Joe is a man who lives at the top of a large mountain. Life is simple and harsh on the top of a mountain. It is about survival. Joe buys vegetables and meat and milk and beer from a shop down the street. Joe is also the public transport system of the top of the mountain. He gets his money from carting people around the top of the mountain.
What gives Joe a reason to live? Talking to the people he carts around, asking them what makes them happy. They say talking to Joe makes them happy. Happiness is a circle on the top of the mountain. It is not flat.
When Joe looks down and into the distance, Joe sees a mountain sloping down, and then clouds. Joe thinks the Earth is a mountain all the way down, down below the clouds. That is what he sees, and so that must be true.
Sometimes the top of the mountain receives visitors from below the clouds. They say they come from a place that is all flat and then all you can see is water till infinity. They call that place a beach. Joe does not believe them. If they show him a picture, Joe says the picture is fake. The Earth is a mountain for Joe, so it must be a mountain for everyone. The Earth is a mountain floating in space.
Why does Joe believe in the existence of “space”, if he has never left the top of the mountain? Why does Joe believe the meat comes from animals who grew up below the clouds, if he has never seen them? One day I will ask Joe. One day I will ask him why all you can see below the clouds isn't a pile of meat.
