Author Topic: Flat Earth  (Read 84856 times)

Offline Allan F

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Re: Flat Earth
« Reply #105 on: February 23, 2020, 01:40:44 PM »
Will his death lead to conspiracy theories that he was silenced?

It seems like it might have been better for him to succeed and see for himself. It would have been the most satisfactory smashing of a person's dogma since Mike Brown of Game Maker's Toolkit was forced to confront the reality that non-linearity is not the alpha and omega of a good Zelda dungeon.

On the other hand, cognitive dissonance may have led to him interpreting what he saw as a flat disc and so he would have more 'credibility' to spout his nonsense. A family friend was once very insistent that when her flight went into a hold, it stopped dead in the air despite attempts by others to explain what was really going on.

Sent from my SGP611 using Tapatalk

He would never reach an altitude, where he could see anything conclusive. It would be much cheaper and SAFER to just by an airplaneticket and look out the window. Which would still not be conclusive. Commercial flights don't reach an altitude which is high enough. His experiment was not suited to his purpose - at least as far as proving/disproving a flat Earth. I suspect his real purpose was the "fame and fortune".

As Scott Manley would say "Check yo' stagin'".
Well, it is like this: The truth doesn't need insults. Insults are the refuge of a darkened mind, a mind that refuses to open and see. Foul language can't outcompete knowledge. And knowledge is the result of education. Education is the result of the wish to know more, not less.

Offline Glom

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Re: Flat Earth
« Reply #106 on: February 24, 2020, 04:32:21 AM »


Will his death lead to conspiracy theories that he was silenced?

It seems like it might have been better for him to succeed and see for himself. It would have been the most satisfactory smashing of a person's dogma since Mike Brown of Game Maker's Toolkit was forced to confront the reality that non-linearity is not the alpha and omega of a good Zelda dungeon.

On the other hand, cognitive dissonance may have led to him interpreting what he saw as a flat disc and so he would have more 'credibility' to spout his nonsense. A family friend was once very insistent that when her flight went into a hold, it stopped dead in the air despite attempts by others to explain what was really going on.

Sent from my SGP611 using Tapatalk

He would never reach an altitude, where he could see anything conclusive. It would be much cheaper and SAFER to just by an airplaneticket and look out the window. Which would still not be conclusive. Commercial flights don't reach an altitude which is high enough. His experiment was not suited to his purpose - at least as far as proving/disproving a flat Earth. I suspect his real purpose was the "fame and fortune".

As Scott Manley would say "Check yo' stagin'".

He would also say, "fly safe" so clearly this guy wasn't a subscriber.

Offline Nowhere Man

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Re: Flat Earth
« Reply #107 on: February 24, 2020, 07:53:05 PM »
Close the entries: This has to win the Darwin award for 2020, hands down.
I have seen this proposal a few times already.  The guy was 64, old enough to have had children.  Does anyone know if he did?  If so, he didn't qualify.


Fred
Hey, you!  "It's" with an apostrophe means "it is" or "it has."  "Its" without an apostrophe means "belongs to it."

"For shame, gentlemen, pack your evidence a little better against another time."
-- John Dryden, "The Vindication of The Duke of Guise" 1684

Offline smartcooky

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Re: Flat Earth
« Reply #108 on: February 24, 2020, 09:53:47 PM »
Close the entries: This has to win the Darwin award for 2020, hands down.
I have seen this proposal a few times already.  The guy was 64, old enough to have had children.  Does anyone know if he did?  If so, he didn't qualify.


Fred

Nope, that is a common misconception, and is not how the Rules of the Darwin Awards work...

"The existence of offspring, though potentially deleterious to the gene pool, does not disqualify a nominee. Children inherit only half of each parent's genetic material and thus have their own chance to survive or snuff themselves. If, for instance, the offspring has inherited the "Play With Combustibles" gene, but also has inherited the "Use Caution When..." gene, then she is a potential innovator and asset to the human race. Therefore, each nominee is judged based on whether or not she has removed her own genes, without consideration to the number of offspring or, in the case of an elderly winner, the likelihood of producing more offspring. "

https://darwinawards.com/rules/rules1.html
If you're not a scientist but you think you've destroyed the foundation of a vast scientific edifice with 10 minutes of Googling, you might want to consider the possibility that you're wrong.

