Today, 500 years later, you would think that the existence of a round Earth had finally been established as a proven concept, and recognized as an honest-to-goodness fact — not considered "Fake News." Yet, some days I really wonder. With the prevailing anti-science attitudes being expressed by numbers of people in this country, I surmise that it won't be long before the airline companies are forced to make some drastic changes to their route maps, in reluctant concession to this minority of ill-informed "flat Earth" proponents.
Other businesses and industries similarly invested in modern scientific advances may also find themselves forced to retract commonly-accepted inventions, technological discoveries, and present-day miracles that you enlightened 21st century people now take for granted.
Imagine saying farewell to the ubiquitous cell phones that everyone can't do without. Or the mechanized vehicles that propel you from home to work, to school, or to shopping? Or other modern conveniences like refrigeration (no air conditioning? no refrigerators?), electric lighting, washers and dryers, microwave ovens, or electronically recorded music, movies, and computer games?
If I were still employed in my father's candle-making shop, this could be a good thing. But seriously, people?
I suppose this all sounds thoroughly foolish to you, dear reader. I totally agree. As a scientist (and time traveler) from the 18th century, I am well aware of the tremendous strides that humanity has made since those days of our previous flat Earth beliefs.
So why should we let a small minority of citizens who may be somewhat challenged, either educationally, politically, culturally, or religiously, dictate the current state of our knowledge, or I daresay, the improvements in civilization that we have fought so long and hard to achieve? Why should we allow them to force us to turn back the clock in any aspect of our daily lives, whether it be Earth science, political science, medical science, or even gender and race relations? (True, we still have a long, long way to go yet, but we're farther ahead than we were in the 1500s).
Just a thought to consider, from a friendly observer.
Your humble servant,
B.Franklin