If the Earth were flat---

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Nov 1, 2021
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Here is a list of things the Flat Earth Theory cannot explain:
Eclipses
Phases of the Moon
Tides
Meteors and comets
Why the planets "wander"
Solar flares
Why we can have different seasons on the earth at the same time
Why different star constellations are visible from different latitudes
Why the moon looks upside down in the Southern Hemisphere
Why the North Pole is in full sunlight all summer and full darkness all winter. (and opposite at the South Pole)
Time zones
How Gravity works and why it decreases as you go up a mountain
The existence of North and South Magnetic poles
Coriolis Force
How the GPS system works
Why weather systems in the N hemisphere are deflected to the right, in the Southern hemisphere they get deflected to the left
Air pressure and why it decreases as you go higher
Why water pressure increases with depth in the ocean
Why do we have 24 hours in a day? 365 days in a year? 60 minutes in an hour? 60 seconds in a minute?
Noah's Flood
...and much more...
:)
 

Lynx

Folksy yet erudite
Aug 13, 2014
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Whoa, whoa, whoa, one issue at a time! Give them a chance to respond to the first one before we reel out a whole list.

I'm actually learning stuff here. I thought flat Earth people believe the Earth is flat, with the North Pole at the top and the South Pole at the bottom, like if you laid out a map of the world and flattened it. Now I know they believe it is all radiating from the North Pole at the center, which actually makes a lot more sense.

I don't believe they are right, and there are glaring logic holes, but at least now I know what they believe.

Flat Earth people, about eclipses... How do you explain those? I am genuinely interested in knowing.
 

Jase

Well-known member
Jun 9, 2021
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A flat earther decided to walk to the end of the world to prove it's flat...

In the end, he came around! 😆
 

GaryA

Truth, Honesty, Love, Courage
Aug 10, 2019
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The further you go outside the cycle path of the sun, the colder it gets- more-so for the south than the north.
Do you know why this is?

This is a very important clue...
 

GaryA

Truth, Honesty, Love, Courage
Aug 10, 2019
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But that just gives me MORE questions...

If the sun is flying donuts over a flat earth, why is it so dark here when the sun is over Tehran? The sun is pretty far up there, and very bright. We should still be getting some light from it. Not as much as when it's right over our heads, but we should still be able to see it.

Are there walls involved in this? Is the earth more like the bottom of a bundt pan... skip that, nobody cooks any more. :p Is the earth more like the inside of a hollowed-out bagel or donut? We can't see the sun in Tennessee when it's over Djibouti because it's behind the column in the middle?

Don't try to tell me the sun is just too far away. It can't get THAT dark outside. The middle east and Europe aren't far enough away for the sun to be completely "dark" to us when it is over there.
The water/smoke/etc. content in the atmosphere blocks the sun when it is far enough away.
 
Nov 1, 2021
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Good question GaryA.
There is more landmass in the Northern hemisphere than in the Southern hemisphere. Land absorbs heat from the sun quicker than water, and so radiates it back into the atmosphere quicker. Thus the Northern hemisphere is warmer than the Southern hemisphere.
(There are other reasons too which concern weather patterns and ocean currents which transfer heat across the equator. But it gets very technical. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00382-014-2147-z)

This is yet another example explained by the spherical Earth, which the FE model cannot account for.
In the FE model, hemispheres do not exist, the equator is not satisfactorily explained, and the seasonal change of the sun's azimuth (cycle path of the sun) cannot be explained. The suns path is different in the summer from the winter. FE does not explain that observation.
 

Lynx

Folksy yet erudite
Aug 13, 2014
27,725
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I know what a bundt pan is... ;)
Then please start baking some cakes. These kids must not even know how to use a can opener any more... During the shut-down we fast food employees were considered essential workers! We need more people who know what arcane kitchen utensils are, like a whisk and a spatula and all those technical gadgets.
 

