Re: (Tears) Fads and Fallacies by Martin Gardner

On Fri, 10 May 2024 21:28:49 -0600, John Savard
<quadibloc@servername.invalid> wrote:

On Thu, 2 May 2024 17:06:44 -0000 (UTC), jdnicoll@panix.com (James
Nicoll) wrote:
>

In article <m234r0nq12.fsf@kelutral.omcl.org>,
Steve Coltrin  <spcoltri@omcl.org> wrote:

begin  fnord
jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) writes:
>

In article <m2a5l9p7k7.fsf@kelutral.omcl.org>,
Steve Coltrin  <spcoltri@omcl.org> wrote:

begin  fnord
jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) writes:
>

In article <slrnv32r1d.28ca.naddy@lorvorc.mips.inka.de>,
Christian Weisgerber  <naddy@mips.inka.de> wrote:

>
I recently became aware of the apparent existence of an Expanding
Earth hypothesis, pushed by a loon over on some German newsgroups,
and which I mistook as a new invention, but Wikipedia informs me
that in some form or other it's been around since the 19th century.

>
Famed comic book artist Neal Adams was an expanding earth true believer.

>
s/Neal/Scott/
>

Neal. Enjoy!
>
http://nealadams.com/science-videos/

>
You mean _two_ comic artists named Adams plugged that nonsense?
>

My impression is Scott Adams presented it as a thought experiment,
thus giving himself plausible deniability, whereas Neal Adams was a
True Believer.

>
Whew! It's a good thing we don't quite have two of them!
>
This reminds me of something I came across...
>
While at one point, the Bible does speak of God hanging the Earth
"upon nothing", in many places it makes statements that can only be
understood on the basis of the notion of a flat Earth, surmounted by a
solid dome on which we see lights both stationary (except for sidereal
rotation) and moving.

Ironically, I recently read a Psalm that clear stated that God set the
Earth on a "foundation" so that it could not be moved. And I'm not
sure how "flat" it was considered to be.

Aristotle, BTW, believed in a crystal sphere holding the stationary
lights. IIRC, I've encountered references to a different theory: that
the crystal sphere is painted black and the "lights" are where the
paint has worn off and we can see the Eternal Fire beyond.

At one point, it's even noted that God, instead of creating it in its
hemispherical shape, apparently created a flat sheet of material which
He then beat into shape as a human would beat brass.
>
Since it can be proven that the Earth is not flat, Answers in Genesis
is at pains to deny Biblical scholarship and claim that no, the Bible
says no such thing.

Biblical scholarship, like all related forms of scholarship, is
basically about people's opinions. It uses science and scientific
techniques in some situations, but that is mostly in dating
manuscripts and/or archaeological finds. It is not, as such, a science
in the modern sense; it is more of a "liberal art".
--
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"