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== One tiny fly in the ointment ==

Inasmuch as this article is cross-referenced by an article on 'Denialism', it is problematic.

Because, unfortunately, in every-day experience, and for very nearly all practical purposes ... the world is indeed 'flat'. Uh-oh.

Do architects pre-occupy themselves with the reality that the rectangular footprint of the building they design will not, in fact, sit on a perfectly 'flat' area of the Earth (ignoring site levelling, for argument's sake)? I think not. For all practical purposes they can, and do, allow themselves the convenience that follows from treating the area of Earth of interest as essentially flat. Similarly airlines can operate as though the world is flat.

Perhaps a distinction is needed between 'flat' and 'round'. The imprecision of the English language being the only real problem. The Earth is at once both flat, and round. They are not mutually exclusive ideas. Only very particular interpretations of the two words are.

[[Special:Contributions/122.151.210.84|122.151.210.84]] ([[User talk:122.151.210.84|talk]]) 23:37, 12 March 2022 (UTC)

:: You haven't backed up any of your statements with evidence. The burden of proof is on you. Cite credible sources. Also please read [[WP:FORUM]]. [[User:Sadke4|Sadke4]] ([[User talk:Sadke4|talk]]) 12:09, 18 March 2022 (UTC)

::: Not necessary. Special Contributor is engaging in sophistry, viz, arguing from concept 1 (random plot of land) to concept 2 (Planet Tellus) both covered by the term "earth", i.e. ambiguity. Furthermore it is argued that any random plot of land is flat, which would create great dismay among rock climbers and slalom skiers, having their hobbies based on delusions of heightness; i.e. a falsehood, or untrue premiss. T [[Special:Contributions/46.212.185.190|46.212.185.190]] ([[User talk:46.212.185.190|talk]]) 02:23, 24 April 2022 (UTC)

:: yes architects take the curve of the Earth into account when building bridges. Go measure a large bridge and you will be able to find the tips of the towers are farther apart than the base because of the distortion inherent to a globe. It's not need for regular buildings with small footprints though cause the difference is too small and is often just adjusted for in construction methods. [[User:IRMacGuyver|IRMacGuyver]] ([[User talk:IRMacGuyver|talk]]) 07:25, 14 September 2022 (UTC)


== There are many Flat Earth Societies all around the globe ==
== There are many Flat Earth Societies all around the globe ==
Line 48: Line 30:
:I removed it because it is an old joke, not very funny, but most of all because it did not support the mission to build a serious and respected encyclopedia, see [[WP:NOTEVERYTHING]]. It is not the first time this has been added to (and removed from) Flat Earth articles, so this removal followed Wikipedia consensus. [[User:Sjö|Sjö]] ([[User talk:Sjö|talk]]) 06:55, 10 June 2022 (UTC)
:I removed it because it is an old joke, not very funny, but most of all because it did not support the mission to build a serious and respected encyclopedia, see [[WP:NOTEVERYTHING]]. It is not the first time this has been added to (and removed from) Flat Earth articles, so this removal followed Wikipedia consensus. [[User:Sjö|Sjö]] ([[User talk:Sjö|talk]]) 06:55, 10 June 2022 (UTC)
::There are two "The Flat Earth Societies". One referred to in the article is at [tfes.org]. The other is at [theflatearthsociety.org]. Both are mentioned in the 2016 article from the New Yorker [https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2016/01/consider-the-flat-earth-theory.html Inside ‘Flat Earth,’ Tila Tequila’s New Belief System and the Wokest Conspiracy Theory of 2016]. I'm not sure how to add this to the article given its current construction. It's also not clear if either of these "organizations" are incorporated or registered in any way.--[[User:Nowa|Nowa]] ([[User talk:Nowa|talk]]) 20:48, 19 March 2023 (UTC)
::There are two "The Flat Earth Societies". One referred to in the article is at [tfes.org]. The other is at [theflatearthsociety.org]. Both are mentioned in the 2016 article from the New Yorker [https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2016/01/consider-the-flat-earth-theory.html Inside ‘Flat Earth,’ Tila Tequila’s New Belief System and the Wokest Conspiracy Theory of 2016]. I'm not sure how to add this to the article given its current construction. It's also not clear if either of these "organizations" are incorporated or registered in any way.--[[User:Nowa|Nowa]] ([[User talk:Nowa|talk]]) 20:48, 19 March 2023 (UTC)
:seriously? [[User:Vidhula143|Vidhula143]] ([[User talk:Vidhula143|talk]]) 17:41, 3 September 2024 (UTC)


