What do you think of the Flat Earth Society?

Question

I don't know much about it. Are they a religion-oriented group? I saw a model with the ice wall holding in all the water. I thought it was a joke at first. the idea is interesting, but the only ounce of doubt i have that they are not totally insane is our lack of true understanding of gravity. what do you think about it? any merit to their claims?

Answer 1

Have you people NO sense of humor at all????

The Flat Earth Society is completely tongue-in-cheek!! As proof, I quote the disclaimer at the bottom of their home page:

"The Flat Earth Society is not in any way responsible for the failure of the French to repel the Germans at the Maginot Line during WWII. Nor is the Flat Earth Society responsible for the recent yeti sightings outside the Vatican, or for the unfortunate enslavement of the Nabisco Inc. factory employees by a rogue hamster insurrectionist group. Furthermore, we are not responsible for the loss of one or more of the following, which may possibly occur as the result of exposing one's self to the dogmatic and dangerously subversive statements made within: life, limb, vision, Francois Mitterand, hearing, taste, smell, touch, thumb, Aunt Mildred, citizenship, spleen, bedrock, cloves, I Love Lucy reruns, toaster, pine derby racer, toy duck, antelope, horseradish, prosthetic ankle, double-cheeseburger, tin foil, limestone, watermelon-scented air freshner, sanity, paprika, German to Pig Latin dictionary, dish towel, pet Chihuahua, pogo stick, Golf Digest subscription, floor tile, upper torso or halibut."

Go ahead, crack a smile!!

Answer 2

I have been onto their forum website. They take incorrect ideas and then try to make up plausible explanations to fit them. To explain the apparent erratic motion of the planets by accepting that they orbit the Sun, like the Earth, they suggest that the planets do actually have unusual motions, about 3000 miles above the Earth (not a misprint, that's 3000miles).
It was the Flat Earth Society which began the ridiculous rumours that Man had not landed on the Moon, because they could not accept that the photographs taken of the Earth, clearly showing that it was a sphere, were real. So they reasoned that, rather than them being wrong, the whole Moon Landing must have been faked. I would be laughable, if they weren't so serious about it.

It is wrong to suggest that they have no influence, as their ignorance is quite contagious.

Here is a summary of their main beliefs, as part of an FAQ from their web site.

Answer 3

God I hope you're joking!

Do you think that not having a PERFECT theory of gravity means a flat earth could possibly exist?

Einstein updated Newton's theories on gravitation but apples didn't float around in the meantime waiting for gravity to be put back. Some things are just REAL. A round earth is real. It can be proven in many, many ways.

The flat earth view is primarily religious - it takes religion to make people so wilfully ignorany. They claims have zero merit and they would be laughed off any scientific stage - in fact they wouldn't get on one in the first place.

You need to abandon that ounce of doubt. learn about real science and you'll understand why its not closed minded to dismiss such claims out of hand.

Try reading 'The Demon-Haunted World' by Carl Sagan for a primer of how science works.

Answer 4

Many people approaching death realize they don't have any relatives they like. In fact the idea of their relatives getting their money is anathema. Many of these people, in a gesture of disdain, leave their money to the most ridiculous organization they can think of: The Flat Earth Society. I'm sure the society began as a tongue in cheek organization, but a continuous and perhaps large income from people wishing to disinherit their relatives has provided economic incentive to continue in operation long after the joke got a little old.

Answer 5

I class the flat earthers with those who believe in drilling a hole in your skull as a cure for headaches.

The Flat Earth Society is as harmful to the social consciousness as Intelligent Design is. It promotes illogical and irrational reasoning.

I'd love to hear how a flat earther explains this idea to an engineer controlling the orbits of satellites, an engineer building a road/bridge.

Flat earthers reject something a simple as the heliocentric system, yet they are not willing to reject the technologies developed from investigation of the heliocentric system.

And the most simple of all... how does a flat earth cause moon phases?

Answer 6

It's a pointless exercise trying to sway people away from a belief in which they have an absolute conviction.

In this respect, it does almost cross over into religion. If the belief is strong enough, then they will never be swayed from it.

As regards the Flat Earthers - they are completely harmless and at least they don't turn up on my doorstep every other week trying to convince me to "convert" to their way of thinking or shake a collecting tin at me every time I go the supermarket !

Answer 7

I don't like calling people idiots, but come on. I looked on their page and they have like 5 claims that they believe indicates the world is, not only flat, but not moving at all! They believe in a geocentric model of the Universe, not the now more widely accepted heliocentric one. I just don't understand these people, I honestly don't. But its not hurting anyone, so if they want to believe that, then whatever.

Check out this page with their "proof." I don't think this is their official site, though. But they really believe this:

http://www.alaska.net/~clund/e_djublonskopf/Flatearthsociety.htm

Answer 8

There is no merit to their claims.

Even if you ignore thousands of photographs of the Earth taken from hundreds of orbiting satellites, there is still the fact that the Sun rises and sets at different times in different places. This would not be possible on a flat Earth - the Sun would set simultaneously everywhere.

Answer 9

Hmmmm. Don't know about you, but I've seen lots of pictures from space that make the earth look pretty round, just like every other planet and star floating around in this universe.

Answer 10

I don't let the BS slow me down.