Flat Earth Society

[nasher168]

When I first heard of these guys, my reaction went something along the lines of: "!!!!!!!?????!!!????"
Apparently, they believe the Earth looks like the United Nation symbol with 150ft ice-walls around the outside. They believe that every single photo from a satellite ,rocket or high-altitude plane has been faked as part of a big conspiracy (they give no explanation of motives). They do not believe in gravity, instead they think the Earth is moving upwards at 9.8 m/s^2. They do not believe that the continent of Antarctica exists. They believe the Sun and Moon are only 32 miles across.

So far, they have not addressed the issue of the Southern Cross, or the 6 month-long days in the Antarctic circle at all.

It kind of puts CrAP into perspective, if you ask me.

Here is their forum:
http://www.theflatearthsociety.org/forum/

 

[e2iPi]

I have a very difficult time believing this is anything but satire.

Of course, I have been guilty of underestimating the levels of stupidity to which humans can attain.

-1

 

[Raistlin Majere]

I have a very difficult time believing this is anything but satire.

Of course, I have been guilty of underestimating the levels of stupidity to which humans can attain.

-1

Never underestimate the predictability of human stupidity For every brilliant thing we've accomplished, there's sure to be something so mind numbingly stupid it'll make you cringe.

It's not satire, they actually believe it and it is confusing as all hell.

 

[Ozymandyus]

There is no way they actually believe that. After reading several pages of posts there my conclusion is that they are faking their faking faces off. Maybe one or two of them MIGHT believe it but the vast majority are just playing around and its pretty clear.

 

[Shapeshifter]

Clearly a joke.

Q: "What's underneath the Earth?" aka "What's on the bottom?" aka "What's on the other side?"

A: This is unknown. Some believe it to be just rocks, while others believe the Earth rests on the back of four elephants and a turtle.

The bit about elephants and turtles gave them away

 

[MtheoryGuy]

Q: "What's underneath the Earth?" aka "What's on the bottom?" aka "What's on the other side?"

A: This is unknown. Some believe it to be just rocks, while others believe the Earth rests on the back of four elephants and a turtle.

The bit about elephants and turtles gave them away [/quote]



Agreed, I consider myself to be a rational, logical person. That being said, I must have some faith in mankind, please someone find absolute proof these people are joking.

 

[ladiesman391]

Stupid people will believe anything you tell them it seems. Then throw in a book and you got them hook, line and sinker!

 

[Netheralian]

Read this http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/fe-scidi.htm

Charles Johnson was very serious about it. I don't think there are many of them left (if any). I recall looking into this some years ago and they had a web page and everything - then I looked about 2 months back and found there was only the forum.

You can also look at this site (it is more obviously satire): http://www.alaska.net/~clund/e_djublonskopf/Flatearthsociety.htm

 

[jus10ls]

These people make Young Earth Creationists and Mormons look brilliant.

 

[ilikeost]

There is a simple way of proving what they are saying!!! Just walk outside and look at the ground! IT'S FLAT!!! 100% sienctififcly proven!!!

 

[MRaverz]

Ok, they're ridiculous in their beliefs, but you have to admit - the 'Earth is moving upwards at 9.8 m/s^2' piece is inspired.

 

[IrBubble]

Although that means that the earth cannot be more than 3*10^7 years old, since it would defy relativity if it was (this is of course assuming that the acceleration of the earth was constant)

 

[e2iPi]

Nah, it just turns around every few million years and accelerates at -9.8 m/s^2

That explains those strange periods of zero gravity evident in the geologic record....oh, wait..

i^2

 

[Marcus]

Those periods of turning coincide with the times when the Space Duck takes time out from eating magnetic fields, flies to the Earth and unleashes its mighty quack. The wind from the quack still causes massive atmospheric disruptions, but its mighty force keeps everything pinned to the Earth's surface whilst it flips like a coin and starts accelerating in the opposite direction. It's all so obvious now!

 

[MRaverz]

Nah, it just turns around every few million years and accelerates at -9.8 m/s^2

That explains those strange periods of zero gravity evident in the geologic record....oh, wait..

i^2

Devil's Advocate .

How about this flat Earth is travelling in a reeeeeally big circle, so big that we it seems like gravity is still acting downwards - but is actually slightly off, thought we are unable to detect such a small change? :lol:

 

[e2iPi]

How about this flat Earth is travelling in a reeeeeally big circle, so big that we it seems like gravity is still acting downwards - but is actually slightly off, thought we are unable to detect such a small change? :lol:

Still have the problem of constant acceleration, eventually we would exceed the speed of light. Do you have any idea what kind of speeding ticket you get for that!

 

[MRaverz]

Still have the problem of constant acceleration, eventually we would exceed the speed of light. Do you have any idea what kind of speeding ticket you get for that!

I'm probably missing something quite basic here, on my defence it's late and I'm tired.

But, would we need to be travelling with acceleration or could we simply be travelling at 9.8 m/s? If so, why?

 

[darthrender2010]

But, would we need to be travelling with acceleration or could we simply be travelling at 9.8 m/s? If so, why?

if it wasn't constant acceleration at 9.8 m/s but velocity nothing would come back to earth as they would be traveling faster.

 

[e2iPi]

But, would we need to be travelling with acceleration or could we simply be travelling at 9.8 m/s? If so, why?

Because F=ma

Gravity is a force which keeps us firmly planted on the Earth's surface. If gravity was not constantly applying a force, centrifugal force would fling us off into space (I hear you out there, it's real, get over it). In the absence of gravity, acceleration works in exactly the same way, it applies a constant force. Okay, so understanding that we need a force to keep us planted on some surface, let's examine what happens at a constant velocity.

Acceleration is defined as a=dV/dT (I'm using d for delta here, not a derivative). At a constant velocity, dV=0, which results in a=0
Putting this back into our equation, we can see that F=m*0, which gives us F=0.

So, in the absence of acceleration, there is no force to keep us planted on the ground.

i^2

 

[SchrodingersFinch]

How do flat-earthers explain the fact that g varies depending on latitude?

On the equator it's about 9.7804 m/s^2 and on the North Pole about 9.8322 m/s^2.