so at home i've been putzing around the black holes of the internet "researching" this whole flat-earth thing. i have to say it's kind of insane. i didn't have much respect for eddie bravo outside of his grappling before this, but now i have absolutely none. and i've added kron to the no-respect list too. a basic geometry class in middle school with the pythagorean theorem is enough to debunk this--forget high school. can't expect these fools to take the time to figure it out though. let's just believe some nonsense because "nasa dot gov".
How do flat earth people explain that a tall sailing ship will disappear over the horizon from the bottom up?
Optical illusion. If you have a lens with sufficient zoom you will see the ship all the way to the ice wall on the edge of the disc. Really, that's honestly what they believe.
an interesting thing about this...is it seems to also be kind of fueled by distrust for authority. i had the eddie bravo/kron/eric dupay video going on another tab last night as i was researching these beliefs. there was a lot of talk about "brain-washing" and not believing what. which actually, isn't a bad thing. but they're so lazy in their arrogance. science is great in that it's all within our own reach. they could have started with a globe, a couple toothpicks, a light source and a ruler. from there, test the shadow that the toothpicks leave and the geometry. form a hypothesis for the earth being spherical. test and observe. repeat. learn more about the geometry of a sphere, of the geometry of space, etc. etc. i know i don't need to tell you guys about all this. or here's the counter test....start with an lp record, a couple toothpicks and a light source. test the shadow from the light source at different points. form a hypothesis for the earth being flat. test, and observe. but instead, "i believe" because "it makes sense". bull nonsense. god, it's so frustrating.
That's what I was trying to get at when I was saying that there is a hint of something admirable, but that drive to find things out has gone terribly awry. We can argue about who's fault that is, but at the end of the day we're agreeing that a little dose of education would do them the world of good, and I agree that at their age it is solely their responsibility to educate themselves. I also love how these people who don't trust science or technology are happy to own iPhones and do podcasts. I wonder if they have stopped to think about the people who are watching their podcasts via satellite internet systems? What's really weird about this is that it started as a debate club. "Proving" flat earth theory was an exercise in sophistry. then the crazies took it and ran. There is a religious component for some people. Something about a line in the bible talking about a tent being put up over the world. A few crazy Christians believe that is all the proof they need; because you can't put a tent up on a ball. EDIT: http://reflectionofmind.org/60-bible-verses-describing-flat-earth-inside-dome/
And will jump on anything that supports the benefits of using Mary Jane! It's like creationists...science is wrong right up until it shows something they agree with then it's right.
Give me enough stakes and guylines I can put a tent up on a sphere.Or even an oblate spheroid! That'll teach 'em. A lot of that link doesn't really make much of a case.They need to be more selective. But how can I fault them after seeing the junk on the so called "History" Channel. I guess everyone has "their own unique interpretation of history". Or the cosmos.:dunno:
You all made me look for Flat Earth Society arguments on the web, and I hate you all for that. :yeleyes: But speaking of tests, certainly you have to give them credit for this one (cut and paste below). We've all poured sand on balls while playing in the sandbox. :jester: Using the "round Earth" theory, setting an object on the earth would be like setting grains of sand on a beach ball. Certainly a few grains would stay - right around the top, the surface is nearly horizontal - but when you stray too far from the absolute top of the ball, the grains of sand start sliding off and falling onto the ground.
I looked at this the other day because of how stupid it sounded. Assuming the Earth starts at rest and increases in velocity at a constant rate of 10 m/s^2, the time available before the earth reaches light speed is 300,000,000 /10, or 30,000,000 seconds. In hours, this figure is 8,333. In days, 347. In a year the earth would need to have accelerated to beyond the speed of light, which would naturally have a few fairly odd consequences, most notably everything on earth having infinite mass at some stage in the past. If nothing else, this should be a pretty big red flag to show why this is utter nonsense.
That presumes that there is no limit. Maybe there is a limit for the falling Earth analogous to the terminal velocity of falling objects on Earth? I want to know how and why the Earth is accelerating. To me, acceleration = change in velocity. It can change in either of two ways: direction, or underlying speed. So -- is the Earth turning, or is it going faster but in the same direction? And what is the reference point for this moving Earth? I admit that I am curious even though I shouldn't care. :bang:
Or not? "According to the Special theory of Relativity, the Earth can accelerate forever without reaching or passing the speed of light. Relative to an observer on Earth, the Earth's acceleration will always be 1g. Relative to an inertial observer in the universe, however, the Earth's acceleration decreases as the its velocity approaches c. It all depends on our frame of reference to measure and explain the Earth's motion. Thus, despite what most people think, there is no absolute "speed" or velocity of the Earth." - http://wiki.tfes.org/Universal_Acceleration Then you've got those who disagree with Universal Acceleration: "Is The Earth Accelerating Upwards? No. This is popular theory among some small groups to explain gravity, but it is problematic at best. The Earth Is Stationary. We are not whizzing about in space at 67,000 miles/hour or at speeds accelerating towards the speed of light." - https://www.theflatearthsociety.org/home/index.php/faq These guys seem more in the "because God" camp: "Why Would People Lie About The Shape Of The Earth? [...] To hide the truth of the Bible." I also love how they say that airplane windows make the earth look curved as a ploy to sell more tickets.
again, as i'm sitting on the couch at home, i'm putzing through these supposed "proofs" and i'm just laughing my **** off, until i get to 191, then scroll down a little more. then i'm sad, because it seems that at the end, it's just about peoples' prejudices--see 196 and 197--and nothing more. http://www.atlanteanconspiracy.com/2015/08/200-proofs-earth-is-not-spinning-ball.html i'm only sharing so you guys can see what these fools are up to and when we hear this stuff in real-life, we're educated about it and can fight it. the guy that wrote this was on the eddie/kron podcast.
Oh boy. It's worth reading 198, because it's where all conspiracy theories seem to end up. For those who don't know: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Protocols_of_the_Elders_of_Zion
Anyone know how flat earthers explain satellite TV? (At least, the flat earthers who claim satellites are fake?) Why go to the trouble of making a widespread consumer product part of the conspiracy? Surely the effort involved in covering up that satellite TV isn't actually using satellites is much more trouble than it would be worth? Wouldn't they just have given the actual explanation for however satellite TV works ("actual" from the viewpoint of flat earthers)? Why does it stop working when there are storms/etc? EDIT: Writing that made me curious enough to research a bit. One explanation I found involved bouncing the signal off the top of the atmosphere back down to ground-based repeaters which rebounce it.
And the claim that airplane window are designed to distort the view. And a dozen other things. Yep, the explanation just doesn't ... well, it just doesn't explain.
Ok, but for all you naysayers, have you ever really considered the fact that when you look at the Earth it IS flat? You drop a bit of water on it and it doesn't start running off the sides. Explain that.