== Proofs for the skeptical ==
== Semi-protected edit request on 22 September 2022 ==


Should there not be a section with a bunch of different proofs that the earth is a rough sphere and/or a bunch of flat earth "arguments" that are clearly disproved? [[Special:Contributions/146.231.177.14|146.231.177.14]] ([[User talk:146.231.177.14|talk]]) 10:05, 4 October 2023 (UTC)
{{edit semi-protected|Modern flat Earth beliefs|answered=yes}}
:No. This is not what Wikipedia is for. Instead, we should link to pages that do that. --[[User:Hob Gadling|Hob Gadling]] ([[User talk:Hob Gadling|talk]]) 10:59, 4 October 2023 (UTC)
In these five bits:
::{{Done}} Added a link to [[Empirical evidence for the spherical shape of Earth]] to "See also". [[User:Koopinator|Koopinator]] ([[User talk:Koopinator|talk]]) 18:44, 4 November 2023 (UTC)
:::I added an external link with arguments used by flat-earthers and the arguments against them. [[User:Sjö|Sjö]] ([[User talk:Sjö|talk]]) 06:53, 2 May 2024 (UTC)


== Galileo and Flat Earth ==
idea that the earth was flat and immovable
ridiculous claims about flat earth and therefore discredit the flat earth movement
Flat earth believers in the documentary
the flat earth conspiracy argues that a shadowy
group and promotes flat earth ideologies


Apologize in advance for my lack of education, and please correct me if i am wrong, but it seems to me the most effective way to counter the anti-white propaganda of flat earth theory, is to simply duplicate history and describe the experiment that Galileo used to prove the curvature of the earth.
Please change "earth" to "Earth". There are 280 appearances of this word before the references, and except for a few spots where another author is quoted, all of the other 274 use "Earth". [[Special:Contributions/175.39.61.121|175.39.61.121]] ([[User talk:175.39.61.121|talk]]) 07:36, 22 September 2022 (UTC)


As I understand it, Galileo's experiment was to compare the length of two columns of equal height, set in the earth, miles apart from each other, at a specific time of day. The length of the shadows were significantly different, and Galileo's conclusion was that the only explanation for this differnce in shadow length was that the earth was curved, as a flat earth would have resulted in both shadows being the same length.
:{{done}}<!-- Template:ESp -->. [[User:Aidan9382|Aidan9382]] <sub>([[User talk:Aidan9382|talk]])</sub> 16:25, 22 September 2022 (UTC)


This is an easy thought experiment intelligent people can imagine, and would go a long way towards illustrating the intellectual deficiencies of those who are incapable of imagining this simple proof.
== Orion is not a Southern Hemisphere constellation ==


The Article would be improved if it mentioned Galileo and his proof.[[Special:Contributions/2603:8081:3A00:414A:81A5:363F:2B7:1512|2603:8081:3A00:414A:81A5:363F:2B7:1512]] ([[User talk:2603:8081:3A00:414A:81A5:363F:2B7:1512|talk]]) 14:27, 13 January 2024 (UTC)
Orion is about half in the Northern Hemisphere and half in the Southern. For example, Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis) is at Declination +7° 24′ 26″. Correcting this requires too much rewriting so I am leaving that to others; just pointing it out. [[Special:Contributions/67.167.254.120|67.167.254.120]] ([[User talk:67.167.254.120|talk]]) 08:19, 28 October 2022 (UTC)Larry Siegel
:That was simple. I deleted Orion, keeping Crux and Centaurus.
:Also, new stuff goes to the bottom of the Talk page. --[[User:Hob Gadling|Hob Gadling]] ([[User talk:Hob Gadling|talk]]) 08:47, 28 October 2022 (UTC)


