Jimmy Wales wrote:
Skyring wrote:
The difference is that some people actively argue
that the earth is
not a sphere, whereas those who argue that Paris is not the capital of
France so far have kept their activities secret.
If a fact is contentious, then it should be backed up with a cite.
I can't agree with you that flat earthers constitute a sufficiently
respectable or large position that we need to treat the roundness of the
earth as the sort of fact that necessitates a citation.
Part of the problem is that the people raising the flat earth argument
are not themselves falt earthers. Hypothesizing arguments that aren't
being made, and generating well-reasoned and documented
counter-arguments are the essence of straw man reasoning. Without being
disrespectful to them we should wait until we hear from genuine
flat-earthers before documenting the alternate view.
While we are waiting for them may I hypothesize that the edges of our
flat earth are decorated by a fringe of trolls waiting for the unwary. :-)
Ec