Claim register
Claim Evaluation
Every claim is stated exactly, traced to its origin, and evaluated against the best supporting and the best opposing case. Scientific claims must expose their full reasoning chain — observation, measurement, calculation, prediction, physical test, result, replication — and declare per-model predictions BEFORE the result is shown. Appeals to authority (“science says”, “experts agree”, “the math proves it”, “settled”) are not evidence. Confidence is authored, not tallied. Preserve disagreement rather than force a conclusion.
- Incomplete — primary sources not yet ingestedThe universal comparison scaffold below is a placeholder. Do not treat empty sections as evidence.
Long-distance visibility across water
UnresolvedThe maximum distance at which a target of stated height is visible from a stated observer height matches the sphere-plus-refraction prediction under recorded atmospheric conditions.
Origin: Topic acknowledged; primary sources not yet ingested into this record.
Best supporting case
Awaiting primary-source ingest before an authored comparison.
Best opposing case
Awaiting primary-source ingest before an authored comparison.
Evidence
Universal comparison · who claims what, and how each model explains it
ExperimentalWho makes the claim: Surveyors, navigators, and flat-earth investigators publish long-distance sightings.Scope: See exact wording for scope and definitions; further scoping to follow with primary sources.
Flat / enclosed model
What it says: Any object of sufficient size is visible until angular resolution or haze obscures it.
Required assumptions: standard-atmosphere, observer-elevation, instrument-calibration
Strongest objection: Awaiting primary-source ingest.
Falsifier: Objects consistently and progressively hidden from the base upward as distance increases, tracked with atmospheric monitoring.
Globe model
What it says: Visibility ends when the geometric line of sight, corrected for refraction, no longer clears the intervening bulge.
Required assumptions: standard-atmosphere, observer-elevation, instrument-calibration
Strongest objection: Awaiting primary-source ingest.
Falsifier: A calibrated sighting of a fully-visible target at distance/height ratios that require the base to be behind the bulge under measured k.
Circular-reasoning check
No circular-reasoning risks identified in the authored evidence chain.
Knowledge library · claim → equation → law → assumptions
Laws / principles
Theories / models
Hidden assumptions
— none recorded —
Missing evidence
- Primary sources for the flat-model explanation.
- Primary sources for the globe-model explanation.
- At least one reproducible physical test with independent replication.
Contradictions
— none recorded —
Reproducibility
- Not yet documented in this record.
Confidence · not_rated
This record is a structural placeholder. Confidence will only be rated once primary sources and reasoning chain are authored.
Confidence is authored, not tallied. It reflects primary vs. secondary evidence, source independence, methodology, conflicts, and reproducibility — not the count of sources.