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Arbitration Ruling on the Treatment of Pseudoscience

In December of 2006 the Arbitration Committee ruled on guidelines for the presentation of topics as pseudoscience in Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Pseudoscience. The final decision was as follows:

Neutral point of view as applied to science: Wikipedia:Neutral point of view, a fundamental policy, requires fair representation of significant alternatives to scientific orthodoxy. Significant alternatives, in this case, refers to legitimate scientific disagreement, as opposed to pseudoscience.
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Flat Earth was one of the Philosophy and religion good articles, but it has been removed from the list. There are suggestions below for improving the article to meet the good article criteria. Once these issues have been addressed, the article can be renominated. Editors may also seek a reassessment of the decision if they believe there was a mistake.

Article milestones
Date	Process	Result
September 20, 2006	Good article nominee	Listed
October 23, 2006	Featured article candidate	Not promoted
September 9, 2009	Good article reassessment	Delisted

Current status: Delisted good article

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This article has been mentioned by a media organization:

Hava Mendelle (February 17, 2024). "Wikipedia: how safe is crowdsourcing the truth?". Spectator Australia. Retrieved February 17, 2024. Take the following examples, an article on Flat Earth and an article on the Weaponisation of antisemitism. ... The former reads more neutral and factual where whereas the latter reads like an argumentative essay.

Thomas Aquinas does not mention a spherical earth

The article says:

St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), the most widely taught theologian of the Middle Ages, believed in a spherical Earth and took for granted that his readers also knew the Earth is round.

But the source which is given does not mention a spherical earth. Aquinas says that both the physicist and the astronomer prove the earth to be round, which is not necessarily spherical. Why does the text then say Aquinas believed in a spherical earth? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Retonom (talk • contribs) 15:55, 3 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The original Latin in question, rotundam, does not mean circular. It is the accusative feminine singular of rotundus, which means round, spherical, globular, just as round does in English. It’s clear that it means spherical in this context because the physicists and astronomers he refers to had demonstrated the earth to be spherical, not merely disk-like, as per the references St. Thomas himself gives. There is no scholarly controversy over the meaning of this sentence. Strebe (talk) 21:15, 11 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Please provide evidence that the people Aquinas quotes proved the earth to be spherical. Round does not imply spherical. When I say the table is round it is clear that the table is not spherical. When Aquinas or people he quoted said it was round they could just have meant it to be a round disk. Before it has been proven that the meaning is spherical it should not be mentioned as such in the official page. Retonom (talk) 02:24, 18 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

You're arguing English language semantics. As Strebe explained, the writing was in Latin, where no such semantic ambiguity exists. MrOllie (talk) 02:32, 18 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not arguing English language semantics. "rotundus" in Latin can also mean circular so my argument is valid. You can find the proof here: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rotundus#Latin :

1. round, circular

2. spherical, rotund Retonom (talk) 02:40, 18 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

By relying on Wiktionary translation (or any translation, really), you're back to applying English semantics. MrOllie (talk) 02:44, 18 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

This is incorrect. A translation is not English semantics. Semantics is about the meaning in a specific language. Translation is not semantics. In addition to that, Strebe said: "The original Latin in question, rotundam, does not mean circular." This is incorrect, as Wiktionary proves, it also means circular and don't tell me again, that to say what a word in another language means is semantics. Please let someone answer who understands the subject. Retonom (talk) 03:05, 18 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The argument you are attempting to build is plainly a semantic one, and, per WP:NOR, misplaced here. MrOllie (talk) 03:07, 18 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

In any case, I've added a secondary source with directly supports the claim as well, which I trust settles the matter. MrOllie (talk) 03:19, 18 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

On top of that, both the physicist and the astronomer prove the earth to be round does not make any sense if "round" means a circle as opposed to a square. How would astronomers or physicists prove such a stupid thing? It was clear from the beginning that this is a WP:CIR thing. --Hob Gadling (talk) 05:35, 18 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I'm making an argument and you cannot refute it. Instead you cite vague "semantics" and you invoke the argumentum ab auctoritate logical fallacy. There's is really no point in arguing with someone who doesn't have a clue about proper arguments. Retonom (talk) 06:36, 18 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

That is out-of-context bullshit of the type a chatbot would write. There was no "ab auctoritate" reasoning anywhere here. Even if it were, Wikipedia is built on reliable sources and not on your "arguments". Read WP:RS and WP:OR. --Hob Gadling (talk) 11:14, 18 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

