Re: The Flat Earth?
Bob Ingria (ingria@bbn.com)
11 May 95 14:46:50
In article <3ot3qu$pqh@geraldo.cc.utexas.edu> bill@clyde.as.utexas.edu (William H. Jefferys) writes:
In article <3ori0u$83o@cronkite.cisco.com>, Roger M. Wilcox <rogerw@cisco.com> wrote:
#
#(Seriously, there was one platygaeanist [flat-Earther] I read the ramblings of
#some years back who claimed that the Earth was flat but SPACE in the vicinity
#of Earth was so severely curved that it made the Earth appear spherical,
#so that going around the world was actually an act of circumnavigating the
#universe! I think he got slashed on Occam's Razor pretty badly....)
The only "platygaeanist" to have posted (and I think he
coined the term) was an early troller named Bret Trolly,
I think.
Bret Joly (sp?), if I remember correctly.
He was a mathematician and made very sophisticated
arguments like this one. But he was obviously pulling
everyone's leg.
I think he went so far as to even state this explicitly at one point.
In any case, he was obviously not a believer in his own arguments.
As a troller, he was head and shoulders
above any of the current crop. He kept this joke running
for years.
His .sig featured the memorable quote: ``In your heart, you know it's
flat.'' So he was able to spread the gospel of platygaeanism wherever
he posted.
(He did this before the term 'trolling' had
even been invented. A true pioneer.)
Yea, verily, there were giants on the net in those days. Now ALL we
HAVE is various true-believer and propagandist dumbots WHO post and
rePOST the same drivel. O tempora! O mores! O stercor!
--
-30-
Bob Ingria
``As early as the beginning of 1703 Peter the Great had recovered from
the shock of the disaster at Narva, and invaded Ingria.''
--- James L. White, _The Origins of Modern Europe_
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