Earth is flat. Prove me wrong.

If you go outside and shine a torch straight ahead, the roundness of the earth and gravity and stuff should mean the same light hits you in the back fractions of a second later. I just tried it and nothing. Eat that roundies!

If we have lost S-man I've lost the will to go on.

Sounds logical to me David, the speed of light being what it is, should strike you in the back fractions of a second later. Someone was there to verify this.. or did you just do a 180?

the earth is lumpy, but how do you explain that to somebody that can only see his living room floor ?

This thread has clearly gotten out of hand due to the many trolls. Substantial evidence has been provided by both sides. We will now settle this with a vote, but the debate may still continue during the voting procedure. Based on what you have seen in this thread  vote for whichever side you think performed better in the comments.

I will now cast my vote. Copy and paste the vote results to update the count with your vote in the comments. Polls close at 11:59 pm EST on November 26.

Earth is a relatively flat disk: 1

Earth is an oblate spheroid: 0

Party pooper

superman0101 says:

"On the clearest of days, the only restriction to one's range of sight is the horizon."

Earth's atmosphere is not entirely transparent, meaning that after some distance, the naked eye cannot see objects on Earth.

"You can also observe, with binoculars, ships slowly 'sinking' below the horizon as it sails farther and farther out to the ocean, then watch them come back."

As objects get farther away from a viewer, they appear smaller. Also, the water does not stay perfectly still as there are many waves the jump and block the line of light. There are numerous videos of boats apparently "disappearing" at the horizon and can then be seen through binoculars immediately afterward.

"The Greeks discovered that the earth is round by observing lunar eclipses (i.e. when the earth blocks the sun from the moon, casting its round shadow on the moon's surface).

Earth is a round disk, meaning that it still can cast a round shadow on the moon when there is light behind it.

"Another method is simultaneously measuring the length of the shadows cast by identical poles perpendicular to a flat surface that is tangential to the earth's radius at various, distant locations. If indeed the earth is round, then the shadows should all vary in length from one distant location to another, which means that the angle at which the parallel rays of sunlight struck each pole varied from one location to another. (recall the alternate-angles theorem from Geometry class) If the earth is flat, then the lengths of all the shadows should be identical when measured simultaneously, since all rays of sunlight that strike the earth are parallel."

The flat earth model has an entirely position for the sun as well. The rays of sunlight are not parallel to the earth when it is only 32 miles across and a few thousand miles away. The video from Vsauce that I posted earlier shows that with these conditions, the math works out to be the same.

"Also, keep in mind the 24 hour time zones. When it is noon in Hawaii, it is approximately midnight in the Middle East and vice versa. How can it be noon and midnight simultaneously? It is certainly impossible with a flat earth and a sun millions of times more massive."

Again, the flat earth model uses a much smaller sun that acts more like a spotlight than a ball emitting light in all directions. The sun revolves around the north pole and emits light to different portions of the earth at different times of the day.

And I dare say you should revisit what a troll is. Trolls exist to incite, disrupt and insult participants. I have seen none of that here. But it is your thread. BTW only a Mod or staff can end a Topic. I am sure they will be obliging.

I abstain from voting. Good night and good chess!

the earth is an anagram of the heart. earth is heart-shaped. prove me wrong.

http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/26427/what-is-the-simplest-way-to-prove-the-earth-is-round

Check this out. Gives a ton of reasons.

 I already explained how some of those phenomena could work on a flat earth. As for the one with the triple right triangle, there must be evidence that that has been performed successfully.

AGA. Assuming the whole thread isn't an exercise in magnificent trolling - for which you have to be congratulated if it is, for getting everybody going - well played sir !....then does your belief in the flat earth accompany other controversial views. For example are you a biblical fundamentalist ?

 I would not want to make an off-topic chess.com tread more off topic than it already is, but good question nonetheless. I am more mainstream in my other views and am not a biblical fundamentalists. There are still a lot of controversial topics that I like to discuss just for the intriguing possibility that they are true.

Ziggy.. are you suggesting by "getting everybody going" people took this seriously? Well, it seems superman did. He was not a troll no more than I am. I suggest you look up the definition of an Internet troll. Get A Life !

Contoversial? hogwash with Balder dash thrown in.

It's hard to see how most of your views could be more mainstream because if the flat earth theory is true then this would surely impact your views of history, astronomy, media,politics, education and much much more ?

Incidentally , how do flat earth people explain solar eclipses if the moon and sun are circling round the North Pole ?

I'm suggesting the OP doesn't believe it, but has initiated an amusing topic. I'm not suggesting you believe it. "Get a life" - - seems I'm living on the same flat earth as you are at the moment ...

The sun and moon have different orbits. The moon can still be in front of the sun for some time. 

OK ziggy.. appeared you refered to participants as trolls, fools maybe, I'd have no issue there.