition.

[HittokiriBatosai]

Have I read books? Yes. Have I visited every star in the universe? No. XD

[theonlytnargmatt]

yeah my bads

[M1ST3RHYDE]

The translation of the earths shape is said to be Circular, But A circle is Not a Sphere simply taken from the Definition: CIRCLE, A closed plane curve consisting of all points at a given distance from a point within it called the center. Equation:

x2 + y2 = r2.

The Bible was and Still is Wrong.

[Gimacol]

The bible is just a load of shit anyway so yeah :)

[justinenns]

How so? To what are you referring in the Bible that says the earth is a circle or a plane. I just don't understand your leap.

[Ribiselpunk]

@M1ST3RHYDE The title I chose is of course a bit misleading - Ancient Near East obviously believed in a planar earth (see the nice "Flat Earth" Wikpedia entry), but the QI question refers to the common myth about the Middle Ages, a myth propagated probably first by the Humanists who wanted to set themselves apart from the "Dark Ages" - an enormously successful PR ploy, if you will...

[PiecesOfRainbow7]

@M1ST3RHYDE I'm confused about two things... 1. why have you capitalized random words? and 2. what exactly are you saying, im a bit befuddled. are you saying the earth WAS once flat? If so, don't be silly. Of course it wasnt. lol.

[M1ST3RHYDE]

@PiecesOfRainbow7

I have TurretS:~}

People Knew it to be flat in the Bronze age, Before and after asWell. This was only because they didn't know any better than to trust their simple ways just as all the rest of the Humans that wrote parts of that collective. I can be wrong and silly at times but Im not That out of touch with reality.

Thanks for askn by the way, Most wont bother.

[Piatasify]

@PiecesOfRainbow7 Ah, it seems you're not familiar with the increasingly popular "inflating beachball" theory about the development of our home planet and even the entire universe. It includes time being viewed backwards and the big bang being the end.

[M1ST3RHYDE]

@M1ST3RHYDE

Did you People read my Comment?!?

I Quoted the bible to Show that it is wrong!

[BRAIN2EXCURSION]

if columbus was wrong i'd drive straight off the edge...

[HuckleberryGates]

I've got a big fat fucking bone to pick, with you my darling :)

[sharonmary]

i love Alan's shirt. Hot.

[mushoo123456]

The what was the big deal with the church and science? I thought a heliocentric galaxy and a round earth were the main issues of contention?

[smudzi]

"Is that something you find difficult to understand?"

lol, Stephen wins

[celinablack]

stephen always wins :)

[bookworm266]

I reckon Alan won the perpetual motion argument.

[ScarletSinn]

@smudzi I thought Sir was going to smack Alan in the gob.

[ghostmadlittlemiss]

Pear shaped, eh? Well it certainly is now!

Kayleigh

[almightyjass]

2:06 i thought bill was in a wheelchair!

[SirEschaton]

Just watch a ship sail into the distance, it disappears from the bottom-up as it goes across the curved world. If the world were flat, it would fade off all at once.

[M1ST3RHYDE]

It could also be said that It tips off the Edge Head first and it does it slowly because the crew are Running Full Steam Astern and they are loosing a slow battle.

[RuleNr34]

so, what, those stories about crews lynching their captains because "they dared to go too far to the edge", is that all bollocks then?

[wratched]

In a word, yes.

[slovan]

People will believe whatever you want them too. You just need to put it in the right context, and present it the right way, and repeating it over and over again.

[jackhartcup]

i had an urge to copy and paste that

[TrimTOODLE]

I Don't believe you

[caretakerwilly]

@slovan yeah, if you can make them fearfull and feel guilty you're on to a winner

[eetjaarem]

@slovan that's what Hitler was good at.

[slovan]

@eetjaarem And it is still happening.

[DifferentGirl3]

@slovan Reminds me of religion......