| Dreaming Of Pandora |
05-09-2010 08:24 PM |
For chuckles: Flat Earth Society
Note: If anyone does actually believe this (crap) then I'll gladly take this to the debate forum. :)
Basically this is a group or society of people who firmly believe the world is utterly flat.
The website is here if anyone's wondering: The Flat Earth Society
You have to register to this site but noone wants to do that so in order to read the FAQ I've done it myself.
Here's the most frequently asked questions on this site:
Quote:
General / this forum
Q: "Is this site for real?"
A: This site is real. There are members who seriously believe the Earth is flat. However, there are also members who do not.
Q: "Why do you guys believe the Earth is flat?"
A: Well, it looks that way up close. In our local frame of reference, it appears to take a flat shape, ignoring obvious hills and valleys. Also, Samuel Rowbotham et al. performed a variety of experiments over a period of several years that show it must be flat. They are all explained in his book, which is linked at the top of this article.
Q: "What is the circumference and diameter of the Earth?"
Circumference: 78,225 miles
Diameter: 24,900 miles
In John Davis's model, the Earth is an infinite plane and is 9000 kilometers deep.
Q: "What about the stars, sun and moon and other planets? Are they flat too? What are they made of?"
A1: The sun and moon, each 32 miles in diameter, rotate at a height of 3000 miles above sea level. As they are spotlights, they only illuminate certain places. This explains why there are nights and days on Earth.
A2: In James McIntyre's model, the sun and the moon are metallic discs. These discs are being held above the Earth by photoelectric effect. See: Photoelectric Suspension Theory.
The stars are at a height of 3100 miles above sea level, which is as far as from San Francisco to Boston.
Q: "Please explain sunrises/sunsets."
A: It's a perspective effect. Really, the sun is just getting farther away; it looks like it's disappearing because everything gets smaller, and eventually disappears as it gets farther away.
UPDATE:The theory of Electromagnetic Acceleration is currently being developed and reviewed by members. Once completed, Electromagnetic Acceleration will be used as an alternative in explaining sunrises, sunsets and horizons for the general model only.
Q: "Why are other celestial bodies round but not the Earth?"
A: The Earth is not one of the other planets. The Earth is special and unlike the other bodies in numerous ways.
Q: "What about satellites? How do they orbit the Earth?"
A: Since sustained spaceflight is not possible, satellites can't orbit the Earth. The signals we supposedly receive from them are either broadcast from towers or any number of possible pseudolites. However, temporary space-flight is possible.
Q: "What's underneath the Earth?" aka "What's on the bottom?" aka "What's on the other side?"
A: This is unknown. Some believe it to be just rocks, while others believe the Earth rests on the back of four elephants and a turtle.
Q: "What about gravity?"
A1: In the general model, DE accelerates the Earth and all celestial bodies in the universe at 9.8m/s2. This is commonly known as Universal Acceleration, which produces the same effect as "gravity" in our local reference frame. See: Equivalence Principle.
A2: In James McIntyre's model, Universal Accelerator is an object that sits underneath the Earth and pushes it up at an acceleration of 9.8m/s2. This mediates observable gravitational effects in our local reference frame.
A3: In John Davis's model, the infinite plane produces a finite gravitational field with a downward pull. Here is the mathematical formulation behind this model.
Q: "Isn't this version of gravity flawed for the moving Earth? Wouldn't planes/helicopters/paragliders crash into the Earth as the Earth rises up to them?"
A: No. By the same argument, we could ask why planes/helicopters/paragliders don't crash into the Earth as they accelerate down towards them. The reason that planes do not crash is that their wings produce lift, which, when the rate of acceleration upwards equals that of gravity's pull downwards, causes them to remain at a constant altitude.
The same thing happens if the Earth is moving up. The plane is accelerating upwards at the same rate as the Earth, which means the distance between them does not change. Therefore, the plane stays at the same height and does not crash.
Q: "Doesn't this mean we'd be traveling faster than the speed of light, which is impossible?"
A: The equations of Special Relativity prevent an object from accelerating to the speed of light. Due to this restriction, these equations prove that an object can accelerate at a constant rate forever, and never reach the speed of light. For an in depth explanation: Click here.
