How did the theory of the flat earth start?
As most people know, when you stand on the ground and look around, you can’t tell that the Earth is round and looks very flat instead. In order to see the curved horizon, you have to be at least 35,000 ft above the ground. Obviously, this takes advanced technology to accomplish, so for a very long time, people could not see that the Earth had a curve and just thought it was flat. Many ancient philosophers perceived the Earth to be a flat disk floating in the ocean.
Flat Earth Society
Although we have made discoveries and have had technological advances that prove the Earth is round, many people still seem to be infatuated with the idea of the Earth being flat. In the 1830s, the concept of the flat earth was reinstated by a commune in Britain, led by Samuel Birley Rowbotham. This was in response to the scientific progress being made. In the 1950s, the Flat Earth Society was created. The group was based in Britain with around 4,000 members. When social media became popular and started to have a great influence, the organization relaunched itself worldwide in October 2009.
This group has many similar beliefs to the philosophers before they were able to see that the Earth was round. They believe that the Sun and the Moon are about 51 miles in diameter and circle around the flat disk about 3,147 miles away. Some believe that Antarctica spreads infinitely across the world, and some refuse to believe the conventional laws of gravity and instead believe that the flat Earth accelerates upwards and creates the illusion of gravity.
I don’t think the Earth is flat. I don’t know exactly why people choose to believe their theories versus scientific facts, proof, and evidence. I think they might just want to go against society, disagree for attention or entertainment, or they just genuinely think the Earth is flat. I think the scientific evidence is trustworthy and there is no way that the Earth is flat.
Do you think the Earth is flat?
Why do you think some people think the Earth is flat?
What are some ideas/conspiracies you have heard about the flat earth?
Replies
I agree, it's most likely that people who claim to believe the Earth is flat are ignoring the scientific facts behind it just so they can argue with other people for some form of entertainment. I think if somebody said that to me I would laugh.
No, I think that the earth is a sphere. I think that the reasons why people think the earth is flat is because there's no pictures showing that it is a sphere. I've seen a lot of people take a ball and pour water on it and their reasoning for why the earth is flat is because the water would just roll off of it.
I agree, the Earth is definitely a sphere. I've never heard that about people pouring water on a ball as proof, but that sounds so funny to me. There's no way that is actual proof because rain and oceans don't work like that.
Me personally, I don't belive that the earth is flat. I understand why some people would think that the earth is flat. There are so many studies shown that the earth isn't flat. I feel like people like to say the earth is flat, so then they can try to argue with people, or try to act right.
I agree, there seems to be endless studies about the shape of the Earth, yet none of them say that the Earth is flat. That is because there is no actual sound proof that the Earth is flat, while there is so many facts and evidence that it is round.
I don't think the earth is flat. I think many people think the earth is flat just by looking around. Or they just want to have a different opinion then everyone else. Although. there is scientific evidence that the earth is round many people still believe its flat.
I agree. I have met people who like to have something to argue/debate about with other people and just want to feel unique or different from other people they talk to. This doesn't make sense to me because why would you want to sound so dumb just to be different.
I do not think that earth is flat. I think that people think that the earth is flat becuase there is a chance that the pictures of the moon landing, and earth could be fake. It does make sense that these could be made up or completly edited. I have heard that these pictures could be fake.
I agree. I have researched the theories about the moon landing before researching the flat earth theories and they definitely both have similar ideas and reasoning behind them. The most common one I've heard is that the pictures are fake.
The Earth is round it is not flat, I think people believe that the earth is flat because all they have seen are images of the Earth and it appears flat to them. I have not heard a lot about conspiracies about the earth being flat but I have heard about people believing it is flat.
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