Why Do People Say they Believe the Earth to Be Flat?

Question

If there is anyone here who comes across this and is a convinced flat-Earther, then I have a few questions for you.  a) If the Earth is flat, then why is it the case that certain constellations that are visible in the Southern Hemisphere (ex. the 'Southern Cross') cannot be seen in the North (and vice versa - we cannot see 'The Plough'). b) What lies beneath the pancake, and how far does that extend? c) What explains the - very real - phenomenon of the hulls of ships vanishing first as they sail over the horizon, followed by their sails/superstructure? d) Why has no one ever seen the edge? (And no, don't say, "It's NASA employees turning people away with their guns". Don't be stupid). e) If no one ever went to the moon, why have other nations (especially Russia, who were actually the first into space) exposed NASA over it? The lack of evidence for the perpetration of a hoax is, itself, evidence there was no hoax. f) As I type this, it is 11:50 AM on the 11/08/2021. In other parts of the world it's still the tenth. Why do we need time-zones? g) What happens to the sun at night-time? Where does it go? The Earth is a sphere, specifically an oblate spheroid. That is just a fact, one there is no sense in denying.

Bluemax · Accepted Answer

Are you in the southern hemisphere? If so, seeing the Southern Cross and the Magellanic clouds are on my bucket list. Have you seen them?

As a teacher of 9 to 11 year olds, my school asked me to write a curriculum for kids about how they can prove the spherical shape of the earth. Now, I *love* teaching science. I also think that not taking something as true simply because an authority says so is at the heart of skeptical, scientific inquiry. I also think my curriculum was scientific method demonstrated very well, in ways *children* could both test and observe. If you want to know more about my curriculum, just say so and I'll tell you. On the other hand, I *hated* that I had to divert valuable class time to addressing this nonsense (the kids at my school watched YouTube and were starting to believe the whole flat earth silliness).

Well, I had to look up flat earthers as research. I came to the conclusion that the movement began as a highly successful trolling to make religious people look dumb.

So to answer some of your questions to flat earthers, here's how many respond to your questions.

A) I never heard an answer to this one
B) Air. Many seem to believe that the universe extends infinitely in all directions, so it's air all the way down.
C) Atmospheric refraction. Or waves and swells.
D) They claim that people *have* seen the edge, but they are part of or have been silenced by the conspiracy (Big Globe). by the way, I never heard an explanation of how Big Globe profits from this or why anyone would have an interest in the conspiracy. Any rate, the rest of us have been prevented from seeing the edge by all the navies of the world blockading Antarctica.
E) They claim all the nations of the world are in on the conspiracy, thus it's in their interest *not * to expose NASA. by the way, the moon landing conspiracy theorists say the same thing.
F) They believe the sun circles above the earth with the North Pole at the center. Some believe that the sun recedes to a point where it can no longer be seen (they believe the sun is actually quite small and not very far away; a few hundred to a few thousand miles). Some believe the sun only sheds its light in a cone shape down upon the earth (like a desk lamp with a lamp- shade). How this lampshade works is anyone's guess, though I've heard theories that it's made of dark matter.

If these sound like ridiculous explanations to you, well I agree. But again, I honestly think the origins of the flat earth conspiracy is that it began as an attempt to troll Christians and make them look dumb.

andreasderjuengere · Accepted Answer

Some people feel pissed off to be very insignificant.
So they begin talking nonsense - to be criticized is still better than being ignored.
My answers - in the spirit of a flattie:
a) People in the north don't see the 'Southern Cross' because it's too far away. I can't even see the next town from here.
b) Beneath the pancake there's first 4 elephants, next a turtle (gender unknown)
c) The ships sink. I never saw one returning.
d) The edge is behind an ice wall. The ice can not be climbed. NASA only flies... UP - never towards the edge (see 'a') for additional reasons
e) No one says that there is no moon. Of course we can go there and come back.
f) We need time-zones because the sun is shared: it often is needed somewhere else, too.
g) The sun at night-time: It's like a spot-light that's moved around. You sometimes can't see it.(again, see 'a')

My own theory: the Earth was flat ONCE. But for globalization it had been inflated.
It also looks better this way.

Why Do People Say they Believe the Earth to Be Flat?

purplepoppy · Accepted Answer

I think it comes from a biblical quotation
Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, (Matthew 4:8 ) Flat earthers argue that would only be possible if the earth was flat.
I would like to know where this mountain is and why no one has noticed it.

Apple1996 · Accepted Answer

The thing is that anyone who believes the earth is round is only going on that cause it's what they were taught in school. Flat earthers want to go outside that and think their own way. Whatever it is truly doesn't matter we don't need to know what shape it is to live here.

Andres77 · Answer

I have no idea.
I've been in enough extremely high flying aircraft to see the curvature of the earth so this whole idea is so stupid that it's not worth my time. I don't know why people even repeat the concept because it's SO stupid... why even waste thought on it.

