If the turtles in the world all became extinct?

Are turtles holding up the world a creation myth?

• I've noticed the avatar 'turtles all the way down' then heard a reference to turtles holding up the world on 'The Colbert Report' so now I'm curious.

• Answer:

  Yes, it is a Hindu myth that the world is resting on the back of a turtle. When the British philosopher Bertrand Russel was giving a lecture on cosmology or the structure of the world, this old lady in the audience was disagreeing with him and said that in her opinion one might as well argue that world was on the back of a turtle. Then the tall aristocratic Russell asked her what was holding up the turtle. She said, "very clever, young man, very clever, but it's turtles all the way down."