People still think the Earth is flat!(not what you expect)

People still think the Earth is flat

Well they may not actively espouse that belief, but it apparently shows up in their thinking.

I think this is something a lot of people on ATS can relate to because it illustrates the difficulty of people grasping something that is contrary to what they perceive.

It's been said that in Christopher Columbus's time it wasn't difficult to show the earth was actually round, but you had to do it on paper and use mathematics most people of the day weren't schooled in so the idea of the Earth being flat ruled nonetheless.

I think this parallels a lot of different ideas that are expressed regularly on ATS that have lots of supporting evidence but no real hardcore tangible that jolts people into seeing the deeper reality underneath that which they perceive.

[edit on 9-6-2010 by thedarklingthrush]

You should edit the post title to Dumb people still think the earth is flat...

Lines sorry

[edit on 9-6-2010 by Pockets]

It's not so much of people thinking the earth is flat but just not knowing how or not remembering to take into account the curvature of the Earth. If you asked me to estimate the distance between Los Angeles and Washington DC, almost the exact same question posed in the article, I would probably estimate it as if I was driving straight there, not evening thinking about the curvature of the Earth that adds miles...

Does this mean I am dumb and believe the Earth is flat? I don't think anyone truly believes the Earth is flat maybe if we used nautical miles it would be ok and we wouldn't have this misleading article

didnt Egyptians know that the Earth was round thousands of years ago? I swear we were just taught that in school so we could be made to feel superior to the people of old. there will always be dumb people. just look for the New Zealand/Australia place switch threads

Originally posted by AnonymousMoose
It's not so much of people thinking the earth is flat but just not knowing how or not remembering to take into account the curvature of the Earth. If you asked me to estimate the distance between Los Angeles and Washington DC, almost the exact same question posed in the article, I would probably estimate it as if I was driving straight there, not evening thinking about the curvature of the Earth that adds miles...

Does this mean I am dumb and believe the Earth is flat? I don't think anyone truly believes the Earth is flat

maybe if we used nautical miles it would be ok and we wouldn't have this misleading article

Well, do you really know something if you aren't taking it fully into account when you answer questions?

Even though you can repeat the fact the Earth is round when asked, that doesn't mean you really comprehend the Earth as a spherical body hanging in space as opposed to the flat plane you see before you when you look into the distance.

You said it yourself that you would answer the question without thinking of the curvature of the Earth, and I think that's because when actually pressed for information your mind will lean toward answering based on what it perceives on a daily basis rather what you think you know.

Please don't take it personally, I'm talking in general here.I'm not saying anyone's dumb, just not fully aware of the inner workings of the mind. No one is.

Ooooh, okay, the article asked questions like "plot the route you'd take to fly from Greenland to Moscow" and the best answer is approximately over the pole.

I thought they were saying "duh, the distance from LA to Cairo is going to be short because you just go through the planet" (which would be stupid) or that an orbit looks like a sine-wave on a globe (which would be way too advanced for the average non-pilot to consider).

Alright. My faith in humanity is restored. For a second I thought the researchers were just assholes trying to make people look stupid by asking trick questions. Wait...

I can go either way, If I need to think of distances in America, I see it as a map, but if I am thinking of other things, like bigger spaces, oceans, I see it as almost like a Google Earth map that can be dragged around how I need it in my brain.

Honestly this doesn't mean that people think the world is flat, it just shows how thinking works for certain individuals. I see a map in my brain, not a flat Earth, it is just easier for me that way. When I am thinking of our solar system, that is different, but in reality, we see everything as 2d, if we saw in 3d, we would be seeing everything at all angles possible at once.

We do see in 3D. Things on paper or on your puter screen are 2D. A typical map would be 2D.

reply to post by Pockets

You should edit the post title to Dumb
people still think the earth is flat...

I think the article makes a good point:

"Ninety-nine percent of all people think that of course the Earth is round, because they have learned it in school,"

So rather than "dumb people still think the earth is flat"...I think "indoctrinated people with no direct experience of it blindly accept that the earth is round because they've been told to believe it" would be more appropriate.

Why do you believe the earth is round? Have you seen it from space? Have you sailed all the way around? Have you observed the retrograde motion of other planets? No? Do you believe it simply because you've been told to believe it?

How does that make you smart?

Originally posted by primus2012
We do see in 3D. Things on paper or on your puter screen are 2D. A typical map would be 2D.

We know that it is 3d, yes, we can touch things, and feel that they are three dimensional, but no, we are not seeing in 3d. We are seeing everything flat. Don't tell me you can see the backside of someone when you are looking in there eyes, because that is seeing in 3d. Seeing in 3d is seeing all vantage points of something.

