Recently, after taking pictures of Lake Michigan and noticing that the surface has no curve, someone did a little practical experiment to see if our planet earth was truly flat. It involved elaborate calculations and used other tools to find the correct answer, which we have all known for centuries now.
However, a 36-year-old software engineer called Jeff went for something much simpler. He used a basketball and a macro lens to simulate the curvature of the Earth and took photos to calculate the equivalent. Quite brilliant, isn’t it?
“Looking at my photos, it’s easy to imagine being an incredibly small creature living on the surface of the basketball,” Jeff told Bored Panda. “From the perspective of that tiny creature, the “horizon” of the basketball would always look “flat”. Using the appearance of the horizon as primary evidence, this creature would likely assume that they are living on a flat surface. I don’t expect this to change the minds of any entrenched flat earth believers, but I hope that this interesting experiment could help someone that may be susceptible to persuasion by the flat earthers’ arguments.”
“The few flat earth believers I have interacted with seem to rely heavily on memes as their preferred method of communication, so I wanted to be able to respond with a meme-like science experiment, using their own logic, that points out the absurdity of their logic.”
While people rejoiced that Jeff had found conclusive proof that planet Earth is indeed round, he had some reservations. “I would like to clarify, that my photo does not prove the Earth is round,” he told us. “It only proves in an easy-to-understand way that the surface of a sphere can appear flat. It proves that the basis of all flat-earthers’ beliefs (the horizon appears flat) is insufficient evidence to determine the shape of the earth.”
Cool science and logic always win in the end! Jeff makes quite an excellent point in the round vs. flat ‘debate’ that debunks one of the biggest arguments flat-Earthers have. So scroll down to read about the full experiment, as well as the specifics of what he used, and don’t forget to tell us what you think!
This person used a basketball to do a clever experiment
He later added this message to clarify the meaning of this experiment:
Here’s how people reacted:
203Kviews
Share on FacebookHonestly, the VAST majority of "Flat Earthers" are just trolls wanting to get a rise out of people by being contrary.
Exactly! Why would anyone even take this much time out of their lives to try educate these idiots who are just playing people.
Load More Replies...Flat earthers, anti-vaxers, climate change deniers, Trump supporters... nothing will change these people's minds. Take Flat Earthers for axample - for every explanation that anyone comes up with, or any mind experiement, they have the most peculiar mental gymnastics to come up with explanations to counter it. See for example: https://theflatearthsociety.org/home/index.php/about-the-society/faq
I know you have a lot of hate in you, but it's incorrect to lump all those groups together. The anti-vaccination movement was in Europe before the USA. I myself first became aware of the movement taking hold in France. The flat earthers are mainly trolling, playing you for a fool. And many of the global warming deniers I've met remember the 70s when it was an ice age that was coming, but the thing we were supposed to do to avoid the ice age then is the same thing we're supposed to do to avoid the warming now. Though they mostly have a hard time articulating their objections, it seems to be a great deal more nuanced than what you no doubt think it is. But... well, that's how bigotry always worked. Oversimplify people, lump them together as much as possible, and hate away because hey you've picked a politically correct bigotry so you can indulge! ::rolleyes::
Load More Replies...We get it. How many more flat earthers need to be "Hilariously" (Sarcasm) be proven wrong. This is just boring and repetitive.
until there are no more flat earthers. thats how many times they need be proven wrong. just as many times as anti vaxxers
Load More Replies...The Earth is round based on the fact that it actually is. (I've simplified it so that it's easier to understand). Don't agree? prove it.
Did you really trot out a tautology, mistaking it for something supposed to sound intelligent?
Load More Replies...OK come on?!? The earth is neither flat or round! We are on a turtle's back and that turtle is standing on another turtle which is standing on another.
Haha "this guy needed just one ball" Setup: basketball, DSLR, lens, tripod, desk lamps, desk. Sure. Just one ball.
Obviously this is photoshopped. The rounders continue to feed their misinformation to the public to forward there hidden agenda to enslave humanity's
Ahhh. Not fair I didn't get to finish my silly rant. That was supposed to be in jest. I would however like to see someone waste some time trying to do the math to show how we stick to a flat disc that we some how exist on. Or did someone already do that. Mmm time to waste some time googling that.
Load More Replies...Nice job,now go prove antivaxers wrong - they are the ones putting our children in danger with their stupidity.
The only issue with this experiment is that you didn’t raise your camera up to mimic different altitudes, for example… In our world, if you were looking out toward the horizon the higher up you go in altitude the more you can see, in your experiment if you were to go higher, you wouldn’t be able to see “more land” you would see it drop off because the basket ball is round, unlike our earth.
And it’s funny because if you did take a few more pictures or one video, of your camera looking up at different heights, it would actually help prove earth is not a ball more so than disprove it
Load More Replies...The only issues is in this picture, if you raised the camera up, you would eventually see a curve, or lack of land, you higher you go up may it be on a plane or balloon, you never see a sip of the horizon, which again you would see if you moved your camera up.
