[Yonah ben Amittai]

Ok. This topic that I am starting is deliberately going to be as simplistic as it gets. I realise that many people are going to tell me to go to the FAQ or the Wiki. But, that is NOT how to answer questions.

If you had NEVER met me, and I had NEVER HEARD of Flat Earth Theory, and I walked in this room, completely cold, how would you respond to me? If I just came in said, "OMG, what is this?" what would you say?

So, start from the VERY beginning. Preferably using bullet points, tot down the primary points of FET. Indicate for me those points, and explain each point briefly to me. After you have done so, I shall analyse each thing you have written, and respond.

I am seriously NOT trying to be a dick. I truly want to get to the bottom of exactly what FET is. I have been on this site for about a year, and had a large amount of conversations about the FE, but now I want to go back to the most basic of basics, and get the simplest of understandings. Pretend you are talking to a nine-year-old.

Carry on then! Let the topic begin!

[Ghost of V]

This is not a good way to start a topic, Yaakov. The information you're asking for is made available on the FAQS solely to prevent these kinds of "basic info" threads.

http://wiki.tfes.org/FAQ
http://wiki.tfes.org/Zeteticism
http://wiki.tfes.org/Universal_Acceleration
http://wiki.tfes.org/Sun
http://wiki.tfes.org/Moon
http://wiki.tfes.org/Aether

Browse the available material (these are the basics), then ask your questions. Otherwise I'd just be copy/pasting from the FAQs to answer your questions anyways. Seems redundant, huh?

[Tintagel]

Here's how I would start. 

The earth is flat.

[Yonah ben Amittai]

Here's how I would start. 

The earth is flat.

Why is the Earth Flat instead of round like a ball?

[Ghost of V]

Here's how I would start. 

The earth is flat.

Why is the Earth Flat instead of round like a ball?

Unknown, but it is clearly flat. "Gravity" is the cause of round planets. Gravity does not exist.

[Yonah ben Amittai]

How is the Earth clearly flat? It does not appear to be in pictures taken from space. And how does gravity not exist? What else is hoding me to ground? What evidence is there to prove to me that the Earth is flat?

And yes, i am asking these questions, elementary though they are, to finally get a grasp on the basics. I know they are in the FAQs. But they are invariably written in a manner that is dense and difficult to follow so stay with me whilst I track this all in m y own way, with my own mind.

[Tom Bishop]

The Flat Earth Society is a group of intellectuals who believe that the earth is flat. The earth is flat for many reasons, and much evidence points towards its flatness.

It's obvious

Just look out your window. What do you see? Flatness everywhere. We live and exist on a plane. Wherever we go and whatever we do, the earth is flat all around. All beginning arguments must, therefore, start under the assumption that the earth is flat. When we start from the basics the reality is that the earth is a plane. It must be proven to be round, not the other way around.

Few pieces of circumstantial evidence

Much of our education system is based off of antiquity. The idea of a round earth is one of those things that is blindly assumed to be true, based on ancient theories of philosophers.

In classrooms Aristotile's three proofs are still the primary reasons given reasons for why we know that the earth is round: The shadow which appears on the lunar eclipse is round, when a ship sails into the distance it disappears hull first, and the North Star decends as you travel southward. This is not "proof" by any measure, but a few pieces of evidence. Apparently the only evidence outside of NASA propaganda, too.

It's all a matter of interpretation. Any round body between the sun and moon can align periodically to cast a round shadow to cause the eclipse. When a ship recedes into the distances at sea it is shrinking behind the waves in front of it, clearly. And if the stars were close to a flat earth they would also descend as you traveled.

Water Convexity Studies

In extensive studies of the water's convexity, Samuel Birley Rowbotham proved that the surface of standing water is not convex. His work can be read in the book Earth Not a Globe, which can be found for free online.

NASA is clearly a scam

Several things are suspicious about NASA. There are many examples, but here are a few.

