Meaningless Debate

i laughed till i doubled up. i think this is a very good example of how human beings, despite our much vaunted intelligence, can be stubborn as mules. to the extent of creating whatever 'information' we like so as to support our believes and how we reject anything else that is not within our schema of reality.

the problem with 'debating' with such people is that there is no middle ground upon which to meet. if the person only accepts that things in the Koran (in this case... but could just as well be the Bible, the Mahabharata, any of the tens of thousands of Buddhist sutras) are true, then naturally he cannot possibly lose this debate. because this debate is whether the Koran is right about the shape of the Earth and the motion of celestial bodies. and that is the problem with attempting to hold certain discussions with religious fundamentalists. they reject anything that contradicts whatever is found in religious scripture, regardless of evidence. and therefore these people, while pretending to be reasonable, are actually resorting to a "i don't care what you say, you are wrong because i say so" attitude. that's not a debate. it's intellectual dictatorship that stifles not only the mind, but the human spirit as well, shackling us in anachronistisms that prevent us from progressing.

that said. the 'scientist' in the above debate also has gaping holes in his scientific knowledge. the mass of the moon is not a sixth that of the Earth's. the gravitational field strength of the moon at the surface is about a sixth that of the gravitational field strength of the Earth at the surface of the Earth, the mass of the moon is only about 0.0123 that of the Earth. the reason for the gravitational field strength of the moon being a bigger fraction of that of the Earth despite the relative masses is due to the fact that the moon also has a much smaller radius.