Flat Earth Society Forum... Silly or Serious?

[Thingymebob]

Cool story bro.

All new forum members get a free blanket- wet, courtesy of Inky.

Yeah, it actually seems to be a running theme here so far.  Not the friendliest bunch here so far, with a few exceptions.

It's not like a real life situation where you're walking into a room full of strangers and you have to circulate.

Just be yourself and don't worry about it. If people are unfriendly toward you just let them get on with it.

ETA you'll soon get a sense of who's who and what's what in here, personalities do come across and there are some biiiig personalities in here.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Us agnostics (I'm agnostic atheist) always get stick here from some folk. I go with the esteemed philosopher Dr Seuss: "Those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind."

[SYZ]

Us agnostics (I'm agnostic atheist) always get stick here from some folk. I go with the esteemed philosopher Dr Seuss:  "Those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind."

I'm probably one of those people!  Agnosticism is the view that the existence of God,
of the divine, or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable.

I disagree with that term and its definition.  I know that God or gods don't exist in the
same way that I know unicorns, leprechauns, or fairies don't exist.

If people ask me to "prove" that God doesn't exist, I ask them to prove that unicorns
don't  exist.  Otherwise, if they can't, then they must logically believe that it's possible
they do  exist.    Uh... what?

[Thumpalumpacus]

I'm probably one of those people!  Agnosticism is the view that the existence of God,
of the divine, or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable.

You are.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I love the look on believers' faces when I don't follow the script they want me to follow. "God's Not Dead" movies do hothouse debates with an "atheist" who is quickly and easily befuddled by the carefully chosen questions believers toss at them. The sad thing is so many believers think such movies are accurate depictions of debates where the "god guys" always win.

I got to chat with my then-future mother-in-law and her sister way back when. I had them perplexed and distressed in about five minutes. I went easy on them because Boss Lady asked me to. I'll never see either of those ladies again, so no big deal.

[widdershins]

I have no problem with anyone who picks the handle "widdershins" because it surely means you're into Terry Pratchett and so can do no wrong ;-)

Aliester Crowley, actually.  The Devil's Conversion is my favorite poem.

Why can't a flat Earth be visited by aliens?

Because of the firmament above the sky.  There's nothing past the firmament.

Maybe... just maybe... it's because of the agonistic and gratuitous
comments in your A couple of shows/movies thread earlier today.

You might need to lighten up a bit mate.     

I think you need to collect a little more data and rethink that hypothesis.  Maybe have a look at the time stamps on the post to which you referenced and the post to which you replied and give it a good thinking over to reevaluate if your postulate is as good as you at first thought.

[Thingymebob]

I have no problem with anyone who picks the handle "widdershins" because it surely means you're into Terry Pratchett and so can do no wrong ;-)

Aliester Crowley, actually.  The Devil's Conversion is my favorite poem.

Why can't a flat Earth be visited by aliens?

Because of the firmament above the sky.  There's nothing past the firmament.

Maybe... just maybe... it's because of the agonistic and gratuitous
comments in your A couple of shows/movies thread earlier today.

You might need to lighten up a bit mate.     

I think you need to collect a little more data and rethink that hypothesis.  Maybe have a look at the time stamps on the post to which you referenced and the post to which you replied and give it a good thinking over to reevaluate if your postulate is as good as you at first thought.

Well. You've got some balls, I'll give you that.
Mind you, it's just typing stuff, it's not like you are actually in a room full of strangers.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Why can't a flat Earth be visited by aliens?

Because of the firmament above the sky.  There's nothing past the firmament.

What is this "firmament" of which you speak? Do all Flat-Earthers accept Biblical cosmology (and I use that term loosely here)?

[Thingymebob]

Why can't a flat Earth be visited by aliens?

Because of the firmament above the sky.  There's nothing past the firmament.

What is this "firmament" of which you speak? Do all Flat-Earthers accept Biblical cosmology (and I use that term loosely here)?

Flat-Earthers (in my experience) have varying views. They're not all snow-globers.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Because of the firmament above the sky.  There's nothing past the firmament.

What is this "firmament" of which you speak? Do all Flat-Earthers accept Biblical cosmology (and I use that term loosely here)?

Flat-Earthers (in my experience) have varying views. They're not all snow-globers.

I just want to know what the "firmament" is. And I'd like to know how this "firmament" means that aliens cannot contact us.

[Thingymebob]

What is this "firmament" of which you speak? Do all Flat-Earthers accept Biblical cosmology (and I use that term loosely here)?

Flat-Earthers (in my experience) have varying views. They're not all snow-globers.

I just want to know what the "firmament" is. And I'd like to know how this "firmament" means that aliens cannot contact us.

I'd like to know that as well, but it's not on my bucket list. 

[airportkid]

... I just want to know what the "firmament" is. And I'd like to know how this "firmament" means that aliens cannot contact us ...

It's an isotope of Krypton which desynchronizes standard interstellar navigation equipment, making it impossible to get a fix on stellar objects flatter than pancakes.  As a consequence, no space faring envoy has ever found any stellar body flatter than a pancake, and this defect in the equipment has thus gone unrectified to this day.

[TheGentlemanBastard]

His flat earth beliefs replaced his previous alien visitation beliefs, so at least he can,t hold two conflicting beliefs simultaneously like many people seem to be able to.  

Why can't a flat Earth be visited by aliens?

Because of the great, whacking glass dome, of course.

