Once upon a time, about 4 and a half billion years ago…

…in the outer spiral arm of one of billions of galaxies…

…a planet was born.

No one knew at the time that this particular planet would grow to the ripe old age of about 10 billion years before dying.

(And possibly being cremated at the same time.)

After a period of a few billion years, when it was well into middle age, the planet was able to sustain life, and so it did.

It sustained many different kinds of life.

Which gradually led to human life.

When humans first lived on the planet, they only lasted 20-30 years, or .000000550660792951542 percent of the age of the planet.

But as time went on and they discovered things and learned how to take care of themselves, they began to live longer and longer, increasing their lifespan to 70-80 years.

Still, that was only .00000165198237 percent of the age of their home.

Most adult humans were between five and six feet tall.

And on a planet that’s almost 8000 miles in diameter, that height proved to be a bit disorienting.

Since it was too vast for a tiny human to see its rounded sides, humans believed that the planet was flat.