Flat Earth (tongue-in-cheek)

"What reason do you have to believe the earth is flat?"

blogger.com wants me to answer the above question in my profile. Since my response will not fit in the space the profile provides, I am posting my answer here.

Most people believe the earth is non-flat, mathematically expressed as:
non-flat = 3D = width * length * height

If you define flat as being an object lacking height then a flat object is mathematically expressed as:
flat = 2D = width * length

Now imagine we launch a satellite with camera to view the earth from space. The viewfinder on the camera is etched with a 10x10 grid. If the camera is positioned a sufficient distance away so the earth fills the grid, then the earth has a height of 10 units. As the satellite moves further from the earth the height continues to decrease. As the distance from the earth approaches infinity the height of earth approaches zero.
Thus earth not only becomes flat, it ceases to exist!
So mathematically
Earth = 3D = (W)*(L)*(H)
As H approaches zero we have
Earth = 3D = (W)*(L)*(0)
Since zero times anything is zero
Earth = 0
Been nice knowing you.

Seriously though, if you take the flattest, smoothest piece of steel you can find, polish it to a mirror finish, and magnify it enough it becomes a very bumpy, non-flat surface. So “flat” is a term that is relative to your perspective.