Throughout history and time, human civilization has had different beliefs and opinions about the Earth’s shape. From the thought of a flat, expansive landmass, to now, a full globe of land. Differently enough however, some people still like to think of Earth as a flat, floating, disk, in space. Today, I’d like to share my argument that Earth is not a disk, but instead, a sphere.
In order to debunk this theory, we have to understand it on a deeper level. First, there are many variations of the Flat Earth theory. But there is one very common version among all of the theories. The most known theory is that the Earth is a flat, spinning disk, with a large, surrounding wall of ice on the perimeter of the so-called disk. In addition to this, some people like to build on this, by adding the possibility of an infinite wall of ice in every direction.
Now that we have a bit of insight, I may begin presenting my evidence to you. First, in order for us to have a day cycle and time zones, the earth would have to be a shape where there can be two different areas with two different times, lighting, and appearance, at the same time. The disk would prove this impossible, as if one side were facing the sun, that entire one side would be day. Seeing as a disk only has one side, time zones would be no longer.
In addition, I’d also like to mention space travel. The mere fact that contact has been made to somewhere like the moon is a point already proven itself. According to the Flat Earth theory, there is a supposed wall of ice on the “edges” of the Earth. Say we were basing the Earth on this theory, this would mean that from space, we should see two things. Number one, a flat, disk-like Earth, and number two, a giant perimeter of ice around the Earth. Surprisingly, no astronaut has reported to the public of a Flat Earth, or wall of ice.
One thing about the entire community of Flat Earthers, is that they might not even believe in their theory anymore. Some interviews with Flat Earthers have shown that they, 1. Don’t believe in flat earth, and 2. Just ignore any info that can or has disproved the theory. Reiterating the first point, some Flat Earthers only are a part of the community for one reason. That is to be a part of a community in general. People said that they don’t necessarily believe, but more or so sought a community to be a part of.
“Flat Earth” is a confusing and quite ridiculous theory. There are hundreds of other arguments similar to this essay as well as debates, interviews, and more. With even more extensive, and detailed pieces of evidence. In conclusion, Flat Earth is not real, and has been disproved. Not by only me, but countless other scientists and philosophers. Though they may still believe in this ridiculous theory, to me this argument is over.
Image Credit: Kevin Carden – Adobe Stock
Rafael Rubi – Beacon Academy – DMSF Class of 2028