The Circumnavigation Conundrum
Conventional wisdom is a series of information held by large groups of individuals. It often spreads like wildfire between individuals, mainly because of the fact that many accept conventional wisdom as flawless. This is incorrect. Conventional wisdom can consist of a series of incorrect information– misconceptions– such as the very misconception that conventional wisdom is flawless.
Flawed conventional wisdom can have some serious morale implications. An example of flawed conventional wisdom with morale implications is the series of misconceptions held about circumnavigation. Circumnavigation is when an individual or group of individuals complete a continuous journey around the circumference of the world.
It is often presumed that the first individual to have completed circumnavigation is Ferdinand Magellan. This has serious morale implications as he was not the first individual to have completed circumnavigation, and those individuals who were the first to complete circumnavigation receive very little recognition in comparison to Ferdinand Magellan.
Indeed, Ferdinand Magellan was the leader and organizer at the beginning of the voyage. He reached the Malaccas, however that is where he died. He became entangled in conflict occurring between communities of local inhabitants of the region, which resulted in his death.
His crew embarked on the voyage with 218 men and returned with just 18. Ferdinand Magellan was of course not one of them, therefore he cannot be regarded as the first individual to circumnavigate the world. In my belief, this misconception arises from the fact that many correlate the fact that he lead the voyage with the fact that he must have also completed it.
So, who was the first individual to circumnavigate the world? Here, many other misconceptions arise, in the opinion of this magazine. Many believe that it was Juan Sebastian Elcano or Magellan’s personal slave, Enrique of the Malaccas. However, none of these answers are correct. In fact, we are asking the incorrect question.
There is no first individual to have circumnavigated the world. There was a group of individuals who first circumnavigated the world, not a single individual. Perhaps Elcano was the leader of these individuals, therefore contributing more to the process, however that does not mean that he was the only one of these individuals to have first circumnavigated the world.
Therefore, when the question ‘who was the first individual to have circumnavigated the world?’ is asked, do not answer ‘Ferdinand Magellan’, ‘Juan Sebastian Elcano’ or ‘Enrique of the Malaccas’. Answer ‘there is no first individual to have circumnavigated the world, but a group of individuals.