# Flat earth theory. Serious question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 26, 2016, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-theory-serious-question/747234 "2016-02-26T18:53:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-theory-serious-question/747234/41 "2016-02-27T23:06:41Z")
I’ve known people who genuinely and seriously believed that- I was Jesus Christ. My protestations otherwise did me no good. He was a werewolf. This was not a stupid man. He had poor social skills and a deep-seated delusion. But he also possessed a near photographic memory and a staggeringly high IQ. The singer Richard Marx would visit her in her room at the mental hospital every night. Clooney was by far a better Batman than Keaton. I am not joking, nor am I making any of this up. Do most members of the FE Society join as a joke? Sure. Are some of them sincere and crazy? I have no doubt. ---
**Author:** ![doubleminus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5daacb/32.png) [@doubleminus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doubleminus)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-theory-serious-question/747234/42 "2016-02-27T23:13:23Z")
It seems to me that FE society is just there for the (mostly British) eccentricity and oddness. I have met brilliant people, physicists and other scientists claiming to be members. They work hard to present plausible explanations. It is, in a way, similar to a perpetuum mobile designer group; one should believe Einstein when he wrote that for some of the designs the “bugs” were exceedingly difficult to find. ---
**Author:** ![crucible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-theory-serious-question/747234/43 "2016-02-27T23:39:40Z")
on the other hand, what are the implications of a theory that we live on the inside of a sphere? ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-theory-serious-question/747234/44 "2016-02-28T00:34:03Z")
> [@crypto](#): > > If the earth was flat, why would the governments of the world try to keep it quiet? I’m not aware of the government cover-up angle ever really being that significant an aspect amongst flat earth theorists. Certainly since say 1800, all flat earth theorists have essentially been bloody-minded contrarians who have actually been opposed to the perceived authority of mainstream science. Precisely because a “flat earth” had become the paradigm of an absurd opinion. In the 19th century, they tended to at least believe what they were, however misguidedly, arguing. It’s in the 20th century that one gets the absurdist, surrealist faction that holds the position as essentially one big joke. Which, intentionally, confuses everything. Now neither strand of the tradition was surely particularly ever likely to trust the governments in power. But I don’t believe that any of them ever thought it was a conspiracy by governments. No, it was a conspiracy by _scientists_. Whom governments might mistakenly trust. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-theory-serious-question/747234/45 "2016-02-28T03:12:20Z")
> [@He\_sDead66](#): > > blah blah blah, all you’re doing is going after low hanging fruit. Makes you look quite desperate, do you need reassurance or something? Congrats, you don’t believe the earth is flat, that just makes you about as knowledgeable as 99.9% of the population. Why do they believe it? Who cares, frankly, it’s a stupid theory either way You joined the board just to add this stimulating nugget? Welcome to the SDMB! :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-theory-serious-question/747234/46 "2016-02-28T03:15:47Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > I’ve known people who genuinely and seriously believed that- > > … > > I was Jesus Christ. My protestations otherwise did me no good. > > … > > I am not joking, nor am I making any of this up. Do most members of the FE Society join as a joke? Sure. Are some of them sincere and crazy? I have no doubt. Not to hijack my own thread, but how did this resolve itself? Did the person pass on, or what? I would think being JS would be a tough gig to live up to. ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-theory-serious-question/747234/47 "2016-02-28T03:57:41Z")
> [@crucible](#): > > on the other hand, what are the implications of a theory that we live on the inside of a sphere? Omigosh, I was thinking of throwing that in. Didn’t the Nazis think there might be something to sphere-interior concept? And that there might be some chance of shooting weapons upward at distant nations? ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-theory-serious-question/747234/48 "2016-02-28T04:50:26Z")
> [@crucible](#): > > on the other hand, what are the implications of a theory that we live on the inside of a sphere? Cyrus “Koresh” Teed led a cult that believed and preached just that. Unfortunately, the book with a chapter on him is at home. RE The Man Who Thought I Was Christ He got shuffled to a different agency and treatment program. I had never given him a way to contact me. I have no way (and no desire to contact him). I don’t really know what he’s up to. ETA > **[Cyrus Teed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrus_Teed)** > > Cyrus Reed Teed (October 18, 1839 – December 22, 1908) was a U.S. eclectic physician and alchemist turned pseudoscientific religious leader and self-proclaimed messiah. In 1869, claiming divine inspiration, Teed took on the name Koresh and proposed a new set of scientific and religious ideas which he called Koreshanity, including the belief in the existence of a concave, or "cellular", Hollow Earth cosmology positing that the sky, humanity, and the surface of the Earth exist on the inside of a un... ---
**Author:** ![He\_sDead66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c67d28/32.png) [@He\_sDead66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/He_sDead66)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-theory-serious-question/747234/49 "2016-02-28T05:01:34Z")
> [@crypto](#): > > You joined the board just to add this stimulating nugget? > > Welcome to the SDMB! :dubious: Thanks m8. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-theory-serious-question/747234/50 "2016-02-28T05:49:10Z")
