I am in utter disbelief that this 'Flat-Earth' nonsense has gained some attention

After seeing that another internet personality (who will remain nameless in this post) had gone on the record in support of the Flat Earth theory, enough was enough- I had to see for myself. What is the draw of this whole idea, and how do people fall under its spell? My goal was to go into this investigation without preconceptions and confirmation bias. And like many of you, I'm a person who doesn't have a problem with analyzing and dissecting theories and ideas that seem crazy at first glance, or have been labeled by the establishment as ridiculous. So I did a couple searches and checked out a video on YouTube, something like "The 200 Proofs of Flat Earth", just to see what it was all about. Well, to put it simply, IT WAS PREPOSTEROUS. I was, and still am, shocked and mortified, and EMBARRASSED FOR OUR HUMAN RACE that a concept so completely absurd, which has been roundly and thoroughly disproved by science for centuries, could somehow get into our collective consciousness.

The video's creator/narrator either lacks the ability to grasp the base concepts of physics, or refuses to, or is pretending they don't exist to serve an outside agenda... that's where the possible disinformation comes in. First I've just got to go off, to logically set fire to some of this person's unbelievable ideas. So if you wish to avoid the angry rant, just skip down to the last bit.

Listing his "proofs", He said things like - 'If the world were indeed round, rivers could not flow in the directions they do, sometimes even in a South->North direction. This is impossible because water cannot flow uphill, over the supposed curve of the Earth and to another point on the globe." For that to make any sense, you've got to have no concept of gravity existing as a tether to a center of mass, and water forever following the path of least resistance, over the Earth's contours and elevation changes, toward that center point. This "Proof", and many of his others which hinge on the same logical flaw, only makes sense if the Earth were hanging suspended in the middle of a room, and gravity were some outside force.

Here's another - "If the Earth were round, and rotating at thousands of miles an hour like we've been told, the wind at the surface of our planet wouldn't just be loud enough to be heard, but it would be so strong it would destroy structures and hurl people and animals into the air." Hmm, where to begin? The air is a fluid, just like water, but a bit lighter. It's spinning at the same rate as the land mass of the Earth, because like the oceans, all matter that has coalesced around our planet's center of gravity, is one body. Do he and other FE believers understand that space isn't made up of air, that's sitting still as the Earth and other objects move and rotate around and through it? Space is a frictionless vacuum. Nothing to cause resistance or drag as our atmosphere meets it, so of course the air moves along with the planet's surface. Then he said airplanes wouldn't be able to land on a round, rotating Earth, because they couldn't get moving fast enough to catch up with the speed of the ground beneath them in order to land in a West-to-East direction. Amazingly, this presupposes that the aircraft (and i guess the air around it) would've somehow stopped rotating along with the Earth at the moment of takeoff. And then he says that on a rotating Earth, travel by helicopter would be so simple- all you'd need to do is take off and hover, waiting for the land to move beneath you at a terrific speed, and then eventually descend and land at your destination. These are also nauseating in their ignorance, which is plainly evident to anyone with a logical brain capable of critical thought.

And I've just got to mention one more, then I'll leave this garbage alone. One of the major 'Proofs' was that when engineers design very long roads or bridges, like the Florida Keys highway, they never calculate/compensate for the curve of the Earth. So if the Earth were round, as the bridge was being built, it would've risen and continued in a straight line, from the ground, out into the sky. ...stop laughing, I'm serious, this was one of the 'Proofs". I guess according to that thought process, all the construction equipment was weightless. So having no attachment by gravity to the Earth, they would just gently lift off, along with all the construction workers and their flat Earth blueprints, their trucks, materials, etc., and go straight on into space. Sounds legit, Flat Earth Proven! UNBELIEVABLE.

End rant.

So many of this person's/these peoples' Proofs rely on just a few common misunderstandings of physics and fluid dynamics, that I've become convinced there is an agenda at work. Possibly an experiment by an agency or even an AI, to test the ability to preempt and/or short-circuit the logical processes of the human mind, and in what percentage of the population this has become possible... I'm reminded of Orwell's 1984, where Big Brother's goal was to make Winston not just say, but to believe, that two plus two equaled five.

Pretty far out, I know. But when some quasi-famous personalities who have the attention of the younger generation start to believe in this garbage and share it on social media, it makes my skin crawl.

Sorry for ranting on about such a wacky and fantastic topic, but I had to get it out of my system. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts friends.

a reply to: M4nWithNoN4me
It's all a side-effect of the "conspiracy theory" outlook.
The attitude of "distrust all authority" now extends to scientific authority. Anything that is part of what the world in general is being taught MUST be false.

a reply to: M4nWithNoN4me

The internet helps to bring out the whacky.

a reply to: M4nWithNoN4me

One point you brought up is actually false (from the FE side). Engineers and bridges. Engineers do take into consideration the curvature of the Earth when designing and constructing bridges.

FE people never cease to amaze me with their level of stupidity.

a reply to: M4nWithNoN4me

Even some celebrities are getting in on the whole flat earth theory...

The general population of the world is de-evolving...

So what do they think happens if you go to the edge? Why do they think there is no photographic or video evidence of the edge of the earth? That's really all there is to it. I don't care about the curvature of the earth or any of that. I just know that nobody has ever found the edge. That's all the proof you'd really need.

Dumbing down of the populace is succeeding.

a reply to: M4nWithNoN4me

And just think, these people also vote in presidential elections and drive cars.