You're one of those that the comments talk about. The camera is raised 😂😂 if this was a view on the earth it would cover over 90 miles of view 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️😂😂😂😂
Load More Replies...I'm sorry, I'm not a flat earth believer at all, but I am a support of solid argumentation based on observation. This was a simple experiment that in conclusion didn't prove anything about what kind of shape the earth is. Just the fact that , if it is round, then the horizon could still be flat, which is pretty meaningless. Even simpler: Round earth -> flat horizon but does not imply : flat horizon -> round earth. And while a lot of the FE believers out there are actually stupid, their official theory(consensus of a lot of pretty smart people) relies on a WHOLE lot more than the dumb argument "Hurr durr it looks flat so it must be flat", which is something they don't even use(they use, "it looks flat, so that might make it more likely that it is flat, as opposed to any other form." which is correct reasoning). And then this title: "Proves FE's wrong in the most brilliant way". Clickbait at it's finest. He said himself that he didn't even prove anything, again, as explained above.
I'm sick of the people who act like it's an easy thing to debunk by coming up with the most simple stuff, for which the theory in fact has explanations. I'd like to point out once again, that I don't believe in it, but I just don't like people intentionally misrepresenting it and even failing in debunking their strawman of the argument. End rant
Load More Replies...The height of the camera would give over 90 miles of view on the earth. That like flying a plane 🤦🏻♂️
Load More Replies...If the earth was flat then it would be completely empty. The reason the earth is a globe is simple: to prevent cats from pushing everything off the side.
I completely agree, the flat earther's are only taking a rise out of folk. I wouldn't waste my time trying to show anyone the reason they are wrong about this, they are just in it for the fun.
It’s a nice stunt and all, but it smells like native advertising with the camera as the “silent” hero of the photo
You got me. I'm a paid shill for Nikon. Or maybe I work for Raynox (manufacturer of the macro lens)? Just kidding. This was really viral advertising for Baden brand basketballs. Just look at those glorious bumps!
Load More Replies...Hmmm, maybe basketballs being flat is why I can’t dribble to save my life.
Fun fact: with the square comment, if the earth was a square there wouldn't be an equal gravity and the closer to a corner you go, the less gravity there would be.
This is rubbish. It's proven that you wouldn't expect to see a curve for a round Earth when looking from ground level but you also wouldn't see a curve for a flat Earth. Don't get me wrong, I'm in no way a flat Earther but this is not in any way proof that the Earth isn't flat.
To be fair, I never claimed that it proves that the earth is round. I only intended to prove that the flat-earthers' core "evidence" (horizon appears flat) is not unique to a flat surface, and to provide a visual of how a round surface can appear flat in terms of a familiar obviously round object.
Load More Replies...Why would you want to spend time demonstrating that the Earth is not flat? Why don't you spend time to demonstrate that the water is wet?……
If you can zoom onto a basketball edge so close the roundness can't be seen, why would you wonder about the "flat" horizon of something as large as the Earth? This proves the flat-earthers basic, "observable proof"... i.e., that the earth is not spherical because the horizon doesn't look curved, to be inherently flawed. F.E.s are big on believing that what they can see is proof... making one wonder what they comprehend when they see a magician perform.
Load More Replies...Honestly, the VAST majority of "Flat Earthers" are just trolls wanting to get a rise out of people by being contrary.
Exactly! Why would anyone even take this much time out of their lives to try educate these idiots who are just playing people.
Load More Replies...Flat earthers, anti-vaxers, climate change deniers, Trump supporters... nothing will change these people's minds. Take Flat Earthers for axample - for every explanation that anyone comes up with, or any mind experiement, they have the most peculiar mental gymnastics to come up with explanations to counter it. See for example: https://theflatearthsociety.org/home/index.php/about-the-society/faq
I know you have a lot of hate in you, but it's incorrect to lump all those groups together. The anti-vaccination movement was in Europe before the USA. I myself first became aware of the movement taking hold in France. The flat earthers are mainly trolling, playing you for a fool. And many of the global warming deniers I've met remember the 70s when it was an ice age that was coming, but the thing we were supposed to do to avoid the ice age then is the same thing we're supposed to do to avoid the warming now. Though they mostly have a hard time articulating their objections, it seems to be a great deal more nuanced than what you no doubt think it is. But... well, that's how bigotry always worked. Oversimplify people, lump them together as much as possible, and hate away because hey you've picked a politically correct bigotry so you can indulge! ::rolleyes::
Load More Replies...We get it. How many more flat earthers need to be "Hilariously" (Sarcasm) be proven wrong. This is just boring and repetitive.
until there are no more flat earthers. thats how many times they need be proven wrong. just as many times as anti vaxxers
Load More Replies...The Earth is round based on the fact that it actually is. (I've simplified it so that it's easier to understand). Don't agree? prove it.