A four dimensional brain would perceive something in three dimensions, but realize that everything is four dimensional with there other senses, etc. Complicated, I know.

reply to post by thedarklingthrush



don.t thnk that people are stupid or dumb or really do believe that earth is flat
most of us have been educated at school that earth is a globe
some of us might even have one of these little globe models at home
but even having the knowledge i truly have to admit that even me would estimate distances as if earth is flat

maybe because mankind are not really made to estimate huge distances?
just an idea
estimation is not accurate calculation
and even if you are looking across a huge distance towards the horizon - earth appears to be flat!
the curves of earth are to big to be realized by me!

but even if i am small and earth is huge - she is a big big ball

reply to post by LordBucket


I've seen the curvature of the earth...thus leading me to believe the world is curved....as I moved further into the distance I saw that the land still seemed to not be flat....leading me to believe that the earth is not flat.....but round

Why do you believe the earth is not flat?


[edit on 9-6-2010 by Pockets]

A plane flight would prove it IMO because you CAN see the curvature of the earth and if you fly far enough the curvature blocks out whatever land or body of water was visible before.

Originally posted by LordBucket
reply to post by Pockets

 

You should edit the post title to Dumb
people still think the earth is flat...

I think the article makes a good point:

"Ninety-nine percent of all people think that of course the Earth is round, because they have learned it in school,"

So rather than "dumb people still think the earth is flat"...I think "indoctrinated people with no direct experience of it blindly accept that the earth is round because they've been told to believe it" would be more appropriate.

Why do you believe the earth is round? Have you seen it from space? Have you sailed all the way around? Have you observed the retrograde motion of other planets? No? Do you believe it simply because you've been told to believe it?

How does that make you smart?

I know the earth is round due to the horizon effect and the shadow the earth places on the moons surface...

Nobody thought the Earth was Flat at least from Plato's time on... one question I do have?
Is The Flat Earth Society serious? or is it a joke? I have been to their web-site they seem serious. does anybody know?

I think this whole phenomenon is a more a limitation of 2D maps than anything else. In any case, in most everyday situations the is effectively flat since we can hardly dig straight lines through the earth.

reply to post by thedarklingthrush


Christopher Columbus had problems getting anybody to fund his voyage across the Atlantic because they did not believe Columbus' estimates of the size of the earth.

Educated people during Columbus' time knew the Earth was round. Columbus incorrectly believed the Earth was much smaller than it is. Based on his incorrect calculations, Columbus believed a voyage by sea from Europe to India would be relatively short.

Columbus detractors believed the Earth was larger than Columbus calculated. They did not believe Columbus could successfully sail from Europe to India because the distance would be too great.

Unfortunately, events as they really transpired do not make for good grammar school history. Good grammar school history requires characters who are clearly good and clearly bad. The real Columbus was a man that in many respects was actually a bit of a fool. Columbus' detractors were actually more enlightened and in some respects more knowledgeable and correct than Columbus.

The popular media, and its portrayal of current events is much like a grammar school history book. It needs clearly defined villains and heroes. There is little or no room for nuance.



[edit on 9-6-2010 by hotpinkurinalmint]

Explanation: The earth is BOTH flat and spherical [3D roundness] and which one is the answer depends totally on ones overall POV and the scale and accuracy of the measuring stick/standard being used!

Here is WHY!...

Right at this very moment where I am and at the scale of 1mtr and 1sec and with a 1mtr ruler [say a builders spirit level] with increments of 1mm, I can say for absolute certainty to within +/- 1mm in and +/- 1degree up or down that the earth/floor beneath me is mostly flat!

But if I use a ruler that is 1km long with increments of 1mtr and I stay at the 1mtr and 1sec POV, it becomes pretty obvious that the earth is not flat where I am [I live in a valley] and the variation is more than +/- 1mtr and 1/- 1degree up or down!

Now if I just change my POV and look down from space it again becomes clear that if I move that 1km long ruler out to the Nullarbor plain and put it on the Eyre Highway that ... Yep the earth out there is flat at that resolution!

Personal Disclosure: You can't accurately measure a millimeter with a mile long ruler with increments of a meter and you can't accurately measure infinity with a ruler of any size with any subsized increments!

The Earth is neither Flat nor Round. Its Oval.

reply to post by Pockets

I've seen the curvature of the earth...thus leading me to believe the
world is curved....as I moved further into the distance I saw that the
land still seemed to not be flat....leading me to believe that the earth
is not flat.....but round

I think you have the sequence incorrect there. I suspect it's more like:

You were told at a young age that the earth is round and you believed it. It never occurred to you to question it. Then many years later you happened upon corrorative evidence and never questioned that either.

That process is very different than seeing evidence and coming to a conclusion.