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An app that helps flat earthers visualize the curvature of the planet from high altitude

Darko Savic

Darko Savic May 18, 2022

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An app that outlines the curvature of the Earth over the horizon in the phone's camera view. People can zoom out/in to see how their view fits on the global scale and hopefully understand why it seems flat to them.
Why?
This Reddit post demonstrates that even on a high altitude flight people could see what they choose/expect (flat Earth) rather than what you try to show them (slight curvature of the globe). This app gives them the ability to explore other possibilities on their own terms. Hopefully, it helps some people. 
How it works
A person who believes the Earth is flat flies to a place far enough to require a high-altitude flight. Upon reaching 10km (35000 ft) cruising altitude, they point their phone's camera at the horizon. The app knows the approximate area that is in view based on the phone's altitude (GPS) and the camera's capabilities when facing the unobstructed horizon.
The person then gets to play by zooming in and out, to realize how tiny their view is compared to the globe.
Physics
The app should probably also teach people about gravity, why we don't fall off, why up always feels up, etc. To make this intuitively understandable, what features should be added?

flat earth conspiracy theories physics mobile application

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General comments

Subash Chapagain

Subash Chapagain3 years ago

One thought: In my POV, someone is a flat-earther because s/he has been conditioned to be so. Social and cultural influence as well as personal cognitive biases make people adamantly believe what they believe. Even if such an app is built, the tougher task would be to make flat-earthers use it. This is because they are so firm in their belief that they will deny engaging in any sort of activity that may challenge their belief system. Hence, rather, people should be motivated to use better observational and objective reasoning in their early development as children. 

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Michaela D

Michaela D3 years ago

Were I a flat-earther, I would not want to use an app made by a round-earther to convince me my views are wrong. Even if I were to use the app and saw the curvature I would still think it is fabricated.

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Shubhankar Kulkarni

Shubhankar Kulkarni3 years ago

Will a mountain provide altitude enough to see the curvature?

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Darko Savic

Darko Savic3 years ago

Shubhankar Kulkarni it seems that 10 km altitude is required to see the curvature. That reduces the options to high altitude flights. Cruising height of commercial airplanes are in that range.

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Subash Chapagain

Subash Chapagain3 years ago

Shubhankar Kulkarni it does. I have been to numerous hikes/treks where from a high mountain/pass you can look around the horizon and realize the curvature. However, the horizon needs to be extremely wide to realize this.

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