Flat Earth

[Daelin]

Um... I'm not sure why this thread would warrant such a response.

Because I am very much against the guild becoming a platform for the dissemination of idiocy.

[Voolf]

This is what happens when people use simple common sense to explain science.

I have seen some of those videos like a two years ago. Most of their so called "compelling evidence" for flat earth are so ridiculous it is hard not to laugh.
I am not a science guy myself and must say there were couple of things that i was not sure of and thought, wait maybe they are onto something here. Fortunately all i had to do is to educate myself litte more about how things work to understand that all their reasoning is based on not sience but common sense and human senses. Just because you don't see air, it doesn't mean it's not there.

To those who thinks those kinds of videos are convincing, i advice you do some reaserch by yourself before you nod to everything, because it just 'seems' viable.

Edit. Let's not forget that fantasy flat earth maps are still cool thing !

[J.Edward]

Edit. Let's not forget that fantasy flat earth maps are still cool thing !

Ironically, the other week I had been working on a sort of flat plane sort of thing and used the UN map of earth as a basis for part of it.
The big flat plane provides some interesting scifi/fantasy scenarios - like little island earth types of spots separated by... idk, ice or some such.
The cosmology and other things are sort of beyond decent explanation, but it looks cool.
And done in a sort of retro steampunk looking style... with airships and such... nods. Hehe.
One should never rule things out for a good story, and as such, as a topic for conversation and mapping.
In fact, one should always be able to discuss anything.

Edit - I just posted a wip sample of that flat plane map.

[waldronate]

The Flat Earth guys have pictures and everything! It's proof!!!!

"Essentially, all models are wrong, but some are useful."
--- Box, George E. P.; Norman R. Draper (1987). Empirical Model-Building and Response Surfaces, p. 424, Wiley. ISBN 0471810339.

[Larb]

It's like... do people believe that:

A) A group of people have conspired across many generations to create this incredibly elaborate fictional celestial model with colossal amounts of "fake" supporting data that has been internally consistent even amongst ancient peoples, and in recent times includes thousands of faked satellite launches and millions of hours of better-than-hollywood quality footage of the earth and other celestial bodies.

OR

B) It's a (slightly squashed) globe.

I mean if you had to stake you life on it, which one would you go with? =P

[ladiestorm]

Personally, I think it's hilarious! I haven't watched the video yet, but I know the type.

It's nothing more.than data.manipulation. You actually see it all the time, and not.realize it. It's right up there with global warming, ecological destruction, etc.

Someone has strung a set of facts together for his/her own agenda, and people are.falling for it. Problem is, they are only using facts.that support their idea, to the exclusion of everything else. It's all.done for one purpose - to rile your emotions to the point where you STOP thinking for yourself. That's what this person wants.

[waldronate]

It's not just one person, though. As the famous tweet says: "The Flat Earth Society has members all around the globe."

[Mouse]

My first comment might have indicated that I was firmly against people who believe in a flat Earth, but that would be a wrong impression to take.

The way I see it, it doesn't even matter what shape the world is. I mean, as long as we all learn to get along and deal with the real problems of life in a sensible fashion, I really don't care if other people think the world is a plane, a disc, or for that matter a cube.

Sometimes its just amusing listening to people bending science to suit themselves. I just hope he doesn't go on to prove that black is white and get killed on the next zebra crossing, poor man. (fuzzy reference to Douglas Adams - 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy')

[Straf]

I watched half a second where it was going on about photoshopped (there's another example of a brand name entering vernacular) images and you can tell they are because if you adjust the brightness and contrast repeatedly you get rectangles emerging. That must mean I have never taken a photograph in my life, as continuous digital manipulation will cause quantised defects.

I used to believe in free speech and that but I've realised that there's a line to be drawn. The problem is not in people believing in this sort of thing but in their unreasonableness to entertain empirical evidence that contradicts their 'theories'. It's a cult mindset.

[Daelin]

I used to believe in free speech and that but I've realised that there's a line to be drawn.

Exactly. Free speech is a right and should continue to be. Anyone should be allowed to think and say whatever, regardless of the imbecility of their words and ideas (barring threats of violence, name-calling and the like, of course). If someone wants to promulgate or have "genuine" discussions on retarded theories, like Earth being flat, there's a place for that - like wearing a sandwich sign on your local street corner. This forum, the Cartographer's Guild, though, is not such a place. This forum is not the Youtube comment section. This forum is for the appreciation of map-making - cartography; digital or analog, fantastical or realistic, and all aspects related to it. We can't (and shouldn't) censor thoughts and ideas, and so we can't stop people from adhering to asininity, but we can keep it out of our own sphere; such as saying "don't post this BS on the CG!".