Tiananmen Square is still empty

i can't see mount rainier from vancouver at ground level, but when i get on a plane and go up, i can see it on the horizon

cameras can make things look weird @the first image

the curve does exist in the first image

if you go up high enough, you will see the curve

rockets don't go straight up for a reason, it's inefficient

basic optics

the effect on the first image is called fish eye, it creates a distorted view of the bridge

it looks flat in the second photo because you're above and the earth is kinda big relative to the bridge

it is though

its an optics distortion

the curve is exaggerated because of the lens the photo was taken with

maybe so

yeah, the second photo was taken with a different lens

i'm not a professional photographer but i would believe i have at least some knowledge on how lenses work from my experience

again, the redbull jump is a lens effect, the earths curve would not be that round from 128,000ft, and the 10ft photo is basically the same effect as the bridge photo

there is an excellent vsauce video on this somewhere

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxhxL1LzKww

no?

his photo is by nature what it is, the curve is exaggerated because of the lens he used

for me, even if the earth was flat, what difference does it make? i still gotta get up and go to work and pay bills

don't join vc @April

its a fuckin shitshow

whatdoyoumean.rtf

lol fair

you use your voice in vc lol

also, unless you can obstensibly prove to me that there is a god, there is no god

@Brian (Fourth Amendment) that is valid, if you believe that a god has helped you in your life, all the more power to you- but for me, i can't believe in something i haven't experienced. i believe that people are the ultimate controllers of their destinies

@April MST gang 🤘

lol fair

@Durpyturttle that is a question even quantum physicists have yet to answer. as far as i know, they are simply just properties of the universe. nobody decided them, they just are.

i am not a physicist, i can't answer that question but i do not believe that this intervention you allege was "divine".

there are too many possibilities for what caused the creation of the universe

what tells you it was?

no i can't

if there was proof presented to me, i would reconsider but i can not believe that a divine entity is responsible for the existence of the universe

how do we know it wasn't because of me sneezing too hard in an alternate reality?

how do we know it wasn't just random?

possible? yes. is it a theory i hold to be the truth? no.

random chance is what i believe. like i said, there are too many possibilities

and also like i said

if there was to be proof presented to me that it was something else, i would reconsider my belief

chances of any of the possibilities being the truth are stupid crazy

yes

yes, because the odds of the universe coming to be because of literally any reason are equal

i have acknowledged that divine intervention is possible, but i have chosen not to believe that that is the answer

i would yes. because this "non-existing chance" is equal to the chance of it being a result of divine intervention

ultimately, we don't know and that is the bottom line

hardly

the possibility of it being because of me sneezing too hard in another reality is equal to the possibilities of it being literally anything else

i have epilepsy, i do not

And like I said, we do not know the origins of the universe. Until we do, it's all up to what you believe. I choose to believe we exist because of random chance, you choose to believe we exist because of divine intervention. I can respect your beliefs and I hope you can respect mine.

If gods creations are perfect, why do I exist? I am broken, I suffer from epilepsy. Why would a god create something imperfect?

I am objectively a broken person, my brain doesn't function properly. If a god loved me, why would he allow me to exist? Why wouldn't he try to fix the problem?

No, why would I have to ask him? If a god is all knowing and all caring, why wouldn't he take initiative?

I can't cry out to something that hasn't been proven to exist.

Also quick social thing before I go, religion makes a lot of sense in the context of organizing society. So in the words of Q from star trek, when we were "fighting over tribal god images", it was a good way to organize society.

...faith in what? the existence of a god hasn't been proven. i will have faith in people to help me. i know that medicine can help.

what you believe is your choice. i don't believe in a god because it hasn't been proven, and it doesn't make sense to me.

i'm going to bed