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| This diagram, from "Solar Geometry On The Flat Earth," shows key points in black and distances in red. |
I measured the distance (H) from the top of the stake (T) to the ground (B), and recorded it in my notebook.
Then, at irregular intervals, I marked the end of the stake's shadow (P) and measured the length of the shadow (L). After each measurement, I recorded the time and the new value of L.
As the evening went on, the shadow grew longer and L grew larger. But I didn't pay much attention to the actual numbers. I just wrote them in my book.
After a while, the shadow got so long that I couldn't measure it properly, so I started using a shorter stake. I measured the new value of H and recorded it along with the time. Then I went back to measuring and recording L.
I stopped when the sun was so low in the sky that I couldn't see the shadow clearly. In this way I made about a dozen observations over a two-hour period.
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Later, I typed my notes into a spreadsheet and ran a bit of math. Mostly I wanted to see how the ratio L/H changed over time. L/H is very interesting under the flat earth model, where the sun (S) is always 3000 miles (K) above the earth (M). It's interesting because if we multiply L/H by 3000, we get Q, the distance between M and P in miles.
When L/H = 1, Q is 3000. When L/H = 2, Q is 6000, and so on. So this is an easy way to figure out the distance to the place directly below the sun, and to the sun itself, under the flat earth model.
When I started measuring, L/H was slightly more than 3. So Q was more than 9000, and M, the spot on the earth directly below the sun, was more than 9000 miles away from me.
When I stopped, L/H was more than 14. According to the flat earth model, Q was more than 42000, which means that M was more than 42000 miles away from me.
This result poses a bit of a problem for the flat earth model, because I did my experiment in the summer, and I live the North of the equator.
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Why is this a bit of a problem? The radius of the equator, the distance from the North Pole to the equator, is about 6250 miles. Therefore the diameter of the equator is about 12500 miles.
When it's spring or summer in the North, the sun is circling inside the equator, according to the flat earth model. That is to say, the sun is traveling in a circle whose diameter is less than 12500 miles.
As the sun circles in the sky, M traces a circle on the surface of the earth, and the diameter of that circle is also less than 12500 miles.
Remember what we mean by diameter: Given any point on a circle, if we drew a line through the center of the circle and extended it until it met the circle again, the length of that line would be a diameter.
The two points where the diameter intersected the circle would be as far apart as any two points could be, if they were both on the circle.
So the distance from any point on the circle to any point inside the circle must be less than the diameter.
And therefore Q must be less than 12500 -- all day, every day of spring or summer, for every observer North of the equator.
Since I am North of the equator, Q must be less than 12500 for me, too. Therefore, M, the spot on the earth's surface directly under the sun, must be less than 12500 miles away from me, according to the flat earth model.
But I used the same model to interpret the data I had collected, and it told me that when I stopped measuring, M was more than 42000 miles away. How can this be?
~~~
Well, I lied. This is not actually "a bit of a problem." M cannot possibly be less than 12500 miles away and more than 42000 miles away at the same time, so this -- for me -- is conclusive proof that the flat earth model is incorrect.
I can say with confidence that the flat earth model does not explain the evidence that I observed. I can even say the evidence undermines the model.
I have a handle on epistemology. I am on the path of evidence. I have seen strong evidence, evidence that I collected myself, and I trust its accuracy.
Therefore, I believe I am justified in rejecting the flat earth model. But this does not mean that you would be justified in doing the same.
I have described an easy way for you to do an experiment of your own. You can collect your own evidence. You can make up your own mind. If you can replicate my results, you too can reject the flat earth model with confidence.
If you live South of the equator, the numbers are different. The sun moves in larger circles during your summer. And you are farther away from the center of the solar circles. But no matter how far South you live, M could never be 42000 miles away from you, either. So if you can replicate my measurements, you too can confidently reject the flat earth model.
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Previous: "Saddam's Confessions"
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Your comments are invited.
Previous: "Saddam's Confessions"
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Your comments are invited.
