Can the earth be flat

[Yom]

Here is another interesting question that I was thinking of.

Is there any shape apart from a sphere that could explain all the local phenomenon that we see on the earth's surface (like the horizon, geometric measurements, seasons, day and night) etc. The closest I could come to is a toroid. But it is not perfect since half of the toroid would have a uplsoping horizon. apart from that restriction the earth could be a toroid and still behave exactly as like we see it.

A toroid couldn't work, I don't think. People on the inside of the toroid would see the other side in the sky!

 

[betazed]

you'd need a really huge toroid to get similar g-values on the outer and inner rim. Such a toroid would not be stable under its own gravitational influence (i.e. it would collapse).


OK, OK; getting hard to test, you need some maths for this

Maybe, but as I said in the first post we do not need to have the same g values globally. Obviously, a toroid has different topplogy than a sphere. So there is no shape not homeomorphic to the sphere can simulate the earth g values globally speaking. Hence, I was only talking of local conditions.

@yom: partially correct. with a big enough toroid the other side would be so far that they may not be able to see it. however, locally they would still see a upsloping horizon.

the more i think about this, the more i am coming to the conclusion that it is impossible. can't find a way to actually prove it mathematically though. maybe the math nerds on this forum can help.

 

[Gothmog]

Geostrophic winds, in fact the coriolis effect in general. (different on a torrid too)

The fact that the shortest flight distance between two points is not a straight line on a flat projection map. (can be extended to show not a torrid)

The shadow of the earth on the moon during a lunar eclipse. (not a donut so not a torrid)

constant atmospheric pressure. (could be OK for torrid)

ships sinking below the horizon. (OK for torrid)

The length of shadows measured at two locations at the same time. (can be extended for torrid)

 

[Marla_Singer]

As long as we consider everything as part of the big conspiracy, even elementary geography, there's no way to prove the earth is spherical.

Lights rays don't go straight, that's part of the conspiracy. Planes are reaching Mach 2 to go from Sydney to LA travelling above the Indian Ocean, Africa and the Atlantic Ocean. Satellite pictures are fakes. The GPS doesn't work with Satellites. Mobile phones, neither, etc...

Even the US vs Japan conflict during World war 2 actually happened in the Indian Ocean and not in the Pacific. Since it's a hoaks that we can cross the Pacific.

 

[JoeM]

Occam's Razor.

'Nuff said.

 

[Too Great]

Ok, another proof. How would you explain the extinction of Dinosaurs if the earth was round? Do you believe that when the meteor hits the earth, it kicks up so much dust that it covers sunlight? Knowing that the mass of a photon is 5.81 x 10-69 Kg, and that the mass of an arbitrary dust particle is much bigger; if we use diffusion rate sqrt(Md/Mp), we would know that photons would diffuse to the ground long before the dust.

But even if you don't want to believe that. Do you believe that the dust could travel all the way across the world before settling down to the earth. The only way that Dinosaurs can become extinct is if the meteor hits a flat surface killing most of the animals, and the rest are killed after the impact in a rapid shaking phenomenon represented by Euler's Disc.

It also explains why we enter an ice age afterwards. Because the Earth stopped moving, which means no kinetic energy, which means no temperature.

They're not even real, and their explanations are horrible compared to mine.

My rebuttal
(picture removed to save space)

Your rebuttal shows the earth as being flat. We can even see the edge.

The Earth is not flat.
Also, I hate to break it to you, but light travels in straight lines (rays).

What, homey don't play dat. Homey never heard of lightwaves?

Your Figure 2 seems to claim that South America doesn't exist...

South America lost the Civil War buddy. Now it's just America, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

1.But your wavelength is massively wrong then
2.Please post proof.

1. I'm assuming that you're implying that there are more than 1 wavelength to light. That is true, my picture is grossly simplified. But even if there are different wavelengths, we could still get a shape similar to that through Fourier's Series. (See Figure 3)
2. Prove what? That I know more physics than Perfection, or prove that there's an edge. If you want proof of an edge, you can just look at Sims2789's picture. If you want proof that I know more physics than Perfection, then he'll just have to challenge me to a contest.

- Dusk and dawn are considerable longer in my country than they were when I was on the Canary islands. I can't explain that through a flat earth theory.

You can see from (figure 4) that the green circle represents area with shorter daylight, and the red circle represents area with longer daylight. Read my reponse to CarloMM for why I represented the light with triangle waves.

