With so many people all over the world, you would think that someone would have noticed that the sun does not rise or set at the times that scientists have calculated. Tom, I think it is reasonable to say that the sunset and sunrise times can be considered to be accurate with out having to measure them ourselves.
Appeal to popularity fallacy.
It's 2011 and 98% of the population believes in the existence of an invisible fairy who lives in the sky. Don't you think someone would have noticed that this invisible fairy does not exist?
It's 1930 and doctors are publicly promoting the health benefits of cigarettes on radio and in print advertisements. With all of these doctors backing the product, and the product having been around for hundreds of years, don't you think one of them would have noticed that cigarettes cause lung cancer?
It's 1630 and the majority of the civilized world believes in the existence of witches. Don't you think someone would have noticed that witches do not exist?
The public believes what they are taught to believe. Scientists believe what they are taught to believe. Belief has nothing to do with truth.
Tom,
I agree with you that just because the majority of people think something is true, it does not make it true. However, for once, we are not talking about something that a person is supposed to blindly believe, like magic, germs, gravity, or UA. With exceptions, almost everyone has seen a sunrise and sunset in their life time. This is not being debated. But the time at which the sunset/sunrise apparently is.
For many of us, we know that the sun has risen or set, but we probably do not take an interest to find out if it happens at the time it was predicted. However, there are a lot of people all across the world who do have a great interest in the timing of the sun's appearance and disappearance for various reasons. Some examples include sailors, military personnel, astronomers, and even farmers.
I spent 8 years as an infantryman in the USMC. I can personally attest to the importance of knowing the correct time of sunset and sunrise for tactical reasons. The twilight around sunrise and sunset makes an excellent time to launch an attack. This is because you have enough light to get into position for the attack and successfully execute the plan, yet you still have enough darkness to provide some cover for your movements. The exact time in which the sun will set or rise is an important element of many military orders for both offensive and defensive reasons.
I have been a part of military exercises in 4 countries including the US. 5 if you count Hawaii separately from the mainland due to its remoteness. One of those countries, Chile, was in the southern hemisphere. I can tell you from personal experience that I obtained or was provided sunrise and sunset times in each of these locations and found no discrepancy in the predicted and actual sunrise or sunset. Before you ask, no I did not purposely look at my watch at the instant sunrise/set occurred with the purpose of noting whether it was exactly accurate with the times that were predicted. However, being a non-commissioned officer, I was responsible for making sure that the Marines under my supervision were 100 percent ready before and after the sunrise/set. When I observed that sunrise should be in 40 minutes, it was, even if it was not down to the exact minute or second.
Most of the time, the sunrise/set times were obtained from The United States Navy Observatory. Before you try to say that I was given accurate information by the government that civilians are not privy to, the exact same information is available to anyone who wants to check the actual time at
http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/astronomical-applications. This is the exact same site that I have researched data from when I was still in the military.
While my own personal testimony does not cover the entire Earth, although it does cover a broad range and makes good sampling data, there are so many people across the Earth that have had the same experiences that I do not see how someone, somewhere, would not have caught on if we were being lied to.
Tom, I say again what I said earlier. I think it is safe to say that we can assume the time calculations to be true, even if we do not take personal measurements at every point across the entire world.
By the way, where I live, the link above predicted that twilight would start at 7:03 a.m. and sunrise would be at 7:28 a.m. I can not see a good view of the horizon from my house due to trees and terrain; however, the prediction appeared to be true. My back yard had light in it shortly after 7:00 a.m. and was very well lit by 7:30 a.m. I am planning a trip to the Atlantic coast with my wife within the next couple of weeks and I can post exact times for the sunrise over the horizon; however, I do not think I will be able to get sunset confirmation at the same time. That is, unless we can agree that the time predictions made by The United States Navy Observatory are not up for debate.