5/13/2017 FrequentlyAskedQuestionsTheFlatEarthWiki

FrequentlyAskedQuestions

LogooftheFlatEarthSociety

WelcometotheFlatEarthSociety,andthankyoufortakingthetimetogothroughthisFAQ.

Itwascreatedinlightoftherealizationthatforsomeonewitha"roundearth"background,theflatearth
theorywouldappear,atfirstglance,tohavesomeglaringholes.Thisthreadisdesignedtoanswersome
ofthequestionsthatmanyroundearthersraisewhentheyfirstarrive.Pleasecheckthispagebefore
makingyourfirstthreadsintheforums,asitmaycontaintheanswerstothequestionsonyourmind.

Someofthequestionsherehavemultipleanswersduetodifferingviewsofflatearththeoryamongsome
ofourmembers.

Contents
1 GeneralInformation
1.1 Isthissiteajoke?
1.2 Whatdoalloftheseacronymsmean?
1.3 Whatevidencedoyouhave?
1.4 Isflatearththeoryconnectedtoareligion?
1.5 Peoplehavebeenintospace.Howhavetheynotdiscoveredthattheearthisflat?
1.6 Therearemanypicturesontheinternetandinothermediadepictingtheearthasbeing
round.Whydothesenotdisproveflatearththeory?
2 GeographyandRelatedPhenomena
2.1 Whatdoestheearthlooklike?Howiscircumnavigationpossible?
2.2 Howdoyouexplainday/nightcyclesandseasons?
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2.3 Howisthereamagneticfield?Magnetscan'tbeunipolar
2.4 Asapassengeronanaircraft,howisitIcanseethecurvatureoftheearth?
2.5 HowisweathercreatedinFET?
3 PhysicsandCosmology
3.1 Whydoesn'tgravitypulltheearthintoasphericalshape?
3.2 Objectscannotexceedthespeedoflight.Doesn'tthismeanthattheEarthcan't
accelerateforever?

GeneralInformation

TheUnitedNationsemblemcloselyresemblestheFlatEarthmap.

Isthissiteajoke?

Thissiteisnotajoke.WeareactivelypromotingtheFlatEarthMovementworldwide.Thereare,
admittedly,severalnonseriousflatearthposters,buttheyarefairlyeasytoidentify.

Whatdoalloftheseacronymsmean?

HereisalinktoflatearthTerminology!

Whatevidencedoyouhave?

Theevidenceforaflatearthisderivedfrommanydifferentfacetsofscienceandphilosophy.The
simplestisbyrelyingononesownsensestodiscernthetruenatureoftheworldaroundus.Theworld
looksflat,thebottomsofcloudsareflat,themovementofthesuntheseareallexamplesofyoursenses
tellingyouthatwedonotliveonasphericalheliocentricworld.Thisisusingwhat'scalledanempirical
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empiricism)approach,oranapproachthatreliesoninformationfromyour
senses.Alternatively,whenusingDescartes'methodofCartesiandoubt
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartesian_doubt)toskepticallyviewtheworldaroundus,onequicklyfinds
thatthenotionofasphericalworldisthetheorywhichhastheburdenofproofandnotflatearththeory.
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PerhapsthebestexampleofflatearthproofistheBedfordLevelExperiment.Inshort,thiswasan
experimentperformedmanytimesonasixmilestretchofwaterthatprovedthesurfaceofthewaterto
beflat.Itdidnotconformtothecurvatureoftheearththatroundearthproponentsteach.

ManyotherexperimentsdemonstratingthelackofcurvatureintheearthmaybefoundinEarthNota
Globe,bySamuelRowbotham.

Isflatearththeoryconnectedtoareligion?

Flatearththeoryisneitherofficiallynorunofficiallyassociatedwithanyreligion.Throughouttheages
variousreligiousinstitutionshavechampionedaflatearthmodelfortheworld.Unfortunatelythisleaves
uswiththevestigialthoughtthatflatearththeoryandreligionsaresymbiotic.Theyarenot,eventhough
manyreligionstoday,bothmainstreamandotherwise,stillteachitsfollowersthattheworldisflat.
Whiletheyarenotincorrect,believinginaflatearthisn'tcontingentuponbelievinginadeityorbeinga
partofanyreligion.

