Foreword:
I am a German, studied Applied Physics and hold an engineering degree. I worked and travelled
'around the globe'for decades. I am also a selfmade millionaire and retired at age 45. I happen
to be among the upper 2% in both the worldwide distribution curves of I.Q. and personal wealth.
Unfortunately this came with a high payload: I am also autistic, manic depressive and socially
isolated. Meaning I know and own more than 98% of the world's population, but am simply unhappy.
Yet I can distinguish facts from fiction, I can think, calculate, derive.
For example I can calculate the size of our sun as a black hole (it will NOT become one!)
without using a calculator. Or the motion of planets around the sun, the delay of moon rising
times from one day to the other. All by simple math and in my head, especially when sleepless at
night. And can check my results with the real obsered values, they match very well!
I decided to sign up at this site for one reason and ONE contribution only. Meaning I will NOT
reply to any further comments, arguments or other feedback, personal messages etc. At my own
discretion I may visit this site to read your replies or comments regarding my arguments listed
below.
Unless you simply decide to hide this one-time contribution, shut my account down for "heresy".
Like the church did in the mediaval times, when Galileo offered them a mere glance through his
first DIY telescope.
1) Is your 'flat earth' a ROTATING disk?
If 'NO', explain why a pendulum at the North Pole will rotate its direction in synch with the
Earth's own rotation (and "NO!", Fucault's pendulum IS for real, can be observed at Paris; it
can even be replicated at home with some effort).
If 'Yes': how will your pendulum behave at your disk's center point and a the 'equator' line?
Certainly not as it really does; guess why?
2) Coriolis forces are real, based on inertia of a rotating system. Their effects on our globe
can be measured and seen at any time: circulation of storms on the Northern and Southern
hemisphere, ballistic trajectories (yes, Kim Jong Un and his war missiles rely on its existence,
too!). If your 'Flat Earth' does not rotate, there would be no Coriolis force at all. And if it
DOES rotate, the force would be pointing into the same direction, at any location of your flat
disk.
3) Michio in Tokyo and Mike in New York both travel north, using their magnetic compass,
following its needle precisely. Where will the both end up? Of course at the Magnetic North
Pole, at ONE common spot, shaking hands. They simply followed the magnetic field lines along the
surface of our globe.
If Michio and Mike repeat that experiment and travel south, again following their compass
needles, they will meet again at a common spot, the magnetic South Pole.
Now draw the correspondig travel paths/magnetic field lines onto your 'Flat Earth' map! Going
north they will probably meet at the center of your 'disk' (while the true magnetic north pole
of our globe is actually offcenter and wandering around).
But worse: your flat magnetic torus has no common center on the southern end! Michio from Tokyo
and Mike from New York will never meet at Amundson's polar station (actually nearby, as the
southern magnetic pole again is not exactly at the rotation center of our globe).
What will they see when they both reach the Antarctic at different angular spots? A wall similar
to the one Jim Carrey crashed into, when trying to escape in his movie 'The Truman Show'?
4) You 'Flat Earth' believers rely on navigation system in your cars, right? Just how many
satellites (and atomic clocks) would you need to get it working on your flat disk? THREE! By
runtime calculation of their atomic clocks you could pinpoint any location with just three
beams. Too bad that our Earth is a ball and they had to shoot up 24 of those expensive satellites,
orbiting the globe all the time, as 1/2 of them are always invisible on the 'other side'. If
Michio in Tokyo checks his GPS satellites, he will see those that are currently invisible to
Mike in New York. Any martphone can tell you the GPS satellites by their numeric 'name'.
Why would the engineers go through the hassle to 'fake' all these signals, satellite numbers and
orbits, if all would be so easy with just three orbiting clocks visible from any spot on Earth?
5) Talking 'orbits' of satellites: how do your satellites and the ISS stay up in the sky? What
forces can they rely on to circle over your flat disk (hint: a balance of gravity and
centrifugal force is needed to keep them in their orbit. And a rocket launch is best along the
equator, due to the angular velocity, NOT at the Arctic circly as in your disk view!)?
