lolwut?

Because some people still aren't convinced the Earth is round, its shadow on the moon will prove without a doubt that our planet is a sphere, said Eric Vandernoot, astronomy coordinator at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton.

"I occasionally have had people come to the observatory to debate the idea that the Earth is spherical and that gravity holds people on the Earth," he said. "Luckily, not too often. But they are out there."

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What? How?

Comments

[Winston]

Challenging that earth is round seems ridiculous (because it is), but it's actually a good thing for science to be challenged with ridiculous questions—because we do have to be careful to distinguish between "ridiculous because evidence shows us so" versus "seems ridiculous because we've taken the common doctrine about this fact for granted". One is science, the other is dogma. Mixing the two doesn't turn out so good, and these kinds of questions can help stop us from making that mistake.

Yes, the earth is a sphere. It's obvious. But at the same time, we shouldn't just dismiss questions about the idea by saying nothing more than "it's obvious". A sound scientific mindset needs to be able to explain in precise terms using the evidence why it's obvious.

Sometimes people are asinine, but... well, sometimes we need that, annoying as it can be.

[Word Worthy]

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