:I don't understand the reference about the Flat Earth "Theory" being anti-white?
== Vehement voice ==
:This, and any Wikipedia page, is not to come up with new ideas about how to prove/disprove anything. The point is to write about what has been done. I'm certain this experiment has been done since, and if there is a suitable place in this article, or a different Flat Earth one, someone (or you) could write about it referencing suitable reliable sources. [[User:Capturts|Capturts]] ([[User talk:Capturts|talk]]) 04:25, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
:By the way, flat-earthers correctly point out that the difference in the angle of shadows at ''two'' latitudes is equally well explained by a near sun. (But they cannot derive a consistent altitude for the sun as seen from any ''three'' latitudes.) [[User:Tamfang|—Tamfang]] ([[User talk:Tamfang|talk]]) 07:10, 3 May 2024 (UTC)
:I think this experiment might be incorrectly attributed to Galileo, who was involved in the controversy about whether the Earth goes around the Sun (e.g. based on his discovery of the moons of Jupiter), not whether it was round. Perhaps you are thinking of the experiment of Eratosthenes to determine the size of the Earth? That is described at [[History of geodesy]]; astronomers noticed this phenomenon many centuries before Galileo. -- [[User:Beland|Beland]] ([[User talk:Beland|talk]]) 17:35, 4 June 2024 (UTC)


== Should the lead include that this is a conspiracy theory? ==
The vehemence is tangible… I get that flat earth is bullshit, but Wikipedia has a neutral voice policy for a reason. Please uphold it. [[Special:Contributions/96.232.183.53|96.232.183.53]] ([[User talk:96.232.183.53|talk]]) 00:56, 23 May 2023 (UTC)
:NPOV doesn't mean that we don't call complete bullshit bullshit. Rather, the opposite. We get more than a few readers who believe in this nonsense. '''<span style="font-family: Arial;">[[User:Acroterion|<span style="color: black;">Acroterion</span>]] <small>[[User talk:Acroterion|<span style="color: gray;">(talk)</span>]]</small></span>''' 01:01, 23 May 2023 (UTC)
:Domain of NPOV is opinions. There can be no neutrality about scientific facts as they are not opinions. One of Wikipedia's purposes it so stand such neutrality. [[User:Lajoswinkler|Lajoswinkler]] ([[User talk:Lajoswinkler|talk]]) 14:20, 17 June 2023 (UTC)


I was reading the article and I noticed that the source supporting the claim that the flat Earth argument is a conspiracy theory is a news article from 2016. Since then, there are several academic studies demonstrating that it is indeed a conspiracy theory. I added them to the reference in the intro. However, my question is that, perhaps, the lead should describe the FE as a conspiracy theory, given that this is how most sources classify it. [[User:MexFin|MexFin]] ([[User talk:MexFin|talk]]) 14:01, 17 September 2024 (UTC)
== Proofs for the skeptical ==


== This paragraph is not clear==
Should there not be a section with a bunch of different proofs that the earth is a rough sphere and/or a bunch of flat earth "arguments" that are clearly disproved? [[Special:Contributions/146.231.177.14|146.231.177.14]] ([[User talk:146.231.177.14|talk]]) 10:05, 4 October 2023 (UTC)
:No. This is not what Wikipedia is for. Instead, we should link to pages that do that. --[[User:Hob Gadling|Hob Gadling]] ([[User talk:Hob Gadling|talk]]) 10:59, 4 October 2023 (UTC)
::{{Done}} Added a link to [[Empirical evidence for the spherical shape of Earth]] to "See also". [[User:Koopinator|Koopinator]] ([[User talk:Koopinator|talk]]) 18:44, 4 November 2023 (UTC)


