What If The Earth Were Flat?

Today, it's nearly impossible to believe the Earth is anything but round. But for most of our history, humans have thought Earth was flat.

The one concept our ancient ancestors were missing was gravity. Gravity's effects are the key to determining whether the Earth is actually flat, or not.

On a sphere, gravity pulls in the same direction everywhere on the surface. But on a disc, gravity changes direction as you move toward the edge.

At the center, you feel a downward pull just like on spherical Earth. But as you move out, gravity starts pulling sideways as well as a downwards.

This would wreak havoc on sports played in different parts of the world. A ball thrown straight up in the air mid-way out, would curve down and backward toward the disc's center. Plus, a ball thrown mid-way out wouldn't go nearly as high or far as a ball thrown up at the edge where gravity's downward pull is practically zero.

But sports are just the beginning. Since plant stems grow opposite to the direction of gravity, an effect called negative gravitropism, you'll see forests grow at an increasingly sharp angle the farther you are from the center.

Continue toward the edge and you feel like you're climbing a hill that's growing steeper with each step as the backward pull of gravity takes over. At Earth’s end, that hill will feel like a 90-degree cliff, pulling you back to the center. But if you could make it over the edge, and stand on the thin outer part of the disc, you'll feel downward pull just like on spherical Earth.

However, living here would be like living in a desert. Gravity's backward effects pull on the oceans too, making it impossible for any water to reach the edge. Instead, sea levels will gradually rise as you travel in, making the world's center an aquatic metropolis.

So, the next time you see an apple fall straight to the ground, thank your lucky stars that Earth is round. Because if it were flat, that apple might actually hit you in the face.

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[vigyer]

Me: "What if the earth was flat"
Flat earthers:"what if the earth was round"

[tommyharley]

Send all the flat earners up to space so they can see... and don’t bring them back

[Max-xctl]

1:20 this is what it feels like trying to run in a dream

[erwinortega]

Hey person scrolling down to the comments to find flat earthers.

[landonk]

I want to see someone who believes that the earth is a triangle.

[FalconFoxJr]

Some idiots in the comments be like “You mean if the earth was round”

[mrcet]

It’s actually pretty debatable as to whether people historically believed that the Earth is flat, at least within Historical times (as for pre-history, it’s hard to say whether they ever thought of that question). The majority of peoples since the Ancient Greeks pretty much accepted the Earth as round.

[yanimeandrei]

Me: How many people are believing this?

Flat earths: Many people *around* the world believe in this

[theultimatereductionist]

There needs to be an entirely new meme of "Yo Planet's So Flat" jokes.

[thatgirl]

Flat earthers use gravity and physics to disprove gravity and physics. Their explanation as to why we're pushed down is that the earth is propelling upward and pushing everything down. If that were true, that would be an example of ground reaction force.

"For every action, according to Newton's 3rd Law of Motion (Law of Reaction), there is an equal and opposite reaction. Due to the gravity, we constantly maintain contact with the ground, and in this process, there occur interactions between the body and the ground. The reaction force supplied by the ground is specifically called the ground reaction force (GRF), which is basically the reaction to the force the body exerts on the ground. The GRF, along with the weight, is an important external force. The GRF is normally measured by a force-plate."

They're using science to disprove science. It's absolutely hilarious.

[essereferrari]

b-but, flat earther doesn't even believe 'gravity'

[joalampela]

It's actually a common misconception that people in the past thought we lived on a flat Earth. It's actually quite a new phenomenon, relatively speaking.

[glebstepkin]

Imagine believing the earth just so happened to turn out a Frisbee. This post was made by the brain cell gang.

[cloroxbleach]

If the earth flat where is the dead end

[aninditachakraborty]

What if earth were shaped like earth?




I liked my own comment

[edlynjoycabanero]

When earth is round it's like flat
But when the earth is flat it's like round

[drixo]

Dear flat earthers...

The earth is not flat
Please stop making me lose faith in humanity
Thank you

[MiRaje]

Lol holy shit I never thought about that way

[doge]

I was a flat earther for 4 years then i turned 5.

[naveenjayavel]

Tech insiders : (puts out video proving flat earthers wrong)
Flat earthers : I'm just gonna ignore that.