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Flat Earth Theory / Re: Looking for curvature is a fool's errand.
« Last post by Alisa on May 29, 2023, 04:08:37 PM »Yes, that's why lighthouses are built very high, to get a clearer view of the surrounding landscape and to see ships far from land, even in the dark of night. And as you rotate 360 degrees in the middle of the ocean, you will notice that the horizon changes with each rotation as it slowly bends away from you. If you look closely, you may also notice the curvature of the Earth's surface.
Trying to disprove that the earth is flat by looking for curvature is a fool's errand, because a circular shape is not proof of sphericalness. Hold up a flat, round placemat, and you will see a circular outline. Hold up a basketball, and you will also see a circular outline. So, what is it that allows you to perceive that the basketball is a sphere but the placemat is not? Depth perception - but only up to a certain distance. For a basketball that is only a few feet away from you, your depth perception can see that the sides of the ball curve away from the center of it and away from your face. This allows your brain to interpret it as a sphere (It probably helps that your brain already knows this and is predisposed to interpreting it as such).
If you were on a raft in the middle of a perfectly calm ocean, and spun around to view all 360 degrees, it would all look exactly the same. It would be like being in the middle of a large hoop that arcs around you at a constant distance and then attaches back to itself after describing a perfect circle. There would be exactly zero appearance of curvature in the dimension that would prove sphericalness. You can't see the 3rd dimension you're looking for because you can't see past a horizon that is equidistant from you at all times.
Now, magically levitate and repeat the process. No matter how high you go, nothing changes in terms of not being able to see proof of sphericalness due to curvature. The horizon is farther away (the hoop is bigger), but that's all. Perhaps if you went high enough, the earth would take on relative basketball proportions and your depth perception would kick in.
To be able to see sphericalness, you would have to be able to see farther to the left and right than you can in the middle (you could only do this with a transparent globe). So, the irony is that the spherical nature of the earth is the very thing that prevents you from seeing the spherical nature of the earth.
