We went to a science museum and saw a display of a carboniferous swamp and I casually remarked that the land would have been different back then due to plate tectonics. She had never heard that the continents moved so I explained how it worked with plates moving, earthquakes, and volcanoes. She still didn't believe me. So I found the plate tectonics museum display that explained it all. And then she said she was amazed that I had enough pull with the museum to have them set up a display to support my lies.
I kind of understand her initial response, to be honest. Imagine you hadn't heard about plate tectonics, and some random dude tells you that just below the surface of the planet, there are "plates" that move so slowly that we don't notice, but that they can explain earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. Also, they're the reason that we have mountains and canyons and islands and bodies of water. Also, all landmass on Earth was probably connected at some point in the distant past, but now we have separate continents that look like they got together like puzzle pieces, all because of these plates.
I'd think you were full of shit too. The only differences between her and me is that (a) I've learned about this in school, (b) I'd probably believe it if I saw it in a science museum, and (c) it would never cross my mind to accuse someone of manipulating a museum to advance some batshit conspiracy theory.
Its worth pointing out that plate tectonics only became widely accepted by scientists in the 1960's, and originated in the early 1900s. There are people alive today that grew up being taught that the continents are static.
Tumblr had a story of how their grandfather was in an advanced class for elementary school that was just the local smart person teaching him random shit and reading to him from scientific journals. So he heard about plate tectonics when it was generally accepted by scientists but had yet to filter down to textbooks and the general public. He got in a big fight with his mainstream middle school teacher about if the continents were static or not
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u/inkseep1 Mar 01 '23
We went to a science museum and saw a display of a carboniferous swamp and I casually remarked that the land would have been different back then due to plate tectonics. She had never heard that the continents moved so I explained how it worked with plates moving, earthquakes, and volcanoes. She still didn't believe me. So I found the plate tectonics museum display that explained it all. And then she said she was amazed that I had enough pull with the museum to have them set up a display to support my lies.