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Read on Archive.org → Cover image from Wikimedia CommonsIsaac Asimov · 1957 · Short Story
This story is available to read right now on the Internet Archive, linked to the exact page where it begins.
Read on Archive.org → Cover image from Wikimedia CommonsDavis and Oldbury are the first humans sent on a crewed flyby of the Moon, monitored remotely by psychologist Nilsson. As they travel farther from Earth than anyone before, both men begin to psychologically regress: Oldbury becomes convinced the Earth is flat and the view from the ship is a painted backdrop; Davis insists the stars are clockwork mechanisms on a planetarium ceiling. Despite seeing the curved Earth directly, neither can overcome the deep human intuition that the ground is flat and the sky is a dome. Previous unmanned missions succeeded, but every crewed attempt has failed at this same psychological barrier. The story asks whether some ideas are so deeply wired into the human mind that direct sensory evidence cannot dislodge them.
Source: galaxy-magazine-archive-org
Tags: galaxy-magazinegalaxy-1957-10space-psychologyflat-earthisaac-asimov
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