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Flat Earth - Frequently Asked Questions

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Welcome to the Flat Earth Society, and thank you for taking the time to go through this FAQ. It was created in light of the realization that for someone with a "Round-Earth" (RE) background, the FE theory would appear at first glance to have some glaring holes. This thread is designed to answer some of the questions that many Round Earthers raise when they first arrive. Please check this page before making your first threads, as it may contain the answers to the questions on your mind.

This FAQ contains multiple answers for some questions, simply because there are differing views of Flat Earth Theory among some of our members.

Is this site a joke?

This site is not a joke. We are actively promoting the Flat Earth movement worldwide. There are, admittedly, several non-serious Flat Earth posters, but they are fairly easy to identify.

What evidence do you have?

The evidence for a flat earth is derived from many different facets of science and philosophy. The simplest is by relying on ones own senses to discern the true nature of the world around us. The world looks flat, the bottoms of clouds are flat, the movement of the sun; these are all examples of your senses telling you that we do not live on a spherical heliocentric world. This is using what's called an empiricistic approach, or an approach that relies on information from your senses. Alternatively, when using Descartes' method of Cartesian doubt to skeptically view the world around us, one quickly finds that the notion of a spherical world is the theory which has the burden of proof and not Flat Earth Theory.

Perhaps the best example of Flat Earth proof is the Bedford Level Experiment. In short, this was an experiment preformed countless times on a six-mile stretch of water that proved the surface of the water to be flat. It did not conform to the curvature of the earth that round-earth proponents teach.

Many other experiments demonstrating the lack of curvature in the Earth may be found in Earth Not a Globe, by Samuel Birley Rowbotham.

How do you explain day and night cycles?

Day and night cycles are easily explained on a flat-earth. The sun moves in circles around the North Pole. When it is over your head, it's day. When it's not, it's night. The sun acts like a spotlight and shines downward as it moves. The picture below also illustrates how the sun moves and also how seasons work on a flat-earth.
Seasons.png
When the sun is further away from the North Pole, it's winter in the northern hemiplain (or hemisphere) and summer in the south. A more simplistic picture can be found below.
FlatEarthErasmus.png

Why doesn't gravity pull the earth into a spherical shape?

The earth isn't pulled into a sphere because the force known as gravity doesn't exist or at least exists in a greatly diminished form than is commonly taught. The earth is constantly accelerating up at a rate of 32 feet per second squared (or 9.8 meters per second squared). This constant acceleration causes what you think of as gravity. Imagine sitting in a car that never stops speeding up. You will be forever pushed into your seat. The earth works much the same way. It is constantly accelerating upwards being pushed by a universal accelerator (UA) known as dark energy or aetheric wind. This acceleration does not violate physics and according to Einstein's theory of special relativity, we can accelerate forever without reaching the speed of light.

There are also other theories of flat-earth thought that maintain that the earth sets on the infinite plain with the sun moving overhead. Gravity works much like it does in a round-earth model and the earth will never form into a sphere because the plain is endless.

What does the Earth look like?

As seen in the diagrams above, the Earth is in the form of a disk with the North Pole in the center and Antarctica as a wall around the edge. This is the generally accepted model among members of the society. In this model, circumnavigation is performed by moving in a great circle around the North Pole.

The earth is surrounded on all sides by an ice wall that holds the oceans back. This ice wall is what explorers have named Antarctica. Beyond the ice wall is a topic of great interest to The Flat Earth Society. To our knowledge, no one has been very far past the ice wall and returned to tell of their journey. What we do know is that it encircles the earth and serves to hold in our oceans and helps protect us from whatever lies beyond.


Is Flat Earth Theory connected to a religion?

Flat-earth theory is not officially or unofficially associated with any religion. Throughout the ages various religious institutions have championed a flat-earth model for the world. Unfortunately this leaves us with the vestigial thought that flat-earth theory and religions are symbiotic. They are not, even though many religions today, both mainstream and otherwise, still teach its followers that the world is flat. While they are not incorrect, believing in a flat earth isn't contingent upon believing in a deity or being a part of any religion.

People have been into space. How have they not discovered that the Earth is flat?

There are several theories regarding this topic. One popular theory is the the space agencies of the world are involved in a The Conspiracy. It is generally believed that the point of this conspiracy is not to trick the world into believing the Earth is flat, although this is a result. The motive of the conspiracy is believed to be to cover up the fact that space travel is not possible. The conspiracy likely began during the Cold War's 'Space Race', in which the U.S.S.R and USA were obsessed with beating each other into space to the point that each faked their accomplishments in an attempt to keep pace with the other's supposed achievements. Other nations who claim to have operational space programs similarly are faking theirs so to appear to be on par with other developed countries technologically. It is unknown whether or not the space agencies of the world work together to uphold the illusion of space travel.

There are many pictures on the internet depicting the Earth as being round. Why do these not disprove Flat Earth Theory?

In general, we at The Flat Earth Society do not lend much credit to photographic evidence. It is too easily manipulated and altered. Many of the videos posted here to "prove a round earth" by showing curvature will show no curvature or even convex curvature at parts. The sources are so inaccurate it's difficult to build an argument on them in either case. Furthermore, barrel distortion and other quirks of modern cameras will cause a picture to distort with little or no apparent altercation; especially without references within the picture. Photographs are also prone to distortion when taken through the bent glass of a pressurized cabin as well as atmospheric conditions on the outside. With this litany of problems, it's easy to see why photographic evidence is not to be trusted.

It's also worthy to note that if a person were to look down at the earth from high above, they would expect to see a circular shape where the sun's spotlight was shining. This explains why high altitude photographs are generally curved to produce the illusion of a round horizon.