Lynx

Folksy yet erudite
Aug 13, 2014
27,725
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The water/smoke/etc. content in the atmosphere blocks the sun when it is far enough away.
I thought about that, but the distance isn't enough. If the sun is bright enough to make daytime from the north pole to the south pole... or whatever you call it, let's say from Canada to Chile... it should be visible when it is on around the circle, over Russia. I mean, you can fly over the north pole to Russia easily. It's not that far away. If the earth is flat Canadians at least should have trouble sleeping because of all the sunlight they can still see.

There has to be something physically obstructing the sun from our view when it's on the other side of the circle.
 

GaryA

Truth, Honesty, Love, Courage
Aug 10, 2019
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I thought about that, but the distance isn't enough. If the sun is bright enough to make daytime from the north pole to the south pole... or whatever you call it, let's say from Canada to Chile... it should be visible when it is on around the circle, over Russia. I mean, you can fly over the north pole to Russia easily. It's not that far away. If the earth is flat Canadians at least should have trouble sleeping because of all the sunlight they can still see.

There has to be something physically obstructing the sun from our view when it's on the other side of the circle.
Have you ever thought about any of this while looking at a FE map?
 

Lynx

Folksy yet erudite
Aug 13, 2014
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A quick google for FE map gives me the map of the game world in Fire Emblem. :confused:

Can you give me the name without the acronym? I'm guessing it's a polar-centric map, with the north pole at the middle and all the continents mapped around it, but that's just a wild guess.
 

GaryA

Truth, Honesty, Love, Courage
Aug 10, 2019
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Lynx

Folksy yet erudite
Aug 13, 2014
27,725
9,656
113
Oh... Flat Earth map, duh! I should have seen that one.
 

GaryA

Truth, Honesty, Love, Courage
Aug 10, 2019
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Oh... Flat Earth map, duh! I should have seen that one.
I think we all have days like that, brother - "don't sweat it"... :)

The map that link points to is one of the common basic favorites in the FE community.

It should do well for your purpose.
 

Lynx

Folksy yet erudite
Aug 13, 2014
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Ah, I'm back home with a real keyboard. And I just looked at that map...

Uh...

:eek:

Now I'm trying to decide if you're a real flat-earther or if you're here to TROLL flat-earthers. That map gets more streeeetched out the closer it gets to the edge, until Africa looks downright hilarious.

How many flat-earthers are there in Africa? Do they ever object to this particular map? It can't be all that hard to do a fly-over and check the real shape.

Ahem... Anyway, the middle looks okay. And it makes me think even more that we should be able to see sunlight when the sun is over Europe. That sun is VERY bright, and it's not nearly far enough away for atmospheric diffraction to disperse all the light.

If the earth is flat, there MUST be something in the middle to block the light from reaching the opposite side.
 
Nov 1, 2021
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If the Earth was flat, everywhere on the Earth would see the sun at the same time.
from Australia to England. We would all see the sun "rise" at the same.
Obviously does not happen.

Flat earthers, please explain why that does not happen.
Also, please explain why the sun never sets during summer at the North pole. (and why there is darkness for all of winter? - same reason actually)
 
Nov 1, 2021
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Nov 1, 2021
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There have been 9 official trips circumnavigating the Earth in a N-S direction from North Pole to South Pole.
Last one on 12 July 2019
A Gulf Stream jet took 46.5 hours. A record
Not much point doing that, except to say you have done it. There are not many tourist destinations in that direction.
However if the Earth was flat...
 

Lynx

Folksy yet erudite
Aug 13, 2014
27,725
9,656
113
If the Earth was flat, everywhere on the Earth would see the sun at the same time.
from Australia to England. We would all see the sun "rise" at the same.
Obviously does not happen.

Flat earthers, please explain why that does not happen.
Also, please explain why the sun never sets during summer at the North pole. (and why there is darkness for all of winter? - same reason actually)
They believe the sun travels in a circle above a flat earth, with the north pole at the center. They believe this explains why there is ice at the "edges" (south pole) and at the "center" (north pole) while the ring halfway between the center and edges (equator) gets so hot.

FE people, please correct me if I got my interpretation of your interpretation wrong. I don't believe a word of it myself so I might have messed it up.

So no, there would be no problem with the sun shining on different parts at different times, having "sunrise" at different times. They believe that is when the sun gets close to that part of the circle.