The lunar lander, for example, is held together on the hostile surface of the moon with tape, of all things, and seems to be built of low quality materials. See: A Close Look at the Lunar Lander

The lunar rover is missing tracks behind the tires in several shots. See: Apollo Moonbuggy Problems

A sneaker footprint on the moon? See: Sneakers on the Moon

The mars missions are equally suspicious. A rodent on Mars was recently spotted. They are also apparently faking the color of the mars sky.

Conclusion

So, what is the simplest explanation; that NASA has successfully designed and invented never before seen rocket technologies from scratch which can accelerate 100 tons of matter straight up at 7 miles per second, and that NASA can do the impossible on a daily basis, explore the solar system, and constantly wow the nation by landing a man on the moon and sending robots to mars; or is the simplest explanation that they really can't do all of that stuff?

[Yonah ben Amittai]

If the Earth is a plane, I should be able to see much further past the horizon than I currently do, no?

[Tom Bishop]

If the Earth is a plane, I should be able to see much further past the horizon than I currently do, no?

The atmosphere is not perfectly transparent.

[Yonah ben Amittai]

What shape is Earth if it is a plane?

[Tom Bishop]

What shape is Earth if it is a plane?

This is unknown. The outer reaches of our local area exists in ice and inhospitable conditions. Some speculate that the earth is infinite in extent beyond this. Others speculate that there might be an ending somewhere beyond our local area.

[Yonah ben Amittai]

What shape is Earth if it is a plane?

This is unknown. The outer reaches of our local area exists in ice and inhospitable conditions. Some speculate that the earth is infinite in extent beyond this. Others speculate that there might be an ending somewhere beyond our local area.

Are there no flat earth explorers to verify this?

[Ghost of V]

What shape is Earth if it is a plane?

Most of us think it looks something like this:

[Yonah ben Amittai]

What shape is Earth if it is a plane?

Most of us think it looks something like this:

Why?

[Ghost of V]

What shape is Earth if it is a plane?

Most of us think it looks something like this:

Why?

From our basic understanding of the Earth's geography, we know that there is a North and South pole. If the Earth is flat then logically the North Pole would be the center of the Earth and South Pole would be the circumference around it.

[Yonah ben Amittai]

I have to eat dinner and walk the dog. Be back later.

[Tom Bishop]

The layout of the earth given on this site is hypothetical only. The only mapping project the FES engaged in was in the mid 1800's. Samuel Birley Rowbotham cataloged hundreds of logs from vessels, explorers, and contacted naval sources of the time to produce a 1/8th representation of our local area. The map was a pie slice containing Europe and Africa, and proved that Africa was wider than it was tall, contrary to Round Earth Theory. The map is reproduced in Flat Earth: The History of an Infamous Idea by Christine Garwood.

[Tintagel]

Personally I believe the earth is infinite, but that's just a 'gut' thing rather than something I have actual evidence of.  I do have evidence of flatness, however.  Look at the glorious flat horizon.

[Gulliver]

...
It's obvious
Just look out your window. What do you see? Flatness everywhere. We live and exist on a on a plane. Wherever we go and whatever we do, the earth is flat all around. All beginning arguments must, therefore, start under the assumption that the earth is flat. When we start from the basics the conclusion is that the earth is a plane. It must be proven to be round, not the other way around.
...

No, when looking out a window, you do not see flatness everywhere. There are hills and dales seen from many windows. Just one such view invalidates your gross simplification. No, Wherever we go and whatever we do, the earth is not flat all around. There are mountains, for example. Again, just one such exception invalidates your gross simplification. No, not all beginning arguments must start under any assumption. Even zetetic philosophy rejects starting with an assumption. Nothing needs to be proven. Science doesn't play that game. Science develops the best theory, it can based on observations and derivations. While Science can disprove an FET lame claim ("We live and exist on a on a plane"), by walking up a flight of stairs and turning right at the top, Science only rarely "proves" a conclusion.

[Yonah ben Amittai]

Personally I believe the earth is infinite, but that's just a 'gut' thing rather than something I have actual evidence of.  I do have evidence of flatness, however.  Look at the glorious flat horizon.

But if the Earth is infinite, how would such a horizone occur at all?