''Behind the Curve illustrated how flat Earth believers rely on poorly-verified claims. Mark Sargent claimed to have watched flightaware.com for a very long time to check if any flights traveled between continents in the Southern Hemisphere, which in his disc model would be much further apart than they are on the globe. He stated that he saw no such flights, and took this as evidence for the disc model. Caltech astrophysicist Hannalore Gerling-Dunsmore went to the site and immediately found flights that contradicted Sargent's claims.[95][96]''
== Galileo and Flat Earth ==


Sargent was not finding long flights which should have been present in his theory of a stretched out southern hemisphere.
Apologize in advance for my lack of education, and please correct me if i am wrong, but it seems to me the most efective way to counter the anti-white propaganda of flat earth theory, is to simply duplicate history and describe the experiment that Galileo used to prove the curvature of the earth.
Or did he? Not clear what he claims and why this would support his view. Thank you for your work. [[User:Florir121|Florir121]] ([[User talk:Florir121|talk]]) 08:16, 22 September 2024 (UTC)


== Semi-protected edit request on 25 November 2024 ==
As I understand it, Galileo's experiment was to compare the length of two columns of equal height, set in the earth, miles apart from each other, at a specific time of day. The length of the shadows were significantly different, and Galileo's conclusion was that the only explanation for this differnce in shadow length was that the earth was curved, as a flat earth would have resulted in both shadows being the same length.


{{Edit semi-protected|Modern flat Earth beliefs|answered=yes}}
This is an easy thought experiment intelligent people can imagine, and would go a long way towards illustrating the intellectual deficiencies of those who are incapable of imagining this simple proof.
top believers in the netherlands are

Klaas-jan peter johanes de II
The Article would be improved if it mentioned Galileo and his proof.[[Special:Contributions/2603:8081:3A00:414A:81A5:363F:2B7:1512|2603:8081:3A00:414A:81A5:363F:2B7:1512]] ([[User talk:2603:8081:3A00:414A:81A5:363F:2B7:1512|talk]]) 14:27, 13 January 2024 (UTC)
Jan pieter Jansen
Edna Peterson
Audrey kleijne
Klaas jan willem Smit [[User:Whyalwaysme2|Whyalwaysme2]] ([[User talk:Whyalwaysme2|talk]]) 08:49, 25 November 2024 (UTC)
:{{Not done}}: please provide [[Wikipedia:Reliable sources|reliable sources]] that support the change you want to be made.<!-- Template:ESp --> <span style="white-space:nowrap"><span style="font-family:monospace">'''<nowiki>'''[[</nowiki>[[User:CanonNi]]<nowiki>]]'''</nowiki>'''</span> ([[User talk:CanonNi|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/CanonNi|contribs]])</span> 08:59, 25 November 2024 (UTC)

Latest revision as of 08:59, 25 November 2024

There are many Flat Earth Societies all around the globe

[edit]

This statement deserves to be in the article.

"There are many Flat Earth Societies all around the globe"

It was removed for no reason.

RamotHacker (talk) 06:44, 10 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
I removed it because it is an old joke, not very funny, but most of all because it did not support the mission to build a serious and respected encyclopedia, see WP:NOTEVERYTHING. It is not the first time this has been added to (and removed from) Flat Earth articles, so this removal followed Wikipedia consensus. Sjö (talk) 06:55, 10 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
There are two "The Flat Earth Societies". One referred to in the article is at [tfes.org]. The other is at [theflatearthsociety.org]. Both are mentioned in the 2016 article from the New Yorker Inside ‘Flat Earth,’ Tila Tequila’s New Belief System and the Wokest Conspiracy Theory of 2016. I'm not sure how to add this to the article given its current construction. It's also not clear if either of these "organizations" are incorporated or registered in any way.--Nowa (talk) 20:48, 19 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
seriously? Vidhula143 (talk) 17:41, 3 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Proofs for the skeptical

[edit]