In the context of classical Latin, and romance languages in general, "rotundus,-um" can mean both round and spherical, but generally means a spherical shape when referring to the earth (or any tri-dimensional thing). To mean something is round and flat, "circularis,-is" is typically used. "Sphaericus,-i" (spherical) is a late latin word derived from Greek. But to be blunt, if it wasn't obvious, Thomas Aquinas points to an spherical earth by talking referring to hemispheres: "...sicut simul dum sol est in puncto orientis, illuminat nostrum hemisphaerium" (Summa Contra Gentiles 2;38-9). Hemisphere means "half a sphere". Canilla92 (talk) 03:37, 26 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Solar system

Do those who subscribe to the Flat Earth theory believe that only the Earth is flat, or are some/all planets in our solar system also flat ? I think the article should clarify this. Bill the Cat 7 (talk) 12:15, 5 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

See: Modern flat Earth beliefs O3000, Ret. (talk) 12:25, 5 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Is archaic the right word for the lead

Is it really archaic as people knew earth was a sphere (not quite right as earth is really an oblate spheroid) for thousands of years so would just saying just it’s outdated be more accurate? Legendarycool (talk) 12:19, 23 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

How does (some) people knowing for thousands of years that the earth is spherical have anything to do with whether or not a flat-earth model is “archaic”? Strebe (talk) 15:56, 23 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

People discovering that the earth is a sphere in the 5th century BCE would make the idea of a spherical earth also archaic (by most definitions of the word).

P.S I just feel the current lead is just to emotive rather than just stating the facts?

P.P.S I’m not a ‘flat earther’ (think that’s the right word) so I. Just trying to improve this page. Legendarycool (talk) 23:22, 23 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I don’t think anything is considered archaic if it is also considered current. The normal connotation is that the thing or idea is old and obsolete, having been replaced by something more modern. I think it’s the perfect word for the use. Strebe (talk) 00:52, 24 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I think archaic is ok because "outdated" seems stronger and judgmental. Archaic, means old fashioned and is merely talking about something that used to be viewed as acceptable in the past. Ramos1990 (talk) 01:13, 24 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I just think that outdated would be more clear and logical word and that archaic in my opinion seems far more emotive and judgmental. Legendarycool (talk) 01:15, 24 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Ok but archaic seems more neutral. Something can old fashioned to us, but acceptable to people from the past. I think "outdated" would be an anachronism, no? Ramos1990 (talk) 01:20, 24 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I think what’s happening here is, I have a different perception of these words, you are correct from your experience with these words, but I’m correct from my perception of said words. I don’t really know what to do as we both are trying to communicate one message with separate words? Maybe have Archaic/outdated but thats clunky. Legendarycool (talk) 03:04, 24 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The lead does say "scientifically disproven" so I think your connotation of "outdated" is caught there, no? Archaic is used to designate past time periods like Archaic Period. Ramos1990 (talk) 04:42, 24 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Ok archaic does work well enough. Legendarycool (talk) 05:12, 24 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Proposed changes

hello, I suggest changing "More recently, flat earth theory has seen an increase in popularity" to "Since the 2010s, flat earth theory has seen an increase in popularity". it's a clarification that seems necessary to me for the article to be timeless. the two articles cited as sources for the resurgence of this theory date from the 2010s.

I would also like to propose the following change: change "only 82% of 18 to 24 year old respondents agreed with the statement "I have always believed the world is round"." to "only 82% of 18 to 24 year old American respondents agreed with the statement "I have always believed the world is round".". the study was carried out only on Americans: https://today.yougov.com/society/articles/20510-most-flat-earthers-consider-themselves-religious

I would have liked to make these changes myself but my account is not auto-confirmed. GloBoy93 (talk) 18:52, 29 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Done. Strebe (talk) 23:26, 29 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Fake facts

early muslim scholars were the defenders of spherical earth concept. Abu Rayhan al-Biruni (AD 973–1048)The 11th century Persian mathematician used simple trigonometric results to estimate the radius and circumference of the Earth. His estimate has been quoted as 6,340 km, which is within 1% of the mean radius of 6,371 km. 2001:6A8:5E0:926:882B:A6EF:199E:24D8 (talk) 11:32, 30 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Any reliable source that would back up your claim? A09|(talk) 12:14, 30 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]