I rather assume that my readers are a fairly clever lot and if I mention Professor Aronson they will all nod in sage recognition. His work on the subject of cognitive dissonance holds no mystery for you but in case a rogue member of the General Public has happened upon this, I will explain.  The good Prof explored why people continue to hold onto views in the face of evidence which shows they couldn’t possibly be true.

All religions are a fairly obvious example, trusting Tony Blair over several elections another and a good many defence lawyers press on regardless.

I am made of sterner stuff and make no secret of my incredulity that everything evolved from a single-cell slug in the mud and I have some serious doubts about old Einstein’s theories.  (I once visited the Einstein museum – party animal that I am – and even they admit that there are a couple of serious questions without convincing answers).  Let me now present you will a few facts about the earth’s rotation.

In a new venture for me I’ve even done a bit of research on the subject.  If you take the radius of the Earth, its distance from the sun and do a bit of sums you come up with the information that our planet travels at 584 million miles a year (That’s 940 million kilometres, a form of measurement hopefully soon to be tossed out with the rest of the EU impositions).  Now take away the number you first thought of and it transpires that if you stood on a dry spot on the equator you would be whizzing through space at 1000 mph.

Anyone who has ever tried to establish a roof garden will know that the main problem with growing anything is wind.  Hurricanes with wind speeds of 100mph create havoc, destruction, devastation on an industrial scale.  How can we possibly be going at that speed and NOT NOTICE? Witter on about gravity holding us on but it doesn’t do much to stop tornados causing damage, does it?  Why don’t aeroplanes just take off, hover and wait for their destination to appear underneath?  Imagine the time that would be saved. And the petrol.

None of the evidence supports what is supposed to be true but we, or rather you, go on believing it.  I previewed this theory to some chums the other day and they looked incredulous.  These are the very sort of people who 500 years ago thought the human body was made up of humours and excorcism was A Good Thing.

I bet that in another couple of centuries people will look back on us and be aghast at our simplicity.  NB history.  I had doubts.

Now back to the chocolate eggs and celebrating the resurrection.  Happy Easter one and all.