Can the earth be flat

[Yom]

In Ringworld, Larry Niven had giant black cubes floating over the Ring, that would block the sunlight. IIRC, the Greeks theorized that the flat Earth would be carried into and out of an ocean by a giant turtle, or something like that, and that would simulate the day/night cycle

edit: or was it an elephant

The Iroquois believe that the Earth is carried on the back of a giant turtle swimming in a huge ocean.

 

[Bozo Erectus]

Yeah the giant turtle story is very common in Native American mythology, I wonder why I associated it with the Greeks. But didnt the Greeks have a similar belief? I could swear they did. I didnt find anything in a quick google just know.

 

[Marla_Singer]

How airplanes could go from Sydney to Los Angeles if the Earth were flat ?

 

[Margim]

I believe the earth could be flat. Just a big enough hammer, an even larger anvil - and a big enough fist to do the thumping...

 

[Mise]

I think Terry Pratchet's Discworld also had a disc on the back of a turtle. But I don't remember reading the book. (I mean, I think I read it, but I can't be sure...)

BTW, I find it hard to believe that the Greeks, who postulated a heliocentric model of the solar system based on astronomical observations, would think the earth was flat.

 

[Aphex_Twin]

How airplanes could go from Sydney to Los Angeles if the Earth were flat ?

Actually, that would be perfectly possible. But why can't people living in Sydney NOT see Los Angeles through a telescope, no matter how powerful?

 

[Marla_Singer]

Actually, that would be perfectly possible. But why can't people living in Sydney NOT see Los Angeles through a telescope, no matter how powerful?

Knowing the limited range of airplanes (about 15,000km max), I hardly see how that would be possible.

Everyone who has travelled in an intercontinental flight knows the earth could hardly be flat. Why would you fly above the Labrador when you go from Paris to San Francisco if the earth were flat ?

What makes it obvious that the earth isn't flat is that it's impossible to apprehend the whole organization of the world in case it was flat. The only possible way for the earth to be flat would be that you're the Hero of a Truman Show.

 

[Bozo Erectus]

I think Terry Pratchet's Discworld also had a disc on the back of a turtle. But I don't remember reading the book. (I mean, I think I read it, but I can't be sure...)

BTW, I find it hard to believe that the Greeks, who postulated a heliocentric model of the solar system based on astronomical observations, would think the earth was flat.

Yep, Ive been doing some research and apparently Ive somehow mixed up Native American myths, Discworld, and Greek and Hindu Mythology

 

[Syterion]

What is the shape of the moon? The sun? The other planets?

 

[Marla_Singer]

What is the shape of the moon? The sun? The other planets?

The moon and the sun are disks obviously ! If the moon were a sphere instead of being a disk, why would we always see the same face of it ? duh !

And about the other planets, they are 5-branch stars obviously.

 

[De Lorimier]

The opening post has a Supreme Being blowing on Earth or flipping it like a coin.

Should I say more?

I just think it's sad, really.

 

[Abaddon]

I think Terry Pratchet's Discworld also had a disc on the back of a turtle.

A disc on the backs of four elephants (the 5th escaped) stood on the back of a turtle which swims through space.

 

[CIVPhilzilla]

Why can't the Earth just be some randomly shaped blob?

I think with navigation and now space travel believing that the Earth is flat, is ignorance or trolling

 

[Princeps]

Earth is a cube...

 

[JohnRM]

I hate to break it to you, but the weightlessness in space is not due to gravity. In an orbiting space station, gravity is still a significant presence: around 9 or 8 m/s/s, still. The weightlessness comes from the fact that they are orbiting the Earth and therefore constantly falling towards it (that's essentially what orbit is). When you are freefalling, you experience weightlessness, which is why they feel weightless.

Actually, no. Weightlessness is caused by the fact that centrifugal force caused by the space station rotating around the planet cancels out the minimal effect of the Earth's gravity. The lower the orbit (or closer to Earth), the faster you must move to remain in orbit. The higher the orbit (or farther from Earth), the slower you have to move to remain in orbit.

 

[BasketCase]

Everyone has evidence if only they knew how to do it. the above experiment is done regularly by the civil engineers. all it takes is a stick and a telescope.

Actually, at just this moment, I don't. One problem with that triangle experiment is that, if you draw a one-foot-on-a-side triangle on lumpy ground, your angles are still not going to add up perfectly--because the Earth where you drew the triangle is curved. That fallacy has been used a few times to "prove" the Earth is flat: in 1930 somebody had a photograph printed in a newspaper; it was a picture of a lake with small objects visible on the other side (the lake was around 12 miles across). The "proof" was: if the Earth was really a sphere, those objects on the far side wouldn't be visible. Yo, Mr. Flat Earth, the lake could have been at low tide. Other things aside, the Earth has mountains and valleys and other flaws in its surface that mess up the measurements.

Now, I do in fact believe the Earth is a sphere--but that's just because I'm willing to take other peoples' word for it.

 

[alphanav1]

Don’t know if this has been said or not, didn’t feel like reading all of it before I posted.

The laws of gravity make all objects over a certain size, into a sphere. The size that is need differs with the martial, but Earth exceeds this size for rock and metal by a great deal.

So no the earth can not be flat, it would look more like an asteroid if it was not a sphere. By the way your thinking that rotation could create and illusion of a spherical shape, is wrong. If that was the case and you were standing behind the earth looking at the sun, the sun would blink, as the Earth rotated.

 

[GenMarshall]

The Earth is round, end of story

 

[Yom]

Actually, no. Weightlessness is caused by the fact that centrifugal force caused by the space station rotating around the planet cancels out the minimal effect of the Earth's gravity. The lower the orbit (or closer to Earth), the faster you must move to remain in orbit. The higher the orbit (or farther from Earth), the slower you have to move to remain in orbit.

There's no such thing as centrifugal force: you're talking about inertia. I don't dispute that a faster rate of orbit is required at lower altitudes, but this is essentially related to the escape velocity: no surprise there. However, the feeling that "weightless" people are really feeling is a freefall. Someone parachuting also feels weightlessness.

Weightlessness is the experience (by people and objects) during freefall, of having no weight.

 

[Dell19]

A disc on the backs of four elephants (the 5th escaped) stood on the back of a turtle which swims through space.

It fell off, orbited once and crashed down on top of the disc...