Soremain · Answer

You don't want to reason with flat-earthers. I asked a flat-earther why it's so important to "know" the earth is flat and he said: "If the earth is flat, it proves god is real and we are the center of the universe"

So there is a desperate NEED for it to be flat. Whenever there's a need for a certain outcome, you can't afford to think logically or listen to logic. You need to make up your own "proofs". That's why all the arguments to support flat earth are childishly stupid.

rcljr · Answer

Because they are obtuse idiots, we’ve had pilots in space, astronauts in space and on the moon, both pilots and astronauts doing countless thousands of orbits AROUND the Earth. We have thousands of satellites in geosynchronous orbit around Earth at varying altitudes, they orbit ONE way, they do NOT go to the edge of Russia then reverse direction and come back to make an orbit, the shear dynamics of coming to a stop from 32,000 miles an hour then start up again would take millions of gallons of fuel and the satellite wouldn’t probably stop til it was in deep space somewhere. No, countless satellite , space station and astronaut photographs and videos have shown the Earth is round. The “ flat earthers “ I liken to the hollow earthers, which I liken to the Bigfoot bunch. Some folks just want to seem important, seek their 15 minutes and buck 60 years of space exploration.

Anonymous · Answer

Wait. You actually take THEM serious? Haha...
I don't know whether to laugh or to act dismissive.
My favorite quote is this:

Warren Vidic: “Anyone can write a book and they can put whatever they want on its pages. Anything! Used to be we thought the world was flat.”
Desmond Miles: “Some people still do.”
Warren Vidic: “Yes. And they publish books about it. Or that the moon landing was a hoax. I believe that there’s also a book that claims that world was created in seven days. A best seller too.”

420Rachel · Answer

Because they're crazy. There was a guy I used to work with that was a flat earther. He said he used to work on aircraft and something about the way some meter read on the aircraft was some kinda proof that the Earth was flat? Idfk that was a couple years ago now but the dude was definitely whacky.

humpbackjack · Answer

I’ve been in a plane and you can see the curvature of earth especially over the ocean but I’ve never heard there was anyone believing the earth is flat I’m curious why they believe this. It can’t be just to be different they have to believe a theory of some sort

Anonymous · Answer

Well they may not have all the information, but Flat Earther's (if there were such people and spoiler alert, there aren't, it was a joke from the beginning and no we didn't recently figure it out.) at least have the common sense to realise that an oblate spheroid would roll off the back of the turtle (s) far too easily.

Anonymous · Answer

People that say the earth is flat are a special sort. They 95% of the time failed school, have jobs that require no real skills or intelligence (any moron can sweep floors), and are the sort that get together and bitch about life being "unfair" to them when they have done nothing and never will do anything to achieve or better themselves. Losers with a capital L.

Anonymous · Answer

I'd like to add a question to this, the space race was a big part of USA vs Russia why would either side compete in that but work perfectly together to defend the 'wall'

jshm2 · Answer

Mostly just trolling, I suppose. But I've read a few of their books and been to some of their seminars. There is a community there, just not one for normal folks. Sort of like the FSM cult, though not as weird.

SlightlyEccentric · Answer

I've personally never met any of these self-professed "flat earthers" in my life. However I did know someone once who claimed that dinosaur bones were put on the planet by the devil in order to make people question god.

genericname85 · Answer

i'm not a flat earthler but i have heard their lazy explanation for f): because the sun light shines down on the plane lie a flashlight projecting a light cone, that doesn't illuminate the entire plane at all times.

Sugar_7 · Answer

Nobody cares honestly if its flat, circle or eve square. I have proof that its flat but people wouldn’t listen or believe in it so let them think next time that earth is even shaped as a triangle. lol

Julielamar2 · Answer

No wonder people think the earth is flat. After all there are many people who believe in an invisible being, they call him God.

IncognitoBandito · Answer

Some are just crazy, others believe that our perceptions are warped so we interpret facts about a spherical world in a hopeless manner. And some just like being contrarians

Rudon00 · Answer

Because when you look out at the horizon. You can assume its the Edge of the world and you can falloff just like Christopher Columbus era belived

EaterPeter · Answer

Answer to g just for sake of fun. If earth is flat sun is flat too and it flips upside down and travels back to start line hence its not visible exacfly the way back of the moon is not visible from the earth.

The-Wise-Phoenix · Answer

Well it's very obvious. If the world was round like a ball you would fall right off of it.

ToastyOats · Answer

The evidence for a globe model is to great.  Ill say we never went to the moon though. Overwhelming evidence that we never went.

Starman5 · Answer

It has been hundreds of years since the earth was proved to be round. Are there still people who say the world is flat? 😮

Why Do People Say they Believe the Earth to Be Flat?

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