Flat Earth Theory = Creationist Theory?

*runs outside, looks around**returns to keyboard*Whew! I was worried there, for a minute!Ok, fair enough that this particular site is satire, but I've long wondered if "The Flat Earth Society" (any Flat Earth Society) does indeed exist. I've read on talkorigins that it does. Can anybody confirm this?I seem to recall them providing a link to an interview with the founder (or "President", if I recall correctly) but I don't have it readily available, right now. I'll have to look it up.

Hey Crash! Ack! My condolences, heh heh. Is he still a member? What was his arguing style? Did he actually present any real arguments, or was he one of those "Everything is a conspiracy!" hand-wavers? Heh, don't mess with the frog! I must admit I'm intrigued. How did you stump him? Just curious.Oh in case anybody is interested, here are those links...http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/flatearth.htmlandhttp://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/fe-scidi.htmEnjoy!

Ah! *slaps forehead* I thought you meant he was serious! As a joke, my cousin once told me he was going to sign me up with them...I nearly killed him! Well that kind of brings me back to my original question, I guess. Although I don't think I was clear enough as to what I was asking. I wasn't questioning the Flat Earth Society's existence, as such. I was questioning its sincerity.I have no doubt that an "organization" (of sorts) called "The Flat Earth Society" does exist. Perhaps what I should have asked is...Do any of its members actually believe that the earth is flat? Or do they all get together afterwards and have a big laugh about all of the people they've got tearing their hair out, trying to get them to listen to reason? Sorry about my lack of clarity the first time.I must say, if you read that page linked from talkorigins, Charles K. Johnson does seem serious. But then, appearing firm in your convictions is one of the best ways to effectively take the piss out of someone (heh, hope I'm allowed to say that).Among other things on the page, it states that he has published a map showing the "true" shape of the world. Does anybody know if there is a copy of this online? I would be very interested in seeing it.There actually seems to be very little about the Flat Earth Society on the web, but I suppose I haven't looked for anything on them for quite some time. Their apparent absence from the internet is one of the reasons I originally thought they may have been a joke. Heh! And air doesn't "look like" billions of particles. How about the moon? Does it look like a sphere? It does? Do you think it would look that way from its surface? But then, I guess I am preaching to the choir. As a matter of fact, I've heard it explained as just that! I seem to recall the "apparent" curvature of the earth at great heights being described as a trick of perspective. I'm uncertain if this, combined with the shape of the earth's "perimeter", is supposed to explain why you see curvature in all directions, mind you, but there you are.How do you explain that, you brainwashed globularist? Huh? HUH? It's ok, I'm kidding (as if you couldn't tell).

Hi TL!Heh, you repeated both of my links! No harm done. Can't hurt to have them posted twice.Just thought I'd let you know, I can't get anything on that second one...Page not found | Department of HistoryIt keeps giving me a 404 error (Not Found). Is this the same for everyone, or is it just my stupid PC again? *kicks computer*Thanks for those other links, too! I'll definitely check them out!

That's true. But then, I'm not sure ignorance is completely necessary, (although it helps). I think it's like anything else you're conditioned to believe. I've frequently been stunned by the degree to which some people can compartmentalize their minds and this doesn't seem a whole lot different. To a person who has trained their mind to reject any evidence they don't like, hearing that the earth is spherical would mean nothing.I'm not disagreeing with you, by the way. You may be right about the society's members. I for one, find it hard to believe that they are serious, but then, there are a lot of things that I find it hard to believe anyone is serious about. I wish I could discount this possibility but it seems that every time I've thought to myself, "No way! Nobody could possibly believe that!" I've always found at least one person who does! I doubt that there's a whole "society" of them, in this case, but who knows?

Heh heh, don't let it bother you. It's no biggie.More than anything, I was curious about the contents of your second link...Page not found | Department of HistoryI'm afraid it's still just giving me a "Not Found" error.Is this happening to anyone else, or is it just my computer?

