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Flat Earth Theory / Flat Earth at the Beach
« on: June 02, 2020, 01:26:41 PM »
Yesterday I spent a few hours at the beach in Whitstable, and found myself thinking about some of the things I've read on this forum.
The Ship
I took a pair of binoculars and looked at a large ship off shore from the deck of the house I was staying in. It had white letters on the side saying COSCO SHIPPING. It occurred to me that that I could attempt to observe the curvature of the earth myself. I didn’t know how far out the ship was, but it seemed worth a shot. I figured if the earth is round, and the ship is far enough, my view of the letters would be obscured from the bottom up. So I walked down to the water's edge, squatted down, and looked out at the ship. The ship was there but the letters were gone. A clear blue line of water, perfectly aligned with the horizon, was cutting off my view of the bottom of the ship's hull. I walked back up the beach, and looked at it again, while standing: the letters were back. Back and forth, several times, crystal clear. Each time I observed from higher up the beach, I could see the ship and read the letters. Seconds later, from the waters edge, I could see the ship but not the letters.
The Sun
Whitstable is famous for its sunsets. At sunset, I was sat on the deck with a glass of wine watching the sun go down. It didn't appear to shrink, as it might if it was simply moving further away from me, above a flat earth. And then it was progressively obscurred by the earth as it set. It didn't seem to fade away or slowly dissapear, it set downwards into the earth and was blocked by the earth.
The Moon
Nearly full, and beautiful. Of course it looked much like it always does. The same face of the moon was visible to me last night as when I was a child. I've seen it from 5 continents, always the same face.
Can I reconcile these observations with a flat earth? Yes, but not easily. Based on the Wiki accompanying this forum, I would need to believe:
▪ the sinking ship efffect is caused by refraction;
▪ the sunset is a combination of perspective, magnification, and electromagnetic acceleration - a mechanism to the universe that pulls, pushes, or deflects light upwards;
▪ the nearside of the moon is always visible because of electromagnetic acceleration as well.
Now, I'm not a scientist, so although they seem fishy I can't dismiss any of those claims out of hand. However, in each case, it seems I am being asked to disregard what my eyes are telling me and instead to accept an explanation that is counterintuitive and convoluted based on some science claims on the internet.
Is that really what flat earthers want me to do? I thought the whole point was to trust your senses and and do your own experiments? Based on my eyes and my own observations at the beach, shouldn't I believe the earth is round? What do I do now?
The Ship
I took a pair of binoculars and looked at a large ship off shore from the deck of the house I was staying in. It had white letters on the side saying COSCO SHIPPING. It occurred to me that that I could attempt to observe the curvature of the earth myself. I didn’t know how far out the ship was, but it seemed worth a shot. I figured if the earth is round, and the ship is far enough, my view of the letters would be obscured from the bottom up. So I walked down to the water's edge, squatted down, and looked out at the ship. The ship was there but the letters were gone. A clear blue line of water, perfectly aligned with the horizon, was cutting off my view of the bottom of the ship's hull. I walked back up the beach, and looked at it again, while standing: the letters were back. Back and forth, several times, crystal clear. Each time I observed from higher up the beach, I could see the ship and read the letters. Seconds later, from the waters edge, I could see the ship but not the letters.
The Sun
Whitstable is famous for its sunsets. At sunset, I was sat on the deck with a glass of wine watching the sun go down. It didn't appear to shrink, as it might if it was simply moving further away from me, above a flat earth. And then it was progressively obscurred by the earth as it set. It didn't seem to fade away or slowly dissapear, it set downwards into the earth and was blocked by the earth.
The Moon
Nearly full, and beautiful. Of course it looked much like it always does. The same face of the moon was visible to me last night as when I was a child. I've seen it from 5 continents, always the same face.
Can I reconcile these observations with a flat earth? Yes, but not easily. Based on the Wiki accompanying this forum, I would need to believe:
▪ the sinking ship efffect is caused by refraction;
▪ the sunset is a combination of perspective, magnification, and electromagnetic acceleration - a mechanism to the universe that pulls, pushes, or deflects light upwards;
▪ the nearside of the moon is always visible because of electromagnetic acceleration as well.
Now, I'm not a scientist, so although they seem fishy I can't dismiss any of those claims out of hand. However, in each case, it seems I am being asked to disregard what my eyes are telling me and instead to accept an explanation that is counterintuitive and convoluted based on some science claims on the internet.
Is that really what flat earthers want me to do? I thought the whole point was to trust your senses and and do your own experiments? Based on my eyes and my own observations at the beach, shouldn't I believe the earth is round? What do I do now?