That day in class, we were discussing force. Whenever gravity comes up, the classic example follows — if a spaceship accelerates upward at 9.8 m/s², it would feel as if you’re on Earth. Then came the elevator example. There too, the elevator was moving at some acceleration, and we got force from the product of mass and acceleration.
Amidst all this, flat earthers came to mind. They too believe that this disc called Earth is supposedly moving upward at an acceleration of 9.8 m/s². That’s why we cling to the Earth.
That elevator example, or the spaceship one, can’t be applied to a round Earth. In which direction would this poor thing move? On the surface of a sphere, no matter where you stand, no matter which direction you face, you get approximately 9.8 m/s² acceleration everywhere!
Are we really going somewhere at 9.8 m/s² acceleration? Perhaps in some direction, in some dimension, that is beyond our capacity to conceive?
A very naive thought. But let this writing stay here! Perhaps a few decades from now, seeing this writing will trigger melancholy.