I've sailed through the Bermuda Triangle (and I was the navigator at the time) and I'm quite certain I would have recalled seeing an edge of the Earth, had there been one there.

The Bermuda Triangle is big. You might not have sailed all the way to the edge.

Stop feeding the troll, for crying out loud.

And Ainwood, please, stop treating him as if he had "an unpopular opinion". If he really believes that, he's an idiotic loon, and most probably, he's just trying to stirr trouble with troll bait. I see no need to defend him.

Are your believes buckling under so much truth? Can't handle reality being thrown at you? When your perception of reality has been challenged, you resort to name calling? I say Akka, old Wizard, either defend your stance or remain silent.

As long as we consider everything as part of the big conspiracy, even elementary geography, there's no way to prove the earth is spherical.

Not a conspiracy, just a lack of understanding in the part of the masses. When a new idea is introduced, it'll always get some criticism. I remember when Einstein was threatened to be burned as a witch when he introduced Relativity, but now it's widely accepted.

 

[Marla_Singer]

Not a conspiracy, just a lack of understanding in the part of the masses. When a new idea is introduced, it'll always get some criticism. I remember when Einstein was threatened to be burned as a witch when he introduced Relativity, but now it's widely accepted.

No. Laws of Physics are also part of the big conspiracy. Just like History from Magellan to the colonization of the Pacific ocean and the Pacific battle during world war 2. All this is part of the conspiracy.

I am Truman, and this is the 14,855th day of my show. And people have a lot of imagination to force me to believe what is untrue.

 

[Dell19]

If the earth is flat, what is on the other side?

South America lost the Civil War buddy. Now it's just America, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

He was talking about the continent... Brazil, Argentina etc.

 

[Marla_Singer]

He was talking about the continent... Brazil, Argentina etc.

I think Too Great was also...

 

[Dell19]

I think Too Great was also...

Well I guess if the world is actually flat, then history could be wrong and Brazil could actually be a southern state...

Also with an edge being at sea, what happens to all that water falling off the edge?

The discworld explains it through magic replenishing the water, how do FEs explain sea levels staying the same?

 

[Marla_Singer]

Anyway, anyone who has played to Civ in his life knows that the world is neither spherical nor flat, but actually a cylindar.

 

[Marla_Singer]

Well I guess if the world is actually flat, then history could be wrong and Brazil could actually be a southern state...

Also with an edge being at sea, what happens to all that water falling off the edge?

The discworld explains it through magic replenishing the water, how do FEs explain sea levels staying the same?

Well they prove it in the same way as in discworld. And prove me I'm wrong knowing that everything is part of the conspiracy !

 

[Xen]

the fact that this thread has proceeded to 5 pages long is an abonination to common sense. You people are way to eager to try to snap out every little religious quirk of belife that you know no moderation in your efforts, maskign them with attempts to proove what has already been estbalished by simpel maths mastered by the greeks 2500 years ago, and otherwise is affirmed by common sense and rudimentary knowledge of the world around us.

 

[cgannon64]

What happens to all the water on this flat earth? Is there a rim? What's on the other side?

 

[HamaticBabylon]

Now HamaticBabylon Can't be accused of Conspiracy thinking!

 

[Perfection]

Too Great, you wouldn't happen to be Stratego, would you?

 

[ainwood]

Stop feeding the troll, for crying out loud.

That's what I would suggest, if people deem this to be trolling.

And Ainwood, please, stop treating him as if he had "an unpopular opinion". If he really believes that, he's an idiotic loon, and most probably, he's just trying to stirr trouble with troll bait. I see no need to defend him.

Then let him defend himself, and don't feel that you need to resort to trolling to do it. Honestly - there's not much difference (in principle) between this and the anti-evolution arguments, depending on your perspective. Why can't flat-earthers post their views?

[/threadjack]

 

[Plexus]

The only possible way for the earth to be flat would be that you're the Hero of a Truman Show.

I was actually quite paranoid that this was the case a couple years ago.

 

[cgannon64]

Don't be so vain, Plexus.

Actually, Perfection, his diagrams do seem very similar to the ones Stratego makes...

EDIT: By the way, your sine waves are really off...

 

[Azadre]

Here is something that just popped into my mind. The gravational field and magnetic field of the earth causes the light to bend enough that it causes the 2d plane to look 3d. Of course I don't believe this and it has too many holes. But it's a neat to think about.