Flat Earth?

[O2HeN2]

So through the latter part of 2018 and all of 2019 I hung out with the local Colorado Springs flat earth folks, going to their meetings, doing experiments with them, etc.

Not undercover, they all knew I was a "baller". At some level it was entirely selfish on my part, I have a pretty broad knowledge of science, and I LOVE to talk science and explain things. And I wasn't alone, there were two other ballers that regularly attended the meetings as well.

Both sides enjoyed the debate.

I find the Flat Earthers have two major problems: They don't understand the scale of things "How come when I look out over the ocean I don't see a curve?" You do. Just not with the naked eye without equipment to help you.

And they have problems with frames of reference "If we're spinning at 1000 miles an hour, why can't I feel it?" It's just like during a smooth plane ride - you don't feel yourself moving then, do you?

Less importantly, they also like to glom onto one piece of data that supports the FE position, discounting the overwhelming data that contradicts the one piece they choose to believe: "They said the Van Allen belts were deadly, how come suddenly we can fly through them now?" Yhea, when initially discovered back in the 50s they thought they were deadly. But as we got more data, turned out they weren't so much...

And lastly they get a little confused on how things work. We had one meeting to discuss the Foucault pendulum and after a period of time I realized that they thought the pendulum was moving, when in fact it's the observer that's moving, not the pendulum (the frame of reference problem).

I grabbed a wire-framed busing cart (we met at a coffee shop), tied a sting with a weight on it that hung from the top shelf to the lower shelf and put an object to represent the observer on the lower shelf and started the little pendulum swinging 90 degrees (back in forth) in front of the "observer object". At that point I twisted the cart 90 degrees and the pendulum was now swinging towards and away from the observer.

The woman who leads the group fell silent and stared at it for a long time. To this day I don't know if she "got it" or not, but it completely unseated all the arguments she had to discredit "how the pendulum moves".

It actually was a really fun time. We did several Pueblo Lake experiments to try and measure the curve, and I learned a TON about optical refraction above water. I got to see upside down images of the far shoreline, fata morganas, all sorts of stuff I never would have otherwise. And just how exacting you need to be to do a small experiment to measure something so large as the earth.

O2

[Irving]

I don't think I've ever heard of the pendulum thing you're referencing. I can look it up on YouTube, but do you have a good video in mind that does a good job explaining what you mean?

[Circuits]

So through the latter part of 2018 and all of 2019 I hung out with the local Colorado Springs flat earth folks, going to their meetings, doing experiments with them, etc.

Not undercover, they all knew I was a "baller". At some level it was entirely selfish on my part, I have a pretty broad knowledge of science, and I LOVE to talk science and explain things. And I wasn't alone, there were two other ballers that regularly attended the meetings as well.

Both sides enjoyed the debate.

I find the Flat Earthers have two major problems: They don't understand the scale of things "How come when I look out over the ocean I don't see a curve?" You do. Just not with the naked eye without equipment to help you.

And they have problems with frames of reference "If we're spinning at 1000 miles an hour, why can't I feel it?" It's just like during a smooth plane ride - you don't feel yourself moving then, do you?

Less importantly, they also like to glom onto one piece of data that supports the FE position, discounting the overwhelming data that contradicts the one piece they choose to believe: "They said the Van Allen belts were deadly, how come suddenly we can fly through them now?" Yhea, when initially discovered back in the 50s they thought they were deadly. But as we got more data, turned out they weren't so much...

And lastly they get a little confused on how things work. We had one meeting to discuss the Foucault pendulum and after a period of time I realized that they thought the pendulum was moving, when in fact it's the observer that's moving, not the pendulum (the frame of reference problem).

I grabbed a wire-framed busing cart (we met at a coffee shop), tied a sting with a weight on it that hung from the top shelf to the lower shelf and put an object to represent the observer on the lower shelf and started the little pendulum swinging 90 degrees (back in forth) in front of the "observer object". At that point I twisted the cart 90 degrees and the pendulum was now swinging towards and away from the observer.

The woman who leads the group fell silent and stared at it for a long time. To this day I don't know if she "got it" or not, but it completely unseated all the arguments she had to discredit "how the pendulum moves".

It actually was a really fun time. We did several Pueblo Lake experiments to try and measure the curve, and I learned a TON about optical refraction above water. I got to see upside down images of the far shoreline, fata morganas, all sorts of stuff I never would have otherwise. And just how exacting you need to be to do a small experiment to measure something so large as the earth.

O2

I never once thought of joining/going to a flat earth society to meet dumb/credulous chicks. Clearly, my loss.

[Irving]

I don't think I've ever heard of the pendulum thing you're referencing. I can look it up on YouTube, but do you have a good video in mind that does a good job explaining what you mean?

I watched some videos. I'm up to speed now. Very intresting.

[O2HeN2]

I never once thought of joining/going to a flat earth society to meet dumb/credulous chicks. Clearly, my loss.

Not why I went to the meetings, but if that's your thing...

O2

[JohnnyDrama]

Not why I went to the meetings, but if that's your thing...

O2

I've attended meetings with "fringy" groups on occasion. More frequently when I lived in some of the surrounding towns with a more diverse (crunchy) culture. Mostly just to see what it was about and expand my horizons a little. Being able to debate people on different points is kind of fun sometimes. Flat earthers aren't the only ones who glom onto a single piece of data that supports their position. In academia its known as "cherry picking".

It sounds like you had fun.

Yes, occasionally there were "dumb/credulous chicks" in some of these groups. I had to tell myself to stay away from them. Made me think about a coworker I had who met her (now ex) husband at a gay bar. It didn't work out.

[BushMasterBoy]

Foucault pendulum. I wish I had some codeine. The pain has been unreal!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foucau...9;s%20rotation.

[Justin]

I never once thought of joining/going to a flat earth society to meet dumb/credulous chicks. Clearly, my loss.

Probably the perfect venue if you're into the Crazy Cat Lady scene.

[ChickNorris]

I never once thought of joining/going to a flat earth society to meet dumb/credulous chicks. Clearly, my loss.

Incredulous might have been more befitting given the topic.


Separately, I think that was a shitty statement you made.

[BushMasterBoy]

I joined the Space Force to go to a flat planet... I get around.