Did you really trot out a tautology, mistaking it for something supposed to sound intelligent?
Load More Replies...OK come on?!? The earth is neither flat or round! We are on a turtle's back and that turtle is standing on another turtle which is standing on another.
Haha "this guy needed just one ball" Setup: basketball, DSLR, lens, tripod, desk lamps, desk. Sure. Just one ball.
Obviously this is photoshopped. The rounders continue to feed their misinformation to the public to forward there hidden agenda to enslave humanity's
Ahhh. Not fair I didn't get to finish my silly rant. That was supposed to be in jest. I would however like to see someone waste some time trying to do the math to show how we stick to a flat disc that we some how exist on. Or did someone already do that. Mmm time to waste some time googling that.
Load More Replies...Nice job,now go prove antivaxers wrong - they are the ones putting our children in danger with their stupidity.
The only issue with this experiment is that you didn’t raise your camera up to mimic different altitudes, for example… In our world, if you were looking out toward the horizon the higher up you go in altitude the more you can see, in your experiment if you were to go higher, you wouldn’t be able to see “more land” you would see it drop off because the basket ball is round, unlike our earth.
And it’s funny because if you did take a few more pictures or one video, of your camera looking up at different heights, it would actually help prove earth is not a ball more so than disprove it
Load More Replies...The only issues is in this picture, if you raised the camera up, you would eventually see a curve, or lack of land, you higher you go up may it be on a plane or balloon, you never see a sip of the horizon, which again you would see if you moved your camera up.
You're one of those that the comments talk about. The camera is raised 😂😂 if this was a view on the earth it would cover over 90 miles of view 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️😂😂😂😂
Load More Replies...I'm sorry, I'm not a flat earth believer at all, but I am a support of solid argumentation based on observation. This was a simple experiment that in conclusion didn't prove anything about what kind of shape the earth is. Just the fact that , if it is round, then the horizon could still be flat, which is pretty meaningless. Even simpler: Round earth -> flat horizon but does not imply : flat horizon -> round earth. And while a lot of the FE believers out there are actually stupid, their official theory(consensus of a lot of pretty smart people) relies on a WHOLE lot more than the dumb argument "Hurr durr it looks flat so it must be flat", which is something they don't even use(they use, "it looks flat, so that might make it more likely that it is flat, as opposed to any other form." which is correct reasoning). And then this title: "Proves FE's wrong in the most brilliant way". Clickbait at it's finest. He said himself that he didn't even prove anything, again, as explained above.
I'm sick of the people who act like it's an easy thing to debunk by coming up with the most simple stuff, for which the theory in fact has explanations. I'd like to point out once again, that I don't believe in it, but I just don't like people intentionally misrepresenting it and even failing in debunking their strawman of the argument. End rant
Load More Replies...The height of the camera would give over 90 miles of view on the earth. That like flying a plane 🤦🏻♂️
Load More Replies...If the earth was flat then it would be completely empty. The reason the earth is a globe is simple: to prevent cats from pushing everything off the side.
I completely agree, the flat earther's are only taking a rise out of folk. I wouldn't waste my time trying to show anyone the reason they are wrong about this, they are just in it for the fun.
It’s a nice stunt and all, but it smells like native advertising with the camera as the “silent” hero of the photo
You got me. I'm a paid shill for Nikon. Or maybe I work for Raynox (manufacturer of the macro lens)? Just kidding. This was really viral advertising for Baden brand basketballs. Just look at those glorious bumps!
Load More Replies...Hmmm, maybe basketballs being flat is why I can’t dribble to save my life.
Fun fact: with the square comment, if the earth was a square there wouldn't be an equal gravity and the closer to a corner you go, the less gravity there would be.
This is rubbish. It's proven that you wouldn't expect to see a curve for a round Earth when looking from ground level but you also wouldn't see a curve for a flat Earth. Don't get me wrong, I'm in no way a flat Earther but this is not in any way proof that the Earth isn't flat.
To be fair, I never claimed that it proves that the earth is round. I only intended to prove that the flat-earthers' core "evidence" (horizon appears flat) is not unique to a flat surface, and to provide a visual of how a round surface can appear flat in terms of a familiar obviously round object.
Load More Replies...Why would you want to spend time demonstrating that the Earth is not flat? Why don't you spend time to demonstrate that the water is wet?……
If you can zoom onto a basketball edge so close the roundness can't be seen, why would you wonder about the "flat" horizon of something as large as the Earth? This proves the flat-earthers basic, "observable proof"... i.e., that the earth is not spherical because the horizon doesn't look curved, to be inherently flawed. F.E.s are big on believing that what they can see is proof... making one wonder what they comprehend when they see a magician perform.
Load More Replies...
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