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A quote from the flat-Earthers included in the article: "After watching this video, you will reverse your concept of forests by 360 degrees." At least these pe

by lutusp 10y ago

A quote from the flat-Earthers included in the article: "After watching this video, you will reverse your concept of forests by 360 degrees." At least these people understand their audience's intellectual limitations. For the record, I circumnavigated the world solo in a 31-foot boat (https://arachnoid.com/sailbook/ https://arachnoid.com/sailbook/). From direct empirical evidence, I know the earth is round.

Neliquat 10y ago
Reminds me of the ol 'turn 360 degrees and walk away' gambit.
QuantumGravy 10y ago
Not a flat-earther myself, but as an amateur topology enthusiast, it does not follow from your experience that the earth is round. Care to join me in a new splinter group? I figure the Cylindrical Earth Society to be the least-radical option, and possibly a common ground for many. /s
- benji-york 10y ago
  No! Join me in newest splinter of a splinter group: the Toroidal Earth Society.
  - QuantumGravy 10y ago
    I'm skeptical, having heard far more personal anecdotes about circumnavigating the earth as opposed to visiting those so-called "poles" or the "inner ring" as your group hypothesizes. Once you accept the torus, where do you stop? I can mentally map the earth to a genus one torus, absurd as that is, but your splinter group has its own splinters with proponents of genus two, three, and beyond! Where does the madness stop?
inetknght 10y ago
That's pretty sweet. I have a mild interest in boating. Would you say that it's a bad idea to mix a software engineer with a boat on the open sea?
- lutusp 10y ago
  > Would you say that it's a bad idea to mix a software engineer with a boat on the open sea? Not if one's satellite navigation system fails and one is then required to reduce sextant sights to get across the ocean safely, as happened to me. I had a laptop on board and wrote a program to reduce my cheap plastic "backup" sextant's sights in a reliable and speedy way. I ended up with almost the same position accuracy from the sextant that I was getting from the failed satellite navigation system (this preceded the GPS era -- GPS is way more accurate). So from my perspective, being a software person was a distinct advantage, and I assisted a number of other sailors whose non-cybernetic navigation methods would otherwise have gotten them into serious trouble.
deanmen 10y ago
You can sail around a torus.
hyperpape 10y ago
It's funny how multiple people mentioned topology. But the simple response is that you just went in a loop on a plane, because you don't know how to navigate properly. Of course, I believe you! I'm not a flat earther. But to someone who has already made the mistakes necessary to convince themselves that the earth is flat, it's easy to deny your proof. You don't have direct empirical evidence, you have the evidence that you went in a loop, plus a bunch of science that these people have crazy reasons for denying, and that science tells you that loop involved going around a sphere.
- jshevek 10y ago
  Good work at devil's advocate. Maybe you can help me with this -- how can someone be a flat earther in the absence of any evidence of any edge to the surface of the earth? What is the counter argument to this?
  - Nursie 10y ago
    That one's easy ;) Antartica is not an island continent, but an ice-wall that extends around the entire flat earth Nobody has ever got a photograph of the edge because you can't go there, you're not allowed. The governments of the world see to that!
    - jshevek 10y ago
      Creative! This reminds me of FreeCiv maps with the 'flat earth topology' option turned on. The edge of the earth must be long enough to encompass the earth. So the folks using that argument must imagine Antarctica as _huge_, though we can easily measure the coastline and prove their explanation impossible.
      - Nursie 10y ago
        Ah but if you go there, you are obviously part of conspiracy and not to be trusted! It's all delightfully solipsistic...
  - 10y ago

by lutusp 10y ago

Neliquat 10y ago

Reminds me of the ol 'turn 360 degrees and walk away' gambit.

QuantumGravy 10y ago

Not a flat-earther myself, but as an amateur topology enthusiast, it does not follow from your experience that the earth is round. Care to join me in a new splinter group? I figure the Cylindrical Earth Society to be the least-radical option, and possibly a common ground for many. /s

benji-york 10y ago
No! Join me in newest splinter of a splinter group: the Toroidal Earth Society.
- QuantumGravy 10y ago
  I'm skeptical, having heard far more personal anecdotes about circumnavigating the earth as opposed to visiting those so-called "poles" or the "inner ring" as your group hypothesizes. Once you accept the torus, where do you stop? I can mentally map the earth to a genus one torus, absurd as that is, but your splinter group has its own splinters with proponents of genus two, three, and beyond! Where does the madness stop?

inetknght 10y ago

That's pretty sweet. I have a mild interest in boating. Would you say that it's a bad idea to mix a software engineer with a boat on the open sea?

lutusp 10y ago
> Would you say that it's a bad idea to mix a software engineer with a boat on the open sea? Not if one's satellite navigation system fails and one is then required to reduce sextant sights to get across the ocean safely, as happened to me. I had a laptop on board and wrote a program to reduce my cheap plastic "backup" sextant's sights in a reliable and speedy way. I ended up with almost the same position accuracy from the sextant that I was getting from the failed satellite navigation system (this preceded the GPS era -- GPS is way more accurate). So from my perspective, being a software person was a distinct advantage, and I assisted a number of other sailors whose non-cybernetic navigation methods would otherwise have gotten them into serious trouble.

deanmen 10y ago

You can sail around a torus.

hyperpape 10y ago

It's funny how multiple people mentioned topology. But the simple response is that you just went in a loop on a plane, because you don't know how to navigate properly. Of course, I believe you! I'm not a flat earther. But to someone who has already made the mistakes necessary to convince themselves that the earth is flat, it's easy to deny your proof. You don't have direct empirical evidence, you have the evidence that you went in a loop, plus a bunch of science that these people have crazy reasons for denying, and that science tells you that loop involved going around a sphere.

jshevek 10y ago
Good work at devil's advocate. Maybe you can help me with this -- how can someone be a flat earther in the absence of any evidence of any edge to the surface of the earth? What is the counter argument to this?
- Nursie 10y ago
  That one's easy ;) Antartica is not an island continent, but an ice-wall that extends around the entire flat earth Nobody has ever got a photograph of the edge because you can't go there, you're not allowed. The governments of the world see to that!
  - jshevek 10y ago
    Creative! This reminds me of FreeCiv maps with the 'flat earth topology' option turned on. The edge of the earth must be long enough to encompass the earth. So the folks using that argument must imagine Antarctica as _huge_, though we can easily measure the coastline and prove their explanation impossible.
    - Nursie 10y ago
      Ah but if you go there, you are obviously part of conspiracy and not to be trusted! It's all delightfully solipsistic...
- 10y ago