Offline Zakalwe

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Re: Flat Earth
« Reply #109 on: February 25, 2020, 03:55:23 AM »
Ever seen a virus?

Not to hijack the thread because I know what point you're trying to make, but I do love it when people ask this question because, thanks to my quaification and career, I can say: "yes, yes I have. Why?"  ;D

And I would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for you pesky kids.....
"The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.' " - Isaac Asimov

Offline VQ

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Re: Flat Earth
« Reply #110 on: February 25, 2020, 04:40:50 PM »
Another decent source here:

https://www.npr.org/2020/02/23/808645524/daredevil-mad-mike-hughes-killed-in-crash-of-homemade-rocket

No video of the fatal accident, though there is one of a previous (2018) launch.

It sounds like Hughes was well aware that what he was doing was dangerous, but that doesn't make it any less tragic or less painful for those who cared about him.

The early parachute deployment sounds similar to the failure mode that nearly killed Knievel on his Snake River jump.

There is a documentary on Netflix called "Behind the Curve" that has Mark K. Sargent (that idiot) in it. It doesn't try to convince you that the Earth is flat, it's more about the people who believe it. I don't want to spoil it for you, but there's a funny bit where a group of them spends $20,000 on a device that is supposed to measure the rotation of the Earth... and it does exactly that... but they think it's faulty.

I appreciated that documentary's use of interviews with actual scientists to include the viewpoint that to some extent, the prominence of anti-science CTs is the product of inadequate science outreach.

Offline Zakalwe

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Re: Flat Earth
« Reply #111 on: February 26, 2020, 04:23:43 AM »
Another decent source here:

https://www.npr.org/2020/02/23/808645524/daredevil-mad-mike-hughes-killed-in-crash-of-homemade-rocket

No video of the fatal accident, though there is one of a previous (2018) launch.

It sounds like Hughes was well aware that what he was doing was dangerous, but that doesn't make it any less tragic or less painful for those who cared about him.

The early parachute deployment sounds similar to the failure mode that nearly killed Knievel on his Snake River jump.

There's plenty of videos available on YT. The parachute got snagged in something and partially deployed into the motor's exhaust. It was was ripped apart shortly thereafter.
There didn't appear to be any reserve parachute, or if there was, it wasn't deployed.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
"The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.' " - Isaac Asimov

Offline Bryanpoprobson

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Re: Flat Earth
« Reply #112 on: September 22, 2020, 05:19:30 PM »
This has to be the stupidest man on WooTube, just so funny. Wait until he gets to the bit where he says that if America, South America, Africa and Australia get days of 12 hours of sunlight, that adds up to 48 hours and there are only 24 hours in a day. Pure comedy gold.



This video must go viral. 😂😂😂
« Last Edit: September 22, 2020, 05:21:24 PM by Bryanpoprobson »
"Wise men speak because they have something to say!" "Fools speak, because they have to say something!" (Plato)

Offline Jeff Raven

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Re: Flat Earth
« Reply #113 on: September 22, 2020, 06:48:53 PM »
This has to be the stupidest man on WooTube, just so funny. Wait until he gets to the bit where he says that if America, South America, Africa and Australia get days of 12 hours of sunlight, that adds up to 48 hours and there are only 24 hours in a day. Pure comedy gold.

This video must go viral. 😂😂😂

This is like a greatest hits of FE videos.  It could be used as a primer for all the woo that a person will encounter when dealing with Flerfers. That 48 hours of daylight is a new one for me - haven't seen that before. Makes me think of one of the major players in FE, who thought that 5 divided by 0 is 5, and couldn't figure out the internal angles of an equilateral triangle, blaming his "triangle calculator" for not helping him.

I also learned that the priests, Sunday School teachers, etc., that taught me while growing up apparently didn't do their jobs, because I didn't realize that there was a Roman Catholic Sun God that we supposedly worship. I wonder if it's too late for me to correct that?   ;)
« Last Edit: September 22, 2020, 08:16:14 PM by Jeff Raven »

Offline smartcooky

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Re: Flat Earth
« Reply #114 on: September 22, 2020, 10:18:56 PM »
Oh... My... Goodness! Is this guy for real? Seriously? I mean, this isn't a Poe, right?
If you're not a scientist but you think you've destroyed the foundation of a vast scientific edifice with 10 minutes of Googling, you might want to consider the possibility that you're wrong.