What are the origins of the world being on a turtle's back?

It's turtles all the way down. World bearing turtles are present in Native American, Indian and Chinese creation myths, as well as other animals such as snakes and elephants. The Chinese version is not quite a match for the meme, since it is the dismembered legs of a turtle that is holding up heaven. read more

It's turtles all the way down. World bearing turtles are present in Native American, Indian and Chinese creation myths, as well as other animals such as snakes and elephants. The Chinese version is not quite a match for the meme, since it is the dismembered legs of a turtle that is holding up heaven. read more

"Turtles all the way down" is an expression of the infinite regress problem in cosmology posed by the "unmoved mover" paradox. The metaphor in the anecdote represents a popular notion of the model that Earth is actually flat and is supported on the back of a World Turtle, which itself is propped up by a column of turtles. read more