> [@Find\_Friends](#): > > Omigosh, I was thinking of throwing that in. > > Didn’t the Nazis think there might be something to sphere-interior concept? And that there might be some chance of shooting weapons upward at distant nations? I’ve seen references to Nazis using immense searchlights, and shining them up into the sky, hoping to illuminate London, above them on the inner surface of the hollow earth. I have no idea if this is true, or just an UL. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-theory-serious-question/747234/51 "2016-02-28T13:37:16Z")
HF radio absolutely \*does \*bounce off the spherical sky and back to earth well beyond the horizon. For electromagnetic radiation at the appropriate wavelengths the sky (well the upper atmosphere really) has an index of refraction that works much like a mirror to reflect the signal back down. See [Skywave - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skywave) The idea that that same behavior might work for light is not insane. It mostly doesn’t work in our atmosphere. But there might easily be planets where it does. Mirages are exactly this effect. So it \*does \*work in our atmosphere to a limited extent. More plausibly, the Germans (& the other side) did use powerful searchlights to search for incoming bombers. Once a bomber was lit up, the anti-aircraft gunners had something to aim at. Pretty good bet that pix of these got ULed into “Nazi skybeams to light up London.” Which raises the question of what advantage the ULers claim the Germans hoped to gain by illuminating London. What’s the point? ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-theory-serious-question/747234/52 "2016-02-28T15:40:50Z")
> [@crypto](#): > > What I am not clear on is why they believe there is a conspiracy to cover up this “fact”. If the earth was flat, why would the governments of the world try to keep it quiet?\* Well, I think the answer to this is there two types of FE’ers. Those who are just seeing how far they can go with an absurd premise (the majority of FE’ers, IMO). For these, they do not really believe any governments are trying to keep people from knowing the earth is flat because they know it isn’t. The government conspiracy theroy is just a device used to explain what logic cannot. The other type, who for respect to those with mental issues, I’ll call the unhinged, are, well, crazy. They don’t need to account for anything they claim because the reasons just don’t matter. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-theory-serious-question/747234/53 "2016-02-28T19:09:40Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > BTW, weren’t these Flat Earth ideas kicking around and well-established well before the “Space Age” and NASA? Or is all this purely contemporary stuff? Wikipedia on [Willbur Voliva](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilbur_Glenn_Voliva): > [@](#): > > From 1914, he gained nationwide notoriety by his vigorous advocacy of flat earth doctrine. He offered a widely publicized $5000 challenge for anyone to disprove flat earth theory. The church schools in Zion taught the flat earth doctrine. In 1923 he became the first evangelical preacher in the world to own his own radio station, which could be heard as far away as Australia. His radio station broadcast his diatribes against round earth astronomy, and the evils of evolution. He was quoted about the sun as follows: > > The idea of a sun millions of miles in diameter and 91,000,000 miles away is silly. The sun is only 32 miles across and not more than 3,000 miles from the earth. It stands to reason it must be so. God made the sun to light the earth, and therefore must have placed it close to the task it was designed to do. What would you think of a man who built a house in Zion and put the lamp to light it in Kenosha, Wisconsin? ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-theory-serious-question/747234/54 "2016-02-28T21:05:29Z")
> [@crypto](#): > > … I am not in any way trying to make light of someone’s personal beliefs… While I understand that you are looking for a particular bit of information, and you’re trying to be “open minded,” I think this line - which others use when talking about, say, white supremecists or creationists - is disingenuous. Some beliefs deserve ridicule. You can’t really discuss those ideas logically, and some of them are dangerous. The only way to give them what they merit is to make light of them. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-theory-serious-question/747234/55 "2016-02-28T22:06:41Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Isn’t there some theory that the whole universe is 2D and the 3rd spatial dimension is just an illusion? Yes; I found an [article](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150427101633.htm) on it. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-theory-serious-question/747234/56 "2016-02-28T23:41:57Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > It’s hard for me to believe that flat-earthers aren’t just trolling everybody for some sort of kick. Would Thomas Dolby, Musical Director of The TED Conference and member 00001 of the reconvened Flat Earth Society, troll us? Of course he would! Or not. It’s sometimes hard to tell with trolls. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-theory-serious-question/747234/57 "2016-03-03T20:41:37Z")
Note that Christian FE belief almost always goes along with the Earth being immobile and the center of the Universe. Something that can be easily supported with many Biblical passages if your interpret them the right way. (Pretty much a universal statement.) Once you believe the Bible is the primary source of The Truth, things like “facts” and “logic” are merely the work of the Devil which you can ignore as much as you like. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-theory-serious-question/747234/58 "2016-03-03T21:23:21Z")
Didn’t read the whole thread, but do flat Earthers believe that the moon and the sun are flat discs as well? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-theory-serious-question/747234/59 "2016-03-03T21:36:14Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Would Thomas Dolby, Musical Director of The TED Conference and member 00001 of the reconvened Flat Earth Society, troll us? Of course he would! Or not. It’s sometimes hard to tell with trolls. He’s bitter about conventional science, ever since it blinded him back in the 80s. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-theory-serious-question/747234/60 "2016-03-03T21:47:15Z")
Sounds reasonable. That’d have pissed me off too if it’d happened to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-theory-serious-question/747234.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-theory-serious-question/747234.md?page=4)