Center of the universe
What would you say if someone told you "Earth is the center of the universe"? You'd probably think them an idiot.
Our place in the universe is fundamental knowledge these days - We're on a planet in a solar system in a galaxy in an absolutely huge universe of many many many galaxies.
What if you woke up one day with none of your memories? You don't know your name, who your parents are, what job you worked, or what hobbies you liked.
You wouldn't know about our solar system. How would this loss affect your view of the world, the view of yourself? What if somebody started teaching you about how the Gods created the planet, or if someone told you that you are the god-being and all of life's creations flow from you?
It's very recent in human history that we actually know about the universe, or that we're not at the center of it (~1550s).
And our knowledge of this relies on a deep system of trust between people. Personally, I have no way of verifying any of the things I learned about the universe. I look up at the sky and see stars. But how do I know they're not artificial lights inside an artificial dome?
For the sake of our culture, this knowledge of the cosmos is little more than a shared story the majority of us believe in, simply because we trust the people who told us about it, and those people trust other people, and so-on.
The majority of us have no way to verify that atoms exist, or that they're made up of subatomic particles like electrons and protons, nor can we verify the existence of microscopic germs, or even the presence of other planets near our own.
I don't really doubt any of the foundational knowledge about the world. I believe in germs & the round planet & the solar system, and so-on. I just think it's really interesting.
I've been thinking about this lately because I recently watched Severance - a show where people's memories are entirely separated between their work lives and personal lives. Their work selves have no recollection of themselves, their names, their families, or anything. And trying to see the world from their perspective is really trippy. Because their world view doesn't include any of the foundational knowledge that my world view has.
Also, Severance, I think, is now one of my all-time-favorite TV shows & I highly recommend it. It's on Apple TV, or you can probably borrow a DVD from your local library (that's what I did).
Note: I do want to point out that modern physics is insane. Probably true and accurate insofar as verified theories go. But its insane even if true.