"Be the change you want to see" is going full retard.

a reply to: M4nWithNoN4me

It's all basic human frailties. Top of the list : an inability to admit you are wrong when faced with facts that contradict your beliefs. Or, to give it is proper title, Cognitive Dissonance.

Next is ignorance. Now this is sad because it seems to be on the increase. Given the amount of information at our finger tips you would think that ignorance should decrease. What happens though is the opposite. Cognitive Dissonance kicks in and prevents people from opening their minds. Next we have the internet and the ability to communicate with people all around the globe. This allows the "ignorant" to reinforce their Cognitive Dissonance with people of like beliefs. It's why you have hundreds of sites full of the same copy and pasted nonsense. On ATS they star and flag each others ignorance in a frenzy probably with some odd belief that this "proves" they are right. NAH it just highlights the amount of ignorance!

Finally money. Well enough said on that.......

I understand your frustration and I have no answer, it is mind numbingly sad the amount of ignorance that people on a site like this express. Ironic doesn't come close!!!!!!!!!

Now I'm going to get in a boat and sail to the edge of the world and look over the edge at the elephants standing on a giant tortoise (according to legend) which is exactly what you can do with a flat earth..........although I'm puzzled why sailors over the centuries never found the edge and why the water doesn't run off, must be a mini wall. I'll let you know.

I agree I even give whacked out ideas a chance but some are just extreme head bangers! Truthfully, the only flat earth theory that held any weight in my investigation is the possibility of IF this whole reality is a computer simulation...wahlah...3-d graphics on a 2-d screen. I love video games, so I could see myself as some other outside entity playing a Sim game. It would explain a lot of the miraculous and strange seeming glitches in the system. I am not completely sold, but hey, I would never know.

Another memory of a star trek next generation show popped in my head...didn't they have some holographic characters develop consciousness and still create a holographic world on a disk to make them think they gained their freedom? Fiction true....but interesting thoughts?

a reply to: M4nWithNoN4me

physics

MMMMM physics have been telling us that more CO2 equals more heat but for some reason the best computer generated models diverge from the heat on the ground . One is reality while Physics seems to be something else . Maybe it is the make believe in all of this ...could be flat but could be round but if you ask a physicist you get a different picture then what NASA has shown us ... I would think that if things were as Empirical as scientist would lead us to believe then there would be no disagreement as to why things are the way they are but instead they offer multi pal theories . Its seems to be about pick one so why not pick a flat earth .Its not like you will ever have to worry about being spun off into the vacuum of space . Oh wait ,is it a vacuum . some say yes while others say nay ....have fun with your ball ...

a reply to: M4nWithNoN4me
Exactly,I have no idea why people are falling for this crap.
We have known for centuries that the Earth is not flat,with the existence of telescopes and photos online of the Earth and other planets we can know for a fact that the Earth and surrounding planets are not flat. These flat Earth people don't want to and won't look at proof that they are wrong,part of that problem is they are going in with bias and are not willing to try thinking about it in another way nor are they open to looking at evidence that their theory is implausible by the rules of science.

I wish this flat Earth stuff would stop,it defies the laws of science and is completely illogical.
I really hope it is just a massive trolling,but with how thick some people are these days it wouldn't surprise me that people believe it,I think the same kind of person who believes in fairy's,big foot,and unicorns is the same type of person who believes in flat Earth.

What surprises me is the angst that a few people can cause the many

Who cares, who are you to be so offended

Mostly I think flat earthers are people who like to taunt the gullible, the gullible who believe that they think it's a flat earth
Who believe they have a Devine right to demand what others think or say

It's almost politically incorrect to have an alternate view to what the majority believe and the majority seem to think they have a right to demand conformity based on their belief



I might just become a flat earther, just for fun

I think it is the acceptance of "relative" and "subjective" truth, gone awry.
People have been conditioned to think that "whats true for you is not true for me" is somehow a logical conclusion to come to.
The very concept of absolute truth is becoming more and more abhorrent to people. I see no reason why these people should not expect to have this idea to be taken seriously, in today's world regardless of its objective truth.
After all if Men can be Women because they say so, and women can be men just because they say so, why cant the earth be flat just because someone says so?

a reply to: M4nWithNoN4me

I'm thinking it's more like hipster science. It's "ironic" to believe in it because it is so obviously wrong. Like wearing trucker hats with pink-rimmed Elton John glasses.

It was only a matter of time before hipsters had to enter the science field.

originally posted by: amazing
So what do they think happens if you go to the edge? Why do they think there is no photographic or video evidence of the edge of the earth? That's really all there is to it. I don't care about the curvature of the earth or any of that. I just know that nobody has ever found the edge. That's all the proof you'd really need.

In my limited interactions with persons who have some FE belief, their answer is always the same- "Pictures can be faked. Show it to me!"

I'm a little short on the cash required to contact the Russians and book passage for two to the International Space Station. Get back to me next week.

Are they still teaching about gravity in schools???

a reply to: the2ofusr1

Yeah sure if you just ignore what he is saying and then twist it to say something he isn't.

There is empirical evidence that the earth is not flat, no scientist offers any disagreement there.

That youtuber is off the walls, why would anyone take him seriously?

a reply to: M4nWithNoN4me
It seems crazy. One thing that caught my attention was the horizon at sea and ships going over the horizon to the eye, but when zoomed in with a camera the ship can still be seen. Cameras can't see around curves so this is strange.
Im off to the beach in a couple of weeks and have a big zoom camera and am going to try this out. I post my results once done.

a reply to: M4nWithNoN4me
If you haven't seen Idiocracy, watch it. It's the only movie I know of that started out as fiction and ended up being a documentary.