Peoplehavebeenintospace.Howhavetheynotdiscoveredthattheearthisflat?

Themostcommonlyacceptedexplanationofthisisthatthespaceagenciesoftheworldareinvolvedina
conspiracyfakingspacetravelandexploration.ThislikelybeganduringtheColdWar's'SpaceRace',in
whichtheUSSRandUSAwereobsessedwithbeatingeachotherintospacetothepointthateachfaked
theiraccomplishmentsinanattempttokeeppacewiththeother'ssupposedachievements.Sincetheend
oftheColdWar,however,theconspiracyismostlikelymotivatedbygreedratherthanpoliticalgains,
andusingonlysomeoftheirfundingtocontinuetofakespacetravelsavesalotofmoneytoembezzle
forthemselves.

Inlightoftheabove,pleasenotethatwearenotsuggestingthatspaceagenciesareawarethattheearthis
flatandactivelycoveringthefactup.Theydepicttheearthasbeingroundsimplybecausethatiswhat
theyexpectittobe.

Therearemanypicturesontheinternetandinothermediadepictingtheearthas
beinground.Whydothesenotdisproveflatearththeory?

Ingeneral,weattheFlatEarthSocietydonotlendmuchcredibilitytophotographicevidence.Itistoo
easilymanipulatedandaltered.Manyofthevideospostedhereto"provearoundearth"byshowing
curvaturewillshownocurvatureorevenconcavecurvatureatparts.Thesourcesaresoinaccurateit's
difficulttobuildanargumentonthemineithercase.Furthermore,barreldistortionandotherquirksof
moderncameraswillcauseapicturetodistortwithlittleornoapparentaltercationespeciallywithout
referenceswithinthepicture.Photographsarealsopronetodistortionwhentakenthroughthebentglass
ofapressurizedcabinaswellasatmosphericconditionsontheoutside.Withthislitanyofproblems,it's
easytoseewhyphotographicevidenceisnottobetrusted.

It'salsoworthnotingthatifapersonweretolookdownattheearthfromhighabove,theywouldexpect
toseeacircularshapewherethesun'sspotlightwasshining.Thisexplainswhyhighaltitude
photographsaregenerallycurvedtoproducetheillusionofaroundhorizon.

GeographyandRelatedPhenomena
Whatdoestheearthlooklike?Howiscircumnavigationpossible?

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Asseeninthediagramsabove,theearthisintheformofadiskwiththeNorthPoleinthecenterand
Antarcticaasawallaroundtheedge.Thisisthegenerallyacceptedmodelamongmembersofthe
society.Inthismodel,circumnavigationisperformedbymovinginagreatcirclearoundtheNorthPole.

Theearthissurroundedonallsidesbyanicewallthatholdstheoceansback.Thisicewalliswhat
explorershavenamedAntarctica.BeyondtheicewallisatopicofgreatinteresttotheFlatEarth
Society.Toourknowledge,noonehasbeenveryfarpasttheicewallandreturnedtotelloftheir
journey.Whatwedoknowisthatitencirclestheearthandservestoholdinouroceansandhelpsprotect
usfromwhateverliesbeyond.

Hereispictureofaproposed,butcertainlynotdefinitive,flatearth.

Howdoyouexplainday/nightcyclesandseasons?
Dayandnightcyclesareeasilyexplainedonaflatearth.ThesunmovesincirclesaroundtheNorthPole.
Whenitisoveryourhead,it'sday.Whenit'snot,it'snight.Thesunactslikeaspotlightandshines
downwardasitmoves.Thepicturebelowillustrateshowthesunmovesandalsohowseasonsworkona
flatearth.Theapparenteffectofthesunrisingandsettingisusuallyexplainedasaperspectiveeffect.

