AaS! 133: How do we know the Earth is curved?

Ask a Spaceman!

Paul M. Sutter

Astrophysics, Science, Cosmos, Holes, Black, Astronomy, Natural Sciences, Universe, Cosmology, Space, Physics

4.8 • 853 Ratings

🗓️ 4 August 2020

⏱️ 33 minutes

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Summary

Why do people believe the Earth is flat? How do we know it’s curved? Is a debate even worth it? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman!

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Music by Jason Grady and Nick Bain. Thanks to Cathy Rinella for editing.

Hosted by Paul M. Sutter, astrophysicist and the one and only Agent to the Stars (http://www.pmsutter.com).

Transcript

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0:00.0	Yes, the Earth is round.
0:13.3	And yes, some people believe that is flat.
0:17.5	Why do they believe it's what?
0:18.8	Well, if you ask them, they'll start talking about conspiracies and elites and scientists
0:23.4	and so on.
0:24.3	They might or might not have very sophisticated arguments.
0:27.6	They might or might not have diagrams and plots and good-looking math to back up their claim.
0:33.2	When they're done making their case, after you've had this conversation where you say,
0:36.5	why do you think they're this flat? And then they just go on and they're done making their case after you've had this conversation where you say, why do you think they're this flat?
0:38.0	And then they just go on and they're done.
0:41.5	They'll look at you.
0:43.4	What do you say?
0:44.9	Do you call them stupid?
0:47.1	Do you say you're wrong?
0:49.0	Do you say, no, come on.
0:51.3	The earth is round.
0:52.9	Don't stop kidding around. Do you try to make a case? Well, I think the earth is round because blah, blah, blah, blah. Or do you walk away? But here we are. You know that the earth is round, right? But how do you know that it's round? Do you believe it because some random guy on a random podcast told you it is?
1:15.4	That's not much different than the person saying is flat. So here's a good opportunity for some
1:21.8	self-reflection and self-edification. Not with the goal of winning an argument. I'll get into debates with flat
1:28.9	earthers later, but for increasing your own sophistication, which isn't a bad thing, right?
1:35.2	Right. First off, the earth is flat. At least locally, in your backyard or even your city
1:43.8	or even your country, the earth is
	...

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