Just read somewhere that the shortest path between two locations is an arc and not a straight line! eli5 how an arc is the shortest path for planes.
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On the surface of a globe, the shortest distance between two points is the arc of what is known as a *great circle*. A great circle is a circle with the largest possible circumference on the surface the globe. For example, the equator is a great circle, but the Artic Circle is not.
However, whenever you turn a globe into a 2D map, you are going to end up with some distortions. And the most common projections distort it in such a way that these “straight lines” look curved on these flat maps.
There is a type or projection which conserves the the “straightness” of great circles, but it’s quite odd.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnomonic_projection
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