Flat Earth - It's NOT Ridiculous

[A_Thinker]

Water bends and I don't know one FE who says it outright NEVER bends.

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1AVFC_enUS798US798&ei=l81ZXOWbI4ugjwTVz6No&q="water+doesn't+bend"&oq="water+doesn't+bend"&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0i30.25035518.25047209..25047561...0.0..0.266.2730.3j14j3......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i131j0j35i39j0i131i67j0i67j0i10j0i22i30.jMa7r90b3Yo

Examples:

• Surface tension - Spheres (bubbles, rain drops, water on a zero G flight)

• Surface tension - Curving (Water in a glass, surface of still water)

• Moving water (waterfalls, rivers)

I certainly agree with you here ...

 

[Radagast]

They aren't imaginary. I obviously am not referring to a 360 degree Iice wall around the world but high glacial shelves do exist. It's appropriate to call them barriers.

But people cross them.

 

[Radagast]

Uh? What do you see out your window?

Stars, which are different from those visible in the northern hemisphere, and which rotate around the south celestial pole.

Also, very long summer days.

And, on one occasion, Antarctica -- when I had a window seat on this flight (the one flat-earthers say doesn't exist):

 

[Strathos]

I'll take flat earthers seriously once they can show me the edge.

Actually addressing the myriad of problems with their models instead of always changing the subject would be a good start, too.

 

[pitabread]

Seems it is the issue though, according to pretty much all FEs.

Not in my experience. Flat earthers invent all sorts of zany conspiracies to explain away the evidence, so you know that evidence is not a factor here.

In fact, that is why I have so much trouble taking flat earthers seriously to begin with. Their evidence-free claims of a world-wide conspiracy to cover up the flat earth are just lunacy.

That's why I think we're all being trolled.

 

[Radagast]

That's why I think we're all being trolled.

I think about half the flat-earthers on CF are trolls. The other half really believe it.

Their evidence-free claims of a world-wide conspiracy to cover up the flat earth are just lunacy.

A 2500-year old conspiracy that has grown to include all surveyors, all pilots, the entire space industry, and most of the people in the Southern Hemisphere.

 

[Zetetica]

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1AVFC_enUS798US798&ei=l81ZXOWbI4ugjwTVz6No&q="water+doesn't+ben

[URL='https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1AVFC_enUS798US798&ei=l81ZXOWbI4ugjwTVz6No&q=%22water+doesn%27t+bend%22&oq=%22water+doesn%27t+bend%22&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0i30.25035518.25047209..25047561...0.0..0.266.2730.3j14j3......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i131j0j35i39j0i131i67j0i67j0i10j0i22i30.jMa7r90b3Yo']https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1AVFC_enUS798US798&ei=l81ZXOWbI4ugjwTVz6No&q="water+doesn't+bend"&oq="water+doesn't+bend"&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0i30.25035518.25047209..25047561...0.0..0.266.2730.3j14j3......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i131j0j35i39j0i131i67j0i67j0i10j0i22i30.jMa7r90b3Yo

I certainly agree with you here ...

d"&oq="water+doesn't+bend"&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0i30.25035518.25047209..25047561...0.0..0.266.2730.3j14j3......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i131j0j35i39j0i131i67j0i67j0i10j0i22i30.jMa7r90b3Yo[/URL]

I certainly agree with you here ...

Most FEs use the "water doesn't bend" meme as a reference to large bodies of water like lakes and oceans, curving around the exterior of a sphere. They aren't referencing bending streams, waterfalls, diamagnetic bending of tap water streams, soap bubbles, water drops, ect.

 

[Zetetica]

But people cross them.

... that doesn't make them cease to be barriers, does it?

 

[Radagast]

... that doesn't make them cease to be barriers, does it?

It makes them completely irrelevant to a discussion on whether the world is round.

Typical flat-eartherism in fact -- ignore the evidence and divert the conversation to a side issue.

 

[Zetetica]

Stars, which are different from those visible in the northern hemisphere, and which rotate around the south celestial pole.

Also, very long summer days.

And, on one occasion, Antarctica -- when I had a window seat on this flight (the one flat-earthers say doesn't exist):

That video footage is BEAUTIFUL! I can even see a curve... or maybe light is just bending again. Hard to discern but still beautiful!

