A plague of graffiti which is spreading throughout Perthshire has forced me to confront my appalling lack of scientific knowledge.
The exhortations to embrace the concept that the world is flat has caused me some trouble when it comes to proving one of the cornerstones of modern thinking.
Of course the world is round – how do I know that? Because that is the accepted theory and I have been consistently told it is. Beyond that I’m afraid I have absolutely no idea if left to my own devices how I could prove that the world is round.
Rather worryingly I simply wouldn’t have a clue where to start.
I am sure that I am not alone in this area (I hope) and believe that the average man in the street would be as clueless as I am.
Who is behind the graffiti proclaiming that the earth is flat which has been slowly creeping down the A9 corridor and has now reached Perth is unclear.
Scrawled on buildings and signs, the message has caused debate, and annoyance, wherever it appears.
A quick internet search revealed that the Flat Earth Society is alive and thriving and exists “as a place for free thinkers and the intellectual exchange of ideas”.
The arguments start off simply enough – rely on your own senses in examining the world – before veering into bonkers territory (space exploration has been faked by the USA and Russia and a massive ice wall surrounds flat earth to keep the oceans in).
“To our knowledge, no one has been very far past the ice wall and returned to tell of their journey,” they say.
The flat earth debate may have identified some gaping holes in my personal knowledge (which I do not intend to fill) but it has also helped me formulate my own theory for a happy life – leave science to scientists.