Should there not be a section with a bunch of different proofs that the earth is a rough sphere and/or a bunch of flat earth "arguments" that are clearly disproved? 146.231.177.14 (talk) 10:05, 4 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]

No. This is not what Wikipedia is for. Instead, we should link to pages that do that. --Hob Gadling (talk) 10:59, 4 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]
 Done Added a link to Empirical evidence for the spherical shape of Earth to "See also". Koopinator (talk) 18:44, 4 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
I added an external link with arguments used by flat-earthers and the arguments against them. Sjö (talk) 06:53, 2 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Galileo and Flat Earth

[edit]

Apologize in advance for my lack of education, and please correct me if i am wrong, but it seems to me the most effective way to counter the anti-white propaganda of flat earth theory, is to simply duplicate history and describe the experiment that Galileo used to prove the curvature of the earth.

As I understand it, Galileo's experiment was to compare the length of two columns of equal height, set in the earth, miles apart from each other, at a specific time of day. The length of the shadows were significantly different, and Galileo's conclusion was that the only explanation for this differnce in shadow length was that the earth was curved, as a flat earth would have resulted in both shadows being the same length.

This is an easy thought experiment intelligent people can imagine, and would go a long way towards illustrating the intellectual deficiencies of those who are incapable of imagining this simple proof.

The Article would be improved if it mentioned Galileo and his proof.2603:8081:3A00:414A:81A5:363F:2B7:1512 (talk) 14:27, 13 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I don't understand the reference about the Flat Earth "Theory" being anti-white?
This, and any Wikipedia page, is not to come up with new ideas about how to prove/disprove anything. The point is to write about what has been done. I'm certain this experiment has been done since, and if there is a suitable place in this article, or a different Flat Earth one, someone (or you) could write about it referencing suitable reliable sources. Capturts (talk) 04:25, 19 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]
By the way, flat-earthers correctly point out that the difference in the angle of shadows at two latitudes is equally well explained by a near sun. (But they cannot derive a consistent altitude for the sun as seen from any three latitudes.) —Tamfang (talk) 07:10, 3 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I think this experiment might be incorrectly attributed to Galileo, who was involved in the controversy about whether the Earth goes around the Sun (e.g. based on his discovery of the moons of Jupiter), not whether it was round. Perhaps you are thinking of the experiment of Eratosthenes to determine the size of the Earth? That is described at History of geodesy; astronomers noticed this phenomenon many centuries before Galileo. -- Beland (talk) 17:35, 4 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Should the lead include that this is a conspiracy theory?

[edit]

I was reading the article and I noticed that the source supporting the claim that the flat Earth argument is a conspiracy theory is a news article from 2016. Since then, there are several academic studies demonstrating that it is indeed a conspiracy theory. I added them to the reference in the intro. However, my question is that, perhaps, the lead should describe the FE as a conspiracy theory, given that this is how most sources classify it. MexFin (talk) 14:01, 17 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

This paragraph is not clear

[edit]

Behind the Curve illustrated how flat Earth believers rely on poorly-verified claims. Mark Sargent claimed to have watched flightaware.com for a very long time to check if any flights traveled between continents in the Southern Hemisphere, which in his disc model would be much further apart than they are on the globe. He stated that he saw no such flights, and took this as evidence for the disc model. Caltech astrophysicist Hannalore Gerling-Dunsmore went to the site and immediately found flights that contradicted Sargent's claims.[95][96]

Sargent was not finding long flights which should have been present in his theory of a stretched out southern hemisphere. Or did he? Not clear what he claims and why this would support his view. Thank you for your work. Florir121 (talk) 08:16, 22 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 25 November 2024

[edit]

top believers in the netherlands are Klaas-jan peter johanes de II Jan pieter Jansen Edna Peterson Audrey kleijne Klaas jan willem Smit Whyalwaysme2 (talk) 08:49, 25 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

 Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. '''[[User:CanonNi]]''' (talkcontribs) 08:59, 25 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]