Qantas QF14 Flight: Buenos Aires – Darwin

In early October 2021, Qantas flew a one-off repatriation flight from Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Darwin, Australia. It was the southernmost long-haul flight closer to the South Pole than any other passenger flight.

If Earth were flat, the flight should fly over South America, Canada, Russia, Japan, and Indonesia. But it flew over Antarctica instead, because the Earth is a sphere, not flat.

Continue reading “Qantas QF14 Flight: Buenos Aires – Darwin”

Crank Magnetism

Crank magnetism is the tendency of “cranks” to hold multiple irrational, unsupported, or ludicrous beliefs that are often unrelated. Crank magnetism also denotes the tendency of these people to accumulate more of such beliefs over time.

Those who believe flat Earth will tend to believe other “crank” ideas. Some of these ideas are necessary to support the belief in a flat Earth, like the hoax that moon landings did not happen. But most of these beliefs are not related to flat-Earth.

Continue reading “Crank Magnetism”

Anthropocentrism

Anthropocentrism is the belief that human beings are the most important entity in the universe. Real-world evidence does not support many of the anthropocentric notions.

Anthropocentrism can be very emotional. Proponents of pseudoscience —like Flat-Earthers— exploit it to emotionally discredit science. However, scientific knowledge is gained from real-world evidence, not from what we prefer to be true. Science remains true whether or not we believe in it.

Continue reading “Anthropocentrism”