#ELI5
Stop thinking of a flat map.
You need to think of a 3-dimensional globe.
[This route goes from Chicago to Dubai.](https://www.airportia.com/flight-img/7760686/ek236-ord-dxb-ek-uae.jpg)
You’d THINK you should just draw a straight line. The curved line looks very inefficient, right?
Stop thinking of a flat map.
[Now look at it on a globe, think in 3-dimensions!](https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ORD-DXB-GCMap.jpg)
THAT is a straight line. It just so happens to cross Greenland, and Iceland, and the UK.
So does the curved line on the flat map!
Get it? If not, let me know.
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