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Ananimationoftheday/nightcycleinFET

WhenthesunisfurtherawayfromtheNorthPole,it'swinterinthenorthernhemiplane(orhemisphere)
andsummerinthesouth.Amoresimplisticpicturecanbefoundbelow.

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Spring/Fall

Summer(Northern
Hemisphere)

Winter(Northern
Hemisphere)

Howisthereamagneticfield?Magnetscan'tbeunipolar

Whileit'struethatunipolarmagnetscan'texist,thisisn'taproblemfortheFlatEarth.Thisisbecause
ringmagnets,whichareshapedlike(youguessedit!)aflatdisk,arecapableofhavingradial
magnetization.Inaradialmagnet,onemagneticpoleisatthecenterandotherotherisatallpointsonthe
edgeofthemagnet.Amagnetlikethiscanbefoundinloudspeakers,andperfectlyreplicateswhatis
foundontheEarth.

Asapassengeronanaircraft,howisitIcanseethecurvatureoftheearth?

Quitesimplyyoucannot.Itiswidelystatedyouwouldneedtobeataheightofatleast40,000fttoget
evenahintofcurvatureifearthwereround.Commercialaircraftarenotallowedtoflythishigh.They
areonlyallowedtoflyjustunderthisaltitude.36,000ftmightbetypical.Inaddition,thewindowson
commercialaircraftaresmallandheavilycurved.Eveniftheyflewhighenoughforapersontosee
curvature,itwouldstillnotbevisibletopassengers.

HowisweathercreatedinFET?

Manyweatherpatternsareactuallycreatedmythelanditself.Forexamplerainshadow.Rainshadowis
wheresomewhereontheeasternsideofamountainrange(becauseweather/cloudstravelfromthewest
generally)isdeprivedofrainnotjustonce,butnearlyallthetime.Thisisbecausethecloudsareforced
upwardsbythemountainsblockingtheirpathandbecomecoolerandcondense,meaningwaterdroplets
formanditrainson/beforethemountainstherebynotrainingontheleewardside.

Otherweatherpatternsarecreatedbygeographicpositionlikethetropicsbeinghumidtheyare
surroundedbywaterwhichisconstantlywarmedandevaporated.

PhysicsandCosmology
Whydoesn'tgravitypulltheearthintoasphericalshape?

Theearthisn'tpulledintoaspherebecausetheforceknownasgravitydoesn'texistoratleastexistsina
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TheFlammarionengravingdepictingamedievalmissionarywhoclaimedthat"hereachedthehorizonwherethe
earthandtheheavensmet"

greatlydiminishedformthaniscommonlytaught.Theearthisconstantlyacceleratingupatarateof32
feetpersecondsquared(or9.8meterspersecondsquared).Thisconstantaccelerationcauseswhatyou
thinkofasgravity.Imaginesittinginacarthatneverstopsspeedingup.Youwillbeforeverpushedinto
yourseat.Theearthworksmuchthesameway.Itisconstantlyacceleratingupwardsbeingpushedbya
universalaccelerator(UA)knownasdarkenergyoraethericwind.

Therearealsoothertheoriesofflatearththoughtthatmaintainthattheearthsitsonaninfiniteplane,
withthesunmovingoverhead.Gravityworksmuchlikeitdoesinaroundearthmodel,andtheearth
willneverformintoaspherebecausetheplaneisendless.

Objectscannotexceedthespeedoflight.Doesn'tthismeanthattheEarthcan't
accelerateforever?

Duetospecialrelativity,thisisnotthecase.Atthispoint,manyreaderswillquestionthevalidityofany
answerwhichusesadvanced,intimidatingsoundingphysicstermstoexplainaposition.However,itis
true.Therelevantequationisv/c=tanh(at/c).Onewillfindthatinthisequation,tanh(at/c)cannever
exceedorequal1.Thismeansthatvelocitycanneverreachthespeedoflight,regardlessofhowlong
oneacceleratesforandtherateoftheacceleration.

SeeUniversalAccelerationformoredetails

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