I think we all agree that the FAQ as it exists now is virtually useless. While in some aspects it adequately outlines the specifics of the theory, many of the answers are outdated, many of the questions are unnecessary (Why is the space shuttle runway curved? Really, that's a frequently asked question?), and parts of it look like it was written by a twelve-year-old.
I know there was a lot of interest in improving the FAQ a while back, and while it seems to have waned I'm sure many members would like to have something clear, user-friendly, and accurate to point to when a frequently asked question is asked.
My idea is to completely overhaul the whole thing. First of all I want to change the format so that all the questions are lined up as a sort of table of contents, with each question being a link to its answer, which will be a post further down in the thread. It's something I've seen on other websites and it looks a lot better than what we have. Can we really blame a noob for overlooking an answer when it takes so much work to find a question in the first place?
With that in mind, I've come up with an organized list of questions that I feel should be in the FAQ:
General1) Is this site a joke?
2) Are you affiliated with Alaska.net?
3) How did Flat Earth Theory originate?
4) Why do you believe the Earth is flat?
5) Is FET based on religious belief?
6) What evidence do you have that the Earth is flat?
7) What is zeteticism?
What should I do before starting a thread?
9) Is there a flat Earth model based on a combination of religion and science?
Physics of the Earth and the Celestial Bodies1) Do you believe in gravity? How do you explain that the Earth, if a disk, hasn’t crumbled up into the shape of a sphere?
2) Why does g vary with altitude?
3) Why do the celestial bodies exert a gravitational pull but the Earth does not?
4) How big are the sun, moon, planets, and stars? Are they flat too? What are they made of?
5) Why is the Earth different from the other planets?
6) How do you explain the retrograde motion of the planets?
7) How do you explain lunar eclipses?
How do you explain moonlight? How do you explain the moon’s phases?
9) How do you explain the movement of the stars? Why are the stars seen in the northern hemisphere different from those in the southern hemisphere?
10) How do you explain meteoroids, meteors, and meteorites?
11) What causes sunrises and sunsets?
12) How do you explain satellites?
13) If the Earth is accelerating why isn’t it traveling faster than the speed of light? Why does a feather fall slower than a bowling ball?
14) How do compasses work? Do you believe the Earth has a magnetic field?
15) If the Earth is a disk, what would happen if you jumped off the edge?
16) What causes the seasons?
17) What causes the tides?
18) What causes the Coriolis Effect?
Form, Magnitude, and Geography of the Earth1) What are the circumference and diameter of the Earth?
2) Do you have a map?
3) Exactly what shape is the Earth?
4) Why doesn’t water run off the Earth? What is the Ice Wall?
5) Why isn’t the atmosphere diffused into space?
6) Why are the Arctic and Antarctic regions colder than the equator?
Why do we have time zones?
9) How is circumnavigation possible?
10) How do you explain that flight times in the southern hemisphere take less time than predicted by the Flat Earth model?
11) If you keep going directly south will you eventually fall off the edge?
12) How do you explain continental drift? Do you believe in plate tectonics?
Space Exploration and Government1) NASA and other world space agencies have pictures of the Earth from space, and in those pictures the Earth is clearly a globe; in this day and age, hasn't it been proven beyond any doubt that the Earth is round?
2) How did NASA create such realistic images with the technology available in the 1960s?
3) What is the Conspiracy? Do all FEers believe in it?
4) What is the Conspiracy’s motive?
5) How are the world’s governments organized to carry out such a conspiracy?
6) How could such a conspiracy be carried out so successfully?
7) Why hasn’t this site been shut down by the government?
Why has no one taken a photo of the Earth that proves it is flat?
Mind you, this isn't written in stone, but I feel I've covered all the bases. If anybody has any suggestions for how the list could be improved, let me know what you think.
I basically want to structure the answers so that they give, as applicable, first the answer according to Rowbotham's model, then the generally accepted answer according to the Cambridge (ie Standard) Model, and finally any alternative theories taken seriously by the FE believers.
This is an open call for help. I'm perfectly willing to take this on entirely by myself but I fear it would take a lot of time. If anyone's interested in helping out by providing some answers, let me know.