Flat Earth: A Religion of “True Believers”

“True believers” KNOW the earth is flat and want to spread their newfound knowledge with the evangelistic zeal of religious fanatics. There are genuinely inquisitive people also trying to work out what all the fuss is about.

We have the Right to Question the Shape of the Earth

Everyone has the right to question the shape of the earth. And many of the arguments presented by the flat earthers have substance. But some quickly become true believers in the flat earth without having any working flat earth model. They can not explain so many things which we see happening around us and in the sky with their flat earth model and many things they present are just outrageously incorrect and could not possibly work in the way they envision it.

Flat Earthers are Not Scienitsts

Certainly flat earthers are not believers in the scientific method. In the scientific method you can present a theory if you have some basis for that theory. It has to at least go close to predicting what we observe. If the flat earth people can not predict what we obviously can observe with their theory then scientifically they do not have a valid theory and their “belief” in a flat earth is just that, a belief.

It’s Good to Question, but…

It is good to question. Questioning established beliefs can lead to advancement in knowledge. But just switching to a belief that we can not scientifically or logically justify or prove is sentimental and not very intelligent.

It most flat earthers make their decision based on intangible feelings: they feel the earth is flat, they know the earth is flat, but they have no working model that can explain how the earth could be flat which logically explains the things we see happening around us and in the sky.

Flat Earthers Have no Working Model

If flat earthers are to expect people to question the globe earth model then they have to be prepared to question and defend their flat earth model. But they do not have any agreed flat earth model and none of the many flat earth models work, in the sense they can not produce the things we see happening around us, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere.

The ‘accepted’ flat earth map puts the North Pole in the center of a circle and makes Antarctica a circular island enclosing the oceans. This model can be used to explain most of what we observe in the Northern Hemisphere. Because basically Northern Hemisphere is the same and the central portion of the flat earth map. But when you go south of the equator things do not work at all well for the flat earth map. We will describe these things in more detail in on other pages.

How can we Believe the Earth is Flat Without Proof?

It is perfectly valid to question the shape of the earth. At the same time how can we “believe” the earth is flat, or for that matter a globe, without proof. Both are theories.

However, at the moment the scientific model for the globe earth theory is well developed and logical and believable. So people who believe the earth is a globe do have a solid theoretical basis for their belief. As we are establishing there is no absolute proof the earth is a globe, but there is a valid scientific theory, so believing the earth is a globe is not without basis. But still the earth may not be a globe, and we need to be open to that possibility.

But currently there is no valid scientific model that works assuming the earth is flat, so there is no basis from a scientific point of view, at this point in time, to believe the earth is flat.

How can we blindly believe in things without having some proof? As far as the globe earth model, it has served us well, and from the practical point of view is working for us in almost all respects. But there is a possibility the globe earth model may be incorrect or incomplete in some or all aspects. As far as the flat earth, it can not be believed by thoughtful people until the flat earth people are able to construct a predictive model that works at least as well as the globe earth model does.

So rather than constructing globe earth and flat earth religions and fighting with each other, it would be better for both sides of the debate to keep all options open and together search for the truth of the nature of the earth and the universe we find ourselves a part of.