I did a little research on this earlier, and based on the paltry amount of data I could find, I think you're right. I'm curious...Do you know if there were any serious members, besides Johnson and his wife, back when they were actively heading the society? I recall reading on one of those links that they had, at one time, accumulated a few thousand members, worldwide. I must admit, I find this a little hard to swallow. Assuming, of course, that these were supposed to be serious members. If there's one thing that never ceases to amaze (and disturb) me, it's how thick some people can be, with regard to that page. The first time I saw it, I effortlessly understood its purpose. Now, I'd love to be able to proclaim my genius for having done so, but it's really not a difficult concept. How much easier does it get than the first thing you see, at the top of the page, being a disclaimer in big, bold letters stating that talkorigins does not believe in a flat earth? Yet there's always one dipstick who'll say...OMG!!! U PEOPLE R SO STUPD!!!!! THE EARTH IZ A SPHERE!!!!!! A SPHRE!!!!! GOT IT???? THIS IZ THE DUMEST SIET!!!! U R AL IDDITS!!!! GET A LIF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Suffice it to say that I've always admired talkorigins' apparently unyielding patience. Again, I'd say you're correct. But here's a thought that occurred to me. While I wouldn't argue specifically for the existence of modern flat-earthers who base their belief on the Bible, I wonder if it would be possible to find people among, say, the indigenous tribes of the world's most secluded locations, who are in the most literal sense "flat-earthers" simply because they've never had any reason to believe otherwise. They are subject to the isolated ignorance that Crash mentioned, in an earlier post, so they simply believe what their eyes tell them, just as primitive man did.Again, this isn't an argument for The Flat Earth Society, and frankly, I don't even know if there are still any locations remote enough to create this kind of isolation, but it was an interesting thought, so I thought I'd share. Not my area, to be sure, so I hope y'all don't mind me tossing the idea out there. Yes, so I understand. Another one I'm interested in is the hollow-earth view. Do you have any data (or links) on this? Does it have any actual adherents, or is it also more or less a joke?With regard to the fixed-earth view, I actually recall reading a rather interesting argument once about whether or not the earth could be viewed as the stationary point of reference just as much as can the sun (or anything else). I don't think this person was arguing for the actual geocentric model, per se. I believe their point was that if all motion is relative and there is no truly fixed point of reference, then is it not just as accurate to view the earth as fixed, while the rest of the universe goes on its merry way about us, as it is to assume the sun as our fixed point of reference, or the center of the galaxy, etc?I believe that one of the problems with this view is that, as the earth rotates once on its axis every 24 hours, it would require objects at greater and greater distances to be orbiting us at increasingly higher speeds, eventually exceeding the speed of light.This is all very rudimentary stuff, of course. I'm only a layman, myself, so I'm sure one of the real astrophysicists here can set me straight on the details.Oh man, do I prattle! Sorry Sylas. Just so that you know, that wasn't all directed specifically at you. I was responding to some of your points but it's pretty much open to anybody who wants to comment or correct me on anything. Please don't feel obligated to reply to everything I wrote, if you'd prefer not to. I know I ramble on, sometimes.

Really? Wow, I hadn't heard about that! Thanks for the info, compmage! Oh don't go to any trouble for me. As I said, I was basically just throwing a random idea on the table. If you have anything you want to add feel free, but please don't go out of your way. I don't want anybody to stress out trying to find links and references just for me. My thinking was that if you could find a person (or group of people, tribe, etc) who are as isolated from the modern world as ancient man was, they may still believe the same way. I don't know if this is true, mind you, it was just a thought that crossed my mind.Thanks again for the info, compmage!

Hi JonF! Ah! I think you're right! I don't personally know any but I think I've seen them on the internet. Yes, I understand. In my case, I am absolutely neurotic about hurting people and generally try to avoid disagreements, when possible.That's why I usually don't post very much here. I'm just not made of strong enough stuff to get involved in some of the debates I've seen, and I would worry too much about who I'd offended.I felt more or less "safe" posting in this thread because I very much doubted that anyone reading would actually take the flat-earth view seriously...*looks around nervously*...so I knew it was unlikely that I would offend anyone, or start any arguments.Anyway, back on topic (kind of)...I'll go out on a bit of a limb here and assume that we also have no hollow-earthers reading. Here's a page with images showing the *cough* "opening" at the North Pole, just in case anyone is interested.Space Images Showing an Opening at North PoleI found it mildly amusing.Thanks for the reply, Jon!

Argh! You're right! *slaps forehead again* I'd guess that I had one of your petit mal seizures, except that in my case, it was more likely a mild dose of brain death. Don't worry about it, mate. It's not urgent, I was just curious.Thanks for the reply TL!