[TheGentlemanBastard]

All new forum members get a free blanket- wet, courtesy of Inky.

Yeah, it actually seems to be a running theme here so far.  Not the friendliest bunch here so far, with a few exceptions.

Maybe... just maybe... it's because of the agonistic and gratuitous
comments in your A couple of shows/movies thread earlier today.

You might need to lighten up a bit mate.     

Yeah, he does seem a bit anxious to take offense, even when none is on offer.

[Thumpalumpacus]

... I just want to know what the "firmament" is. And I'd like to know how this "firmament" means that aliens cannot contact us ...

It's an isotope of Krypton which desynchronizes standard interstellar navigation equipment, making it impossible to get a fix on stellar objects flatter than pancakes.  As a consequence, no space faring envoy has ever found any stellar body flatter than a pancake, and this defect in the equipment has thus gone unrectified to this day.

I get your joke, but I want to know how anyone can seriously use "firmament" in a conversation. Or am I missing something? What, exactly, is a "firmament"?

[Dānu]

... I just want to know what the "firmament" is. And I'd like to know how this "firmament" means that aliens cannot contact us ...

It's an isotope of Krypton which desynchronizes standard interstellar navigation equipment, making it impossible to get a fix on stellar objects flatter than pancakes.  As a consequence, no space faring envoy has ever found any stellar body flatter than a pancake, and this defect in the equipment has thus gone unrectified to this day.

I get your joke, but I want to know how anyone can seriously  use "firmament" in a conversation. Or am I missing something? What, exactly, is a "firmament"?

The opposite of a softament, obviously.

[SYZ]

This is a typical flat earth model, showing the "firmament", which is apparently some
sort of glass-like dome or dense gaseous shell that's impenetrable.  The white stuff is
the ice wall that prevents us from falling off the edge of the flat planet.  And the sun
and the moon are revolving around fixed orbits inside the dome, around 5,500km
above the earth's surface, each with a diameter of 50km (American model).   The disc
is itself accelerating "upwards" at 9.8 m/s² to give the illusion of gravity.

Except of course, in space there is no "up" or "down".

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Note that you can always see the Sun, and therefore the whole disc should be illuminated.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

And next up, "Hollow Earthers".

"Did the monkey just talk?"

[SYZ]

Note that you can always see the Sun, and therefore the whole disc should be illuminated.

No, no, no fucking no!  You don't understand; the sun acts like a spotlight,
and only illuminates a small circular patch on the earth's surface.



The other... uh... thing, is the moon apparently.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

As we can often see the Moon in the daylight I'd demand to see the scheduler for all that.

[airportkid]

... you don't understand; the sun acts like a spotlight, and only illuminates a small circular patch on the earth's surface ...

What do the flat-earthers make of the other planets, which are universally globular, and illuminated by a sun that if it were a spotlight trained only on the earth would leave the other planets perpetually dark?  One gets the sense such questions never arise (or are instantly disregarded as "impertinent") 

[Gawdzilla Sama]

[widdershins]

Yeah, he does seem a bit anxious to take offense, even when none is on offer.

My posts tend to come off as "angry" when they're usually more "dispassionate".  I "took offense" at exactly 2 things.

First, the dick response I got to which I referred to in the reply.

Second, the second time someone asked why I was responding to a post as if there was something unusual about responding to a post from the top of the list, this one adding the passive-aggressive "search is your friend".  It irritates me when someone uses that phrase as its intention is usually snide.

If you think I took offense to the suggestion that my other post had garnered rude responses, not at all.  I was simply pointing out that in the 5 minutes between the post which supposedly garnered the responses and the posts I made about people here being rude there had been no posts.  The assertion being made was one of cause and effect where my post was the cause when, in fact, my post was the effect.  I thought it an important distinctions, materially altering the perception of the situation.

I'm really not good with forums, but I try them every now and then because I like the intelligent conversation with like-minded people.  I'm not an angry person.  My posts may be snippy sometimes, yes, but mostly they are completely emotionless.  I can't separate inflection in my head from what I'm typing, so I can't "hear" it in my head as you'll read it, only as I intended it.  Because of this a prank will sometimes come across as an angry rant.

In the past I've tried to correct for it and clear up any misunderstandings.  It's tedious; a constant battle.  I eventually give up and leave.  This time I'm trying something different here.  This is me.  No, I'm (usually) not trying to be a dick (every once in a while).  If I just don't go out of my way to disguise my real self, the man who can't separate internal monologue from typed communication, I only have to clarify things once, in the beginning, and then you either get used to it, all ignore me, or ban me because you don't get it, don't want to get it, or just don't want to do the work of figuring out what my tone is supposed to be.  At any rate, I don't have to constantly correct misunderstandings, you just have to have the computer read it out loud to you and not add any inflection to it.

Well. You've got some balls, I'll give you that.
Mind you, it's just typing stuff, it's not like you are actually in a room full of strangers.

I honestly don't know what that means.  If you mean I have some balls "being a dick like that", I actually like that member.  They seem all right.  It wasn't my intention to be rude.  It was a technical analysis.

And no, I am in fact, a pussy.  True story.  Seriously, true story.

[jerry mcmasters]

Hang around and just be yourself.  After awhile you sort out who's interesting, who to take seriously, who the cunts are, etc.

In the past I've tried to correct for it and clear up any misunderstandings.  It's tedious; a constant battle.

Yeah, avoid this.