I have a friend in Edmonton, a lifelong friend, who is obsessed, not with the globe so much, but with proving that I can only be an ignorant, arrogant, know it all, with a life so miserable I should just end it already. He cannot accept that a school buddy, one that twisted in the court yard, could somehow be smarter than all of NASA's bestest and brightest.
Three years ago, I revealed to "John" the two words in the bible bet that proves the sea is level and ends the magic gravity debate. Since then he has popped up 3 or 4 times on social media, eventually learning about the law of persective, the law of density, and how these maxums help plane theorists trust what we all see and feel .. flat and stationery! Each new revelation eventually ends in a shouting match with John, unfortunately, and it is always my fault for being so ignorant that his head hurts from the mental linguistics of proving the ball Earth model.
A few weeks ago, after sharing the sunrise picture with him, from over Montana, John called a millionaire friend of his with a Gulfstream that can fly higher than my Westjet flight (37,000 ft) and prove the horizon is absolutely curved. He also offered to bet me everything I have, and that his friend would cover him, and added that his buddy Bruce was not someone to play with -- he would break my legs when I didnt pay. I said he should put his bet on paper and I would absolutely risk all I could afford. But he didn't, at which point I pushed him to simply direct his friend to follow the simple steps in my bible bet. The Bible Bet simply requires his friend to confirm the meaning of two words with any professional of his choice; a simple phone call, 5 minutes maximum, no travel, no pictures, no nasa bloopers to watch, no logistics at all, and no more arguments!
But his buddy never hit the send button, and either has he (he knows the clue).
John called me a few days afterward however, and after reminding me I must be crazy for the 1200th time, stated that we "know" the Earth is a ball cause .. cause ... the constellations we see in the north are not visible in the south. I called him out, said he was wrong, asked him if he wanted to bet this theory, and suggested that a friend in Syndney could tell us both on a conference call whether or not he could see the North Star in his southern sky? He hung up convinced he had me. Unfortunately this offer didnt materialize either. I reminded him about the Bible Bet. Still nothing ..
And then late afternoon this past Tuesday, after going back-and-forth all day and maybe calling him chicken little, John texted me a picture of a sunset, adding that his neighbor was in Costa Rica at this very moment (approximately 430 pm). I didn't get it at first, and actually thought for a second he was trying to prove the flat facts to me, as the picture was beautiful, see below. I replied that I saw ... 1. a flat horizon .. 2. a reflection off the water that can only appear on a flat surface, ... 3. a sun that is "moving" (although it wasnt a video we all know that we see the sun falling to the horizon) .. and 4. a sun that is much smaller, as evidenced by the hot spot reflecting off the water. He replied that those observations are all off the table now .. Gotcha! Cause .. cause .. the sun had just set in Costa Rica at exactly the same time as it fell in is his backyard, in Edmonton, and that he just witnessed it personally (and I'm a asshole). I immediately said he was wrong and asked him -- wanna bet? No reply. Silent for a while. I then gave up and shared some truth with him, from a World Time and Date website which also reveals surise / sunset time, hours of daylight, moon phases, and potentially, many other terrible truths about the cosmology revealed in the bible, and as always, hidden in PLANE view.
I am still absolutely ignorant, stupid, and full of shit, and my wife should leave me, but I have a sense he's coming around.