Q: "In the moving Earth, why does a feather fall slower than a bowling ball"?
A: It's due to air resistance. The Earth accelerates the air, and the air in turn accelerates the feather up faster than the bowling ball. In our reference frame, it seems that the feather is falling slower than the bowling ball.
Q: "If gravity does not exist, how does terminal velocity work"?
A: When the acceleration of the person is equal to the acceleration of the Earth, the person has reached terminal velocity (Diagram).
Q: "If the world was really flat, what would happen if you jump off the disc's edge?"
A1: In the general model, you would become directly affected by DE as the Earth is, creating the illusion that you are standing next to the Earth.
A2: In James McIntyre's model, if you were to come into contact with the UA, which is functionally a physical object, you would consequently rise at an accelerating rate equal to that of the Earth. The local effect would be the appearance of just standing next to the Earth. Since nobody knows what the UA looks like, this might not even be distinguishable from just standing on more ground.
Q: "If the Earth was indeed a flat disc, wouldn't the whole planet crunch up into itself and eventually transform into a ball?"
A: If the Earth generated a gravitational field, it would eventually happen. Of course, it would take a billion years for the process to complete. FE assumes that the Earth does not generate a gravitational field. What we know as 'gravity' is provided by the acceleration of the earth.
Q: "Why does gravity vary with altitude?"
A: The heavenly bodies have a slight gravitational pull. However, not all FE'ers believe that gravity varies with altitude.
Q: Follow-up to previous question: "How is it that the Earth does not have a gravitational pull, but stars and the moon do?"
A: This argument is a non-sequitur. You might as well ask, "How is it that snakes do not have legs, but dogs and cats do?" Snakes are not dogs or cats. The Earth is not a star or the moon. It doesn't follow that each must have exactly the properties of the others, and no more.
Geography
Q: "Do you have a map?"
http://heritage-key.com/medialink/files/Flat_earth.png
This applies to the finite Earth model only.
A: See this one, created by one of our members. There is also this map attributed to a person named Wilbur Voliva.
Also, there is Cosmas Indicopleustes' world picture, 6th century in the Christian Topography.
Q: "Exactly what shape is the Earth if it's flat? Square or circle?"
A: Circle, like in the UN logo. However, the earth is NOT 2D; it is in the shape of a cylinder.
Q: "Why doesn't water run off the Earth?"
A1: In the general model, there is a vast ice wall that keeps the water where it is. The ice wall is roughly 150ft high. This also explains why you can find a vast plane of ice when you travel south. Antarctica as a continent does not exist.
A2: In James McIntyre's model, the height of the ice wall increases toward the edge. The ice wall holds the oceans in place.
A3: In John Davis's model, ice wall also holds the ocean in place. What lies beyond the ice wall is a seemingly endless plain of ice. The true magnitude of the earth beyond the ice wall may never be known.
Q: "Wouldn't the atmosphere be diffused into space?"
A1: In the general model, there is a vector field created during the interaction between DE and the Earth. This is known as the DEF, which it acts as a containment to prevent DE from affecting objects with mass on Earth. This explains why the atmolayer will not be diffused into space. Here is an explanation on the DEF's structure by one of our moderators.
A2: In James McIntyre's model, the greater ice wall holds the atmolayer in place.
Q: "How does global warming affect the ice wall?"
A: In the general model, the Ice Wall is really a mountain range. It just happens to be covered in ice and snow.
Q: "What about tides?"
A: The gravitational pull of the heavenly bodies provide tidal effects. Others believe that there is an object called the Sub-moon that sits underneath the Earth. The moon causes the tides, and the Sub-moon balances out the effect.
Q : "Why is the North pole colder than the equator?"
A: The sun circles over the equator, thus the poles don't receive the same intensity of light.
Q: "How do volcanic eruptions happen?"
A: The Earth is thick enough to have a core of molten lava. Once there's too much of it in too confined a space, it finds its way out, just like the water will come out of a full bottle if you squeeze it too hard.
Q: "What about time zones?"
A: The sun is a spotlight which shines light on a concentrated area, so not everywhere on Earth will be lit at once. Times zones exist so that everyone's clock will be at 12:00 around the time the sun is approximately directly overhead.
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