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The Geological Compass is a compass that gauges individuals and political ideologies on two axes that correlate to the nature of the earth. These axes are the Age-of-Earth axis and the Shape-of-Earth axis.
Age Axis
The Age-of-Earth Axis is a continuum on which individuals and ideologies are plotted on the basis of how old they think the earth is. People on the "Old" side are more likely to believe in evolution, the dynamo theory of earth's magnetism, the validity of radiometric dating, the existence of the Cambrian period (or explosion), the idea that dinosaurs never lived with humans, the geological time scale, and the such. On the other hand, those on the "Young" side are more likely to believe in creation, the rapid-decay theory of earth's magnetism, a six-day Creation approximately 6000-10000 years ago, a catastrophic and world-covering flood, the ideas that dinosaurs lived with humans, and the such.
Multiple factors go into plotting anyone on this compass, including the following:
- Exact age of the earth (in their opinion)
- How strongly they feel about the issue or earth's age
- Their opinion on evolution (if the person is a creationist, then their opinion on when the creation(s) occurred)
- How much they trust radiometric dating
- What conspiracy theories they fall into
- How violent they are about the issue
- Their opinion on the earth's magnetic field (Rapid-decay vs. Dynamo)
- Their opinion on the buildup of dust on the Moon
- Their opinion on the Cambrian
- Their opinion on a global and cataclysmic flood
Shape Axis
The Shape-of-Earth Axis is a continuum on which individuals and ideologies are plotted on the basis of how they think the earth is shaped. People on the "Round" or "Spherical" side are more likely to believe in universal gravitational forces, the validity of the Moon landing, the idea that the moon orbits Earth, conventional views on the Earth's magnetic field (not dynamo/rapid-decay debate), and the such. People on the "Flat" side are more likely to believe in the Pac-Man effect, the Sun and Moon being relatively small objects that hover over the earth, the great ice wall, the dome covering the flat earth, conspiracies regarding the truth of the earth being hidden, and the such.
Multiple factors go into plotting anyone on this compass, including the following:
- How spherical they think the earth is (in their opinion)
- How strongly they feel about the subject
- Their opinion on universal gravitational forces
- Their opinion on a moon landing
- Their opinion on the size and distance (from earth) of the Sun and the Moon
- Their opinion on the reason hurricanes rotate different directions in different hemispheres
- Their opinion on a hypothetical dome, ice wall, or pac-man effect
- Their opinion on the other planets