You think that rockets are a myth? Ask the Brits what they thought of Wernher v. Braun's 'V1'
and 'V2' revenge weapons during WWII and what these engineering marvels did to London.
The same Nazi v.Braun then continued his job after the war and brought the first men to the
Moon, no? All 'fake news', as Trump would say? NASA is fake, the rockets (civil and military)
are fake, the ISS is really a Hollywood setup?
Then just wait for WWIII, watch ICBMs fly across your flat sky..
6) If the earth is 'flat', how about the Moon? If you think it is flat as well, how do you
interpret the photos taken from its backside, since mankind could create satellites orbiting our
trusty trabant? Now if you could explain why the backside of the Moon looks significantly
DIFFERENT (as to its surface and crater sizes) than the frontside, visible to us due to its
synchronous rotation! A good and scientifically valid answer to that mystery would earn you a
Nobel prize in Physics right away - good luck! Yes, there are still imponderables in our real
world, too...
There are probably dozens, if not hundreds, of other rational arguments against this medieval
geocentric flat earth theory. While some may be countered by weird claims and obscure reasoning,
some simply can NOT, leaving flat DENIAL and "FAKE NEWS!" as the only weak arguments - "how
sad"..
My personal assumption: NONE of you believers are pilots or astronauts, or hold a real degree in
Physics, Astronomy or Civil Engineering. MOST of you will probably trust the (fictitious,
incoherend and man made) Bible more than any scientific book on gravity, mechanics, magnetism,
engineering etc. You believe unproven claims and mere words more than your own eyes or the
outcome of physics experiments.
This is all YOUR choice and you can continue denying reality, ignoring the results of thousands
of years of human intellectual development. That's fine with me, albeit sort of depressing.
Showing just how little mankind has achieved over the last 3000-4000 years, how much
ignorance still exists, even today in our 'sophisticated' world, global knowledge bases etc..
In fact I did not know nor believe that a 'flat earth theory' is still existing in the 21st
century. Until I saw a TV report about its U.S. convention and the stubborn, yet irrational,
reasonings by its followers. And about Mike Hughes' "steam powered" rocket that will bring him
600m (!) into 'space', so he can see with his own eyes how flat our planet really is.
Hint, Mike: there are several man made BUILDINGS on Earth that are higher than your dangerous
Jules Verne style contraption will ever fly. Just get a ticket to the top of Burj Khalifa tower
and take a look at our wonderful planet from 555m above! It is cheaper and far less dangerous.
While it will NOT prove nor disprove the curvature, it is still a marvelous view, enlightening
in many ways.
My recommendation to all members of this forum:
- watch Carl Sagan's wonderful 1970s TV series 'Cosmos'
- watch James Burke's marvelous TV episodes of 'Connections' (series 1,2,3)
- read the mind-opening books of Richard Dawkins on religion, genes, superstition and rationality
- open your school books about math/geometry, physics, astronomy and re-read them, as you missed
their reasoning, argumentation and validity.
Galileo, Newton, Maxell, Einstein were right, not you! How dare you putting yourself above the
genius of such revolutionary thinkers and scientists?!
If you are handymen and only trust your own eyes:
- repeat the 'stick' experiment by the ingenious Alexandria librarian 2300 years ago!
- repeat the Foucault pendulum experiment from your backyard tree, or from a high bridge!
- use your digital camera with an ultrazoom and watch huge oceanliners 'sink' on their way out
of the harbor. The horizon distance of our 12000km 'ball' is a mere 3.6km, easily noticable with
any set of binoculars.
I probably know more about this world and the universe than I should. Knowing and accepting the
reality of life is not always comfortable. Self deception will certainly make life more 'comfy'.
By believing in fictitious Gods, Angels, miraculous UFOS and wonders rather than the plain facts
of Math and Physics.
But trust me: I'd rather die depressed but 'knowing' than as a stubborn ignorant denying the
world as it is - a GLOBE, for crying out loud!
This text was purposely crafted in English, assuming that the majority of members can not read
nor understand German. You may reply in any language you speak; I can read and understand several.
Peace
m