Krupski....HELP

**chiak47** · 07-06-2017, 06:01 PM

Look, I know I have not posted here for a bit but I need your help with a issue.

My daughter who is a great kid lives in Tampa with her Russian husband and after visiting with them last week I have discovered through conversation that the two of them believe the world is flat. WTF... I am at a loss here, the kids are bright but it seems as if a few youtube videos and some shoddy websites have turned my mild conspiracy theorist daughter into a full blown tin foil head.

Roger, have you ever come across flat earthers and is there anyway I can "prove" man went to space and that our great dirt ball is actually round?

FWIW, I have seen on my history that my wife is watching these videos as well...This shit is contagious.

Points I have used as a rebuttal

They claim they have never seen the horizon arc.
My reply...Our earth is 25000 miles in circumference. Your not going to see a horizon with your naked eye.

They claim even when they fly they cant see the arc of our earth.
Again, I really never looked for it and I was speechless.

They claim the edge of the world are huge ice sheets that governments keep us away from for a reason.
I said the USS Nautilus dove under the sheet of ice at the north pole and there are towns in Antarctica.

They claim there is a firmament of glass around our flat earth and the moon and sun are actually within the glass.
ME=FACEPALM...

They claim that stars are actual defects in the glass
ME=FACEPALM

they went on and on. I was getting pissed telling them that 100,000s of thousands of people world wide have worked on space programs and that is too many people to keep secrets like that. I told about the oxcart program, ICBM's, the 2000+ satellites in space, Space=x, NASA, ETC ETC ETC.

I really felt like grounding her to her room but then realized she is 23 years old and I guess she has a right to be a dumbass. I did tell my wife if she falls for that shit I will leave her after all these years and I am serious about it.

UGH...

**rci2950** · 07-06-2017, 06:06 PM

are they pulling your leg?

There is a lot of people who ironically claim the earth is flat in a Serbian basket weaving forum i frequent...

**chiak47** · 07-06-2017, 06:08 PM

Originally Posted by rci2950

are they pulling your leg?

I wish they were. I love the kids but I seriously felt like slapping both of them.

**raxar** · 07-06-2017, 06:37 PM

Always remember, it isn't a matter of what is true and false, its all about how the conspiracy nut is smarter than everyone else. Only they can see the true, that's what makes them special.

**Richard Simmons** · 07-06-2017, 07:31 PM

To be perfectly blunt, they're adults. Who cares what they think. Just be happy they aren't liberals.

**Justin** · 07-06-2017, 07:42 PM

I actually heard about the flat earth society; it's absolutely insane. I thought this was settled when Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue. As Richard Simmons said, just be happy that they're not liberals.

**N/A** · 07-06-2017, 08:57 PM

How about the example of the ship sailing away from shore? If Asia is off our Western coast, and Europe is off our Eastern coast, have them draw you a map showing where Europe/Asia is one land mass on a flat Earth. If the flat Earth is inside a glass dome that is constantly heated by the sun, how do we experience the seasonal changes from Summer to Winter? If we only see the "defects" (stars) at night, where does the light come from for us to see them if the sun isn't shining at night? If the Earth is flat, how can one point of the Earth experience daylight while another point is in darkness? On a flat Earth, everywhere would be lit, or dark, at the same time. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.....

ETA...How come Antartica has different constellations in the night sky than the Artic has? Both spots should be able to see the North Star. Both should be able to see all the stars at the same place, yet the Southern Hemisphere has different constellations than the Northern Hemisphere.

**JTHunter** · 07-06-2017, 11:02 PM

chiak - if they are in Tampa, tell them to take a daytime drive down Hiway 1 towards Key West. Any of those long stretches, like between Islamorada and Duck Key, or between Marathon and Big Pine Key, where you some height above the water looking out to the east and they should be able to see the curvature.
Or, if they don't mind a "road trip", have them drive across the Lake Pontchartrain bridge north of New Orleans. That 16 mile long bridge is straight, flat, and in the middle of nowhere. That is the first place I ever actually saw the curvature on a family trip back in 1966. You could see it looking both east and west because the "Pont" is so big, it conforms to the earth's curvature. It is also smoother than the ocean making it easier to tell.

**Schuetzenman** · 07-07-2017, 06:23 AM

Get them up in a jet liner that is going to fly up over the poles, they'll see the roundness of it.

**l921428x** · 07-07-2017, 06:24 AM

Ah

**mrkalashnikov** · 07-07-2017, 11:04 AM

Duh...any time one goes up in a plane or on top of a tall building or mountain...you can see the round shape of the earth. Or just look up at the sky.

**alismith** · 07-07-2017, 11:06 AM

Ask them who built the glass dome. Ask them who cleans it?
If it's glass, it's going to get dirty over time...

Where does the shadow that crosses the sun come from during a solar eclipse?

If they turn the sun off at night, how it is possible to have a lunar eclipse? (And, who is "they?")

