The flat earthers They don’t go out of style. Despite the archaic nature of their arguments, there are still people who join their cause, which consists of fighting tooth and nail against the alleged conspiracy with which scientists and governments try to make us believe that the earth is round. Arguing with them is often a lost cause. But, on some occasions, they can be convinced with simple examples that help them understand their mistake.
In principle it would be enough to teach them the photos of the earth taken from space by NASA and the rest of the space agencies. The image of our planet in the shape of a sphere leaves no room for doubt. However, the main argument of the flat earthers is that these photos they are retouched and they are part of the conspiracy.
Scientists have supposedly joined the conspiracy with economic purposes, although they do not make it clear what the interest is in deceiving the population. What is clear is that photos are not enough and that more arguments are needed. These are some of the most interesting that we can use to dialogue with a flat earther.
The horizon, main argument against flat earthers
Something curious about flat earthers is that they do not agree. Although science has very exact data on the radius, mass and distance of the Earth, for flat Earthers it is only a flat disk, whose extension varies from one discourse to another.
But what everyone agrees on is that, not being a sphere, the Earth has some edges, after which there is nothing. They are, therefore, opposed to the idea of horizon as we know it, hence it is the first argument against his theories.
When we look at a ship in the distance, there comes a moment when it disappears on the horizon. But she doesn’t do it abruptly, but little by little. First the lower part of it disappears and then the upper part, as if it were sinking. The same thing happens when you start to see it. It looks as if it were emerging from the water, first the upper part and then the lower part.
This wouldn’t happen if the Earth were flat. Furthermore, to the incongruity of the flat earthers, when we climb a mountain we see the farthest horizon. This is due to the curvature of the Earth. If it were flat, we would not need to ascend to see land in the distance with binoculars.
The stars have the answer
Another key factor to understand that the Earth is not flat is in the sky. In it North Hemisphere We don’t see the same stars as in the south. It is impossible for a person in Spain and another in Argentina to take the same photo of the sky.
But suppose that, since we cannot be in two places at the same time, we cannot check if they are lying to us. This could be an argument for flat earthers, but there is still explanations related to the firmament. And the thing is, if we spend several hours at night looking at the sky, we will see how the same constellation rises or falls as time goes by. If the Earth were flat, we would have a blanket of stars above our heads that would remain completely stable.
Eclipses against flat earthers
It’s not every day you can see a lunar eclipse. However, when we have the opportunity, it is a good time to debate with flat earthers.
Lunar eclipses occur when the Earth is positioned between it and the Sun, preventing the light of the star from reaching it. As a result, the shadow of the earth is projected onto the Moon. And what shape does that shadow have? Indeed, round.
If our planet were as flat earthers describe, the shadow would be very different. All this without taking into account that, possibly, eclipses would not occur either, since the movement of the stars would be different.
A question of sunsets
In an interview for Laserthe physicist and scientific communicator Jose Luis Crespo He explained a very simple experiment to show that the Earth is not flat. This consists of seeing the sunset lying on the ground. For example, on the beach. If we stand up just at the moment when we stop seeing the Sun, we will continue to see it for a while longer. This is because the Sun had not disappeared. Simply, from our perspective, it had been hidden by the curvature of the Earth.
As simple as night and day
In reality, the easiest way to prove flat earthers wrong is for them to think about the day and night phenomena. If the Earth were flat, it would always be daytime everywhere, since the Sun would affect the entire planet equally. There would be no part hidden from its rays.
It should be noted that the flat earthers have an answer to this argument. According to them, the Sun is an object of about 51 kilometers wide that moves over the Earth like a lighthouse, causing the days and nights. The problem is that, with that size and that way of hitting the Earth, the Sun could not provide enough heat for the survival of the planet’s animals and plants. Therefore, it is not a convincing argument.
There are still a few Christmas dinners left and you may still run into a flat earther. If this is the case, these arguments can help you dialogue with him. Now, if he doesn’t want to talk, don’t get upset. You have to know how to choose your battles and, against certain false conspiracies, sometimes it is even better not to start.