Roundworld Conspiracy: Map Makers & Shell Beach

Part 3: Map Makers

In this video, Sargent talks about the layout of his Flat Earth.

He talks about an ancient Islamic scientist called Al-Biruni, who is credited with creating the Azimuthal Equidistant style of map projection. It doesn't matter if you've personally heard of him, his contributions to science were significant, and yes, even NASA recognized him when naming one of the many craters on the moon.

He's using me for what!?

The map itself is interesting, but the Flat Earthers seem to be missing an important detail. It is true that it is used by the USGS and United Nations, though probably for different reasons. What Sargent seems to have missed is that all distances on the map from the central point are true, but distances between any other points are only true along a direct path through the central point. And the point doesn't have to be the North Pole, you can centre your AE map anywhere you like, which is why the USGS uses it for certain specific regions. Of course, the further you get from that point, the more lateral distortion you experience, similar to the way polar regions are distorted on the Mercator projection most of us use. All of this can be read on the wiki page I linked to above.

A perfectly valid AE map centred on a point along the equator.

As for why the UN uses it as their logo and flag, well, I can't speak for the people who made that decision, but I'll allow myself to speculate a little. Most populated regions are north of the equator, so they would experience relatively little distortion on an AE map focused on the North Pole. No nation would experience as much distortion as, say, Greenland does on the Mercator. (Granted, Australia's a little squishy, but the distortion is still less pronounced). It makes Antarctica awkward to deal with, but as an organization intended to represent all the peoples of Earth, you have no need to include a continent with no native population. Paint everything one flat colour, add a few olive branches for symbolism, job done!

Quick trip to Staples for printing...

Part 4: Shell Beach

We're back to Hollywood for this one, but first, some more wild speculation.

He goes on a bit of a tangent trying to explain why mice are used for laboratory experiments, but even here he fails on the science. He bases their utility on their subjectively benign appearance, while ignoring their specific biological and behavioural advantages. He also makes more assumptions and speculations on both animal and human psychology, while making no reference to any research to back up his claims

Next he attempts to set up two Hollywood movies as thought experiments: Dark City and The Truman Show. They're certainly interesting ethical and logistical problems to consider, but as I said previously, Hollywood movies don't actually prove anything, so there's nothing in the argument to refute.

Oh, but he does make a wild guess as to how long an Earth-sized dome could sustain a developing human population without their discovery of the barrier itself, and suggests that the idea that they're on a globe would prevent them form exploring too far from their central homes. Again, he doesn't cite any research that might back up his numbers, so we can only assume that he chose a number that was convenient for his own agenda.