Who tends the light switch for the sun?

Who built the computer that would control the sun, moon, and stars?

Since computers have only been around for 50, or so years, how did our ancestors control the sun?

How did whoever built the glass dome, build it?

Where's the ladder, or scaffolding, they used?

How did they get it high enough to work on the center of the dome?

If we're inside a glass dome, why doesn't the sun's heat build up to the point where it would kill all life?

If the earth is flat, what's on the other side?

Also, how did life get on earth? Was there a dome already built? If so, where did the humans come from that built it? If not, who built it (did they have to wear spacesuits since there was no dome with oxygen in it...it hadn't been built at that time), and what was here before the dome was built?

What is the explanation for all the prehuman fossils?

What's outside the glass dome?

These are just a few questions that should give them pause to think....

**Altarboy** · 07-07-2017, 03:46 PM

The arguments made by the flat earthers are quite interesting.

**Krupski** · 07-07-2017, 04:25 PM

Originally Posted by chiak47

Look, I know I have not posted here for a bit but I need your help with a issue.

My daughter who is a great kid lives in Tampa with her Russian husband and after visiting with them last week I have discovered through conversation that the two of them believe the world is flat.

OMG.... I have no idea what to tell you.

With the flat earth types, they have an "explanation" for every fact you can give them, and nobody is likely to change their minds.

As far as "seeing the horizon", as you said the earth is so large in diameter that it's almost impossible to see the curve, even from a passenger jet at cruising altitude.

Unless she actually rides a rocket up to the ISS and sees it for herself, sadly I think it's hopeless.

I go through similar grief with the people who believe that nobody has been to the moon. Instead of trying to "prove" the facts to them, I ask them "what exactly do you believe?"

Do they believe that spacecraft orbit the earth but have never gone to the moon? (most of them DO believe this). Then I ask them "Well if they got into orbit then why not go to the moon?".

They believe that orbit is "only" 200 some miles in altitude whereas the moon is 240,000 miles away and they think there's "no way anyone can go the extra 239,800 miles".

Try to describe basic orbital mechanics and the fact that GETTING to orbit is 99% of the job and making the orbit elliptical enough that the apoapsis intersects the moon's orbital path and they just go blank.

My advice for what it's worth... don't waste your time. They will not believe you and you will never convince them. They ALWAYS have a rebuttal for any fact you may present. Save your sanity.

**Krupski** · 07-07-2017, 04:28 PM

Originally Posted by N/A

How about the example of the ship sailing away from shore? If Asia is off our Western coast, and Europe is off our Eastern coast, have them draw you a map showing where Europe/Asia is one land mass on a flat Earth. If the flat Earth is inside a glass dome that is constantly heated by the sun, how do we experience the seasonal changes from Summer to Winter? If we only see the "defects" (stars) at night, where does the light come from for us to see them if the sun isn't shining at night? If the Earth is flat, how can one point of the Earth experience daylight while another point is in darkness? On a flat Earth, everywhere would be lit, or dark, at the same time. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.....

ETA...How come Antartica has different constellations in the night sky than the Artic has? Both spots should be able to see the North Star. Both should be able to see all the stars at the same place, yet the Southern Hemisphere has different constellations than the Northern Hemisphere.

FACTS don't work on people like that.

**raxar** · 07-07-2017, 09:49 PM

Originally Posted by N/A

How about the example of the ship sailing away from shore? If Asia is off our Western coast, and Europe is off our Eastern coast, have them draw you a map showing where Europe/Asia is one land mass on a flat Earth. If the flat Earth is inside a glass dome that is constantly heated by the sun, how do we experience the seasonal changes from Summer to Winter? If we only see the "defects" (stars) at night, where does the light come from for us to see them if the sun isn't shining at night? If the Earth is flat, how can one point of the Earth experience daylight while another point is in darkness? On a flat Earth, everywhere would be lit, or dark, at the same time. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.....

They think the Earth is shaped like a coin, with the north pole being the center and the antarctic being the rim. So when traveling east to west you're actually going in a curved line relative to the north pole. They say the sun is actually fairly small and travels in a circle around the north pole. We can't see it at night because its too far away. They also claim that in the 50's and 60's the government sent nukes up to break through the glass but they couldn't do it.

And the point of this massive conspiracy is so that they can make so much money from selling globes.

**alismith** · 07-07-2017, 09:57 PM

Originally Posted by raxar

They think the Earth is shaped like a coin, with the north pole being the center and the antarctic being the rim. So when traveling east to west you're actually going in a curved line relative to the north pole. They say the sun is actually fairly small and travels in a circle around the north pole. We can't see it at night because its too far away. They also claim that in the 50's and 60's the government sent nukes up to break through the glass but they couldn't do it.

And the point of this massive conspiracy is so that they can make so much money from selling globes.

So, this is a global conspiracy?