Over the last few days/couple weeks I've been reading and watching a lot of stuff on the "Flat Earth" believers and... Sigh. I can't. I don't.... I don't want to believe idiots like this really exists but, at the same time, they obviously do. Their complete misunderstanding of how vision works, geometry works, light works and all of that not withstanding the thing I keep coming back to is Occam's Razor. These people think there's a massive, global, centuries if not millennia long conspiracy going on to fool people into believing the earth is a globe for no real tangible benefit. A conspiracy of mind-boggling porportions because it'd have to involve people of 100s of different industries and nations to all get a long and agree to keep this "lie" solvent and no one wanting to out the 'truth." That or these "believers" just don't understand some areas of science that's making them think the earth is "flat" rather than spherical. Which is the simplest explanation? It's astonishing to me people like this exist and think the way they do and it's that which makes me weep for the future of our species.
When you meet one of them, ask them why cyclones north of the equator spin in the opposite direction of those south of the equator. ---------------
It's just proof that there are certain people who will believe something completely absurd and cling to that believe with white knuckle certainty no matter how effectively you prove them wrong. The moral of the story is, you don't have to convince stupid people to give up a false belief, because at the end of the day that isn't really worth the effort. The challenge for you is to prevent stupid people from ever being in a position of power or influence where they can impose their stupidity on others. Too esoteric. Simply ask them "Why is Earth the only flat planet in the solar system? All the other planets are spherical. Why is ours flat?"
Also - why are the visible stars different and why are the seasons opposite in Australia, New Zealand, Argentina etc.
I doubt a cogent argument would work on someone who was dumb enough to be a flat-Earther in the first place.
I'm certainly interested in explanations for flat-Earther-ism. I'd not be surprised if there was more than one though, i.e. if there were distinctly differing categories of flat Earthers. It seems there's some sort of extreme nonconformity at play, but maybe the there are other motivations.
When you are dealing with people who created a meme saying "If the Earth was a ball, how come the water doesn't all just run off the bottom of it?" then there's no hope.
Because when you look at the horizon it's flat! And it's flat no matter how high you go in your everyday life! If the Earth were round, why don't you see the curvature?! Clearly it's The Upside Down.
If that's what they're thinking, then somehow it hasn't clicked that the fact that there *is* a horizon at all means something... else.
And a great album ------- As for the original topic, I would ask, "How far from home have you ever been?"
You know, that's an aspect/counter argument that never occurred to me and not something I've ever seen addressed in all of the "Flat Earth" stuff I've read or seen. So according to the "flat Earthers" we're on a disc and the sun, moon and other celestial bodies are above is sort of spinning around. The sun is much closer and it can only illuminate part of the disc at once. Their arguments for the Earth being "fat" is that you can't see the curvature of the Earth from ground level and from most heights you can reach inside the atmosphere, not realizing the Earth is so utterly massive that you have to be very, very, high (on the order of spy planes flying at the cusp of the atmosphere, almost "in space") to begin to see it. But here's the thing on a clear day with 100% visibility the horizon in most cases a few miles away at this point items start to dip below it as the follow the curvature of the Earth. (Something that can be witnessed if watching a ship sail off into the ocean or a plane flying in the sky) this is why you can't see objects beyond this distance, they're below the horizon. If you're at a good enough point and distance you can see distant objects peaking over the horizon (you can see the tops of buildings but not their foundations.) How do "flat earthers" account for this? If the Earth were flat and you were at the top of, say, the Empire State Building or The Burj Khalifa shouldn't you be able to see, well, everything?! Shouldn't you be able to see the entire disc, the "Antarctica Wall" the side of the planet currently in night? Wouldn't there be some height you can see the whole of the Earth? Our eyes can't see beyond those few miles (or even couple hundred miles at a high altitudes) because of any fault or limitation with them it's because anything beyond the horizon is BELOW it. This can be witnessed and demonstrated. The tallest buildings in the world actually operate in different vertical "time zones" because the upper floors still get daylight when the lower floors have seen the sun set. Where's the explanation for THAT, Flat Earthers? Why can't you see *everything* from the peaks of Everest? Or by sending a drone or balloon up with a camera mounted on it?