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| source: infactcollaborative.com |
Since the earth is a plane and the sun is always the same distance above the earth, we can deduce that the sun moves in another plane, that the plane of the sun is parallel to the plane of the earth, and that the distance between these two planes is 3000 miles. Otherwise the sun would come closer to the earth, and/or move farther away, as it circled around.
As we know from experience, a circle observed from above or below doesn't appear perfectly round unless the observer is directly above or below the center of the circle.
From any other vantage point, the circle appears to be an ellipse. We can prove this is so, and see why, using projective geometry.
Projective geometry is the mathematics behind perspective graphics, which allows artists and computers to create realistic-looking 2-dimensional images of 3-dimensional objects.
Photographs look realistic if the lens preserves this geometry. Paintings and sketches look realistic if the artist can capture this geometry. And computers can generate realistic-looking moving graphics in real time because the arithmetic required by this geometry is very simple.
And that means: we can use this geometry to test the flat earth model.
We don't just know that the path of the sun will appear elliptical. We can determine precisely what that path will look like.
In other words, we can easily calculate the apparent position of the sun, as seen on any day of the year, at any time of the day, from anywhere on earth.
And this suggests a simple experiment. We could calculate where the sun would appear at a certain time, to an observer in a certain place.
Then we could put an observer in that place at that time, and have him measure and record where he sees the sun.
Or we could just go to that place at that time, look at the sky, and see for ourselves.
Either way, the experiment would involve the comparison of a prediction against an observation.
Of course, an experiment involving a single prediction and a single observation would not amount to a fair test. We would need a series of predictions, and a series of observations.
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All these thoughts ran through my head, and I thought: Why not? What's the harm?
So I decided to build a mathematical model of the flat earth theory, generate some predictions, and test them.
This was my first hint that I was becoming delusional.
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