Also, not ALL FEs assert that Woodrow seats don't exist in such flights. Yes, I'm aware of the windowless flights memes and claims; it's not an assertion of the majority of FEs.

Goodness, what am I? A Flat Earther apologist?

 

[Zetetica]

I'll take flat earthers seriously once they can show me the edge.

Actually addressing the myriad of problems with their models instead of always changing the subject would be a good start, too.

Addressing model problems is important, I agree. I don't care for "topic shift" debate either.

 

[Zetetica]

It makes them completely irrelevant to a discussion on whether the world is round.

Typical flat-eartherism in fact -- ignore the evidence and divert the conversation to a side issue.

I agree, the ice barriers aren't relevant, since there just isn't believable evidence that they surround the entire Earth, 360 degrees. However, no diversion has been used here by me that I intended.

Furthermore, I honestly didn't write the original post to begin a debate. I wrote it to clarify that "Flat Earth is NOT Retarded". In other words, not everyone who believes the world is flat has an IQ of 75 or less.

So, perhaps you can debate that instead? Perhaps prove that FEs each have IQs lower than 76? Lower than 90? How about lower than 100? FEs general IQ overall?

 

[pitabread]

I think about half the flat-earthers on CF are trolls. The other half really believe it.

I think it's more like 80/20.

 

[Radagast]

That video footage is BEAUTIFUL!

Glad you think so.

In fact, the mere existence of that particular flight disproves the flat earth. That's why flat-earthers deny that the flight exists.

 

[Radagast]

Perhaps prove that FEs each have IQs lower than 76? Lower than 90? How about lower than 100? FEs general IQ overall?

Hard to give them IQ tests. So far, in conversations with multiple flat-earthers, I've noticed:

• ignorance of the facts
• inability to reason spatially (i.e. to imagine what one would see on a flat vs a round earth)
• mental illness (in some cases people have admitted that)
• and other things

 

[pitabread]

Furthermore, I honestly didn't write the original post to begin a debate. I wrote it to clarify that "Flat Earth is NOT Retarded". In other words, not everyone who believes the world is flat has an IQ of 75 or less.

So, perhaps you can debate that instead? Perhaps prove that FEs each have IQs lower than 76? Lower than 90? How about lower than 100? FEs general IQ overall?

Just on a related note, I did read an article not too long ago (based on someone who attended at FE conference) that suggested the FE movement may in part be related to power imbalance over knowledge. The idea is that those with knowledge in society are perceived as having greater power. Given the ever increasing emphasis on education as a means to a higher standard of living, it's easy to see where this comes from.

The idea is that one can take back that power by inventing a form of alternative knowledge; in this case flat earthism. Those who believe in a flat earth now possess a form of knowledge that everyone else duped by the round earth lack.

The way it read, it sounded like the whole flat earth movement (at least those who may be sincere) is borne out of an inferiority complex.

 

[Radagast]

The way it read, it sounded like the whole flat earth movement (at least those who may be sincere) is borne out of an inferiority complex.

Parts of it, quite possibly. As a Christian, I would say that the sins of envy and pride lurk behind not wanting to admit that other people have knowledge.

From a scientific perspective, see Lantian et al. (2017): "'I Know Things They Don’t Know!' The Role of Need for Uniqueness in Belief in Conspiracy Theories."

 

[Radagast]

Why assume gravity exists? That mass attracts mass, purely of itself

Not only does this explain planetary movement and falling objects, but it is a fact that can be demonstrated and quantified in a laboratory. You can actually measure how much gravity a large lead ball has.

Do day and night make sense on a flat Earth? They can.

They don't. Here's a January day, for example:

 

[Strathos]

I agree, the ice barriers aren't relevant, since there just isn't believable evidence that they surround the entire Earth, 360 degrees. However, no diversion has been used here by me that I intended.

Furthermore, I honestly didn't write the original post to begin a debate. I wrote it to clarify that "Flat Earth is NOT Retarded". In other words, not everyone who believes the world is flat has an IQ of 75 or less.

So, perhaps you can debate that instead? Perhaps prove that FEs each have IQs lower than 76? Lower than 90? How about lower than 100? FEs general IQ overall?

IQ isn't relevant, it's more about the susceptibility to conspiracy - minded thinking.

 

[Radagast]

IQ isn't relevant, it's more about the susceptibility to conspiracy - minded thinking.

I think the ability to think spatially is a factor, though.