Feline Kinetics and the Shape of the Earth: An Analysis

It has long been observed that domestic cats, Felis catus, exhibit a persistent behavioral trait: the deliberate displacement of objects from elevated surfaces. This phenomenon, colloquially known as “knocking stuff off,” provides an underexplored dataset for understanding the geometry of our world. If the Earth were flat—as some claim—then by now every portable object would have been propelled into the abyss by our species’ most dedicated experimenters: cats.

The Hypothesis

Assume:

A flat Earth with a radius large enough to support known landmasses.

Cats distributed globally since at least the early Bronze Age (~3300 BCE).

Cats continue their known behavior of pushing objects from elevated surfaces toward the nearest edge.

If the Earth had edges, every cat would, through curiosity and persistence, eventually discover and exploit them.

The Calculation

Let:

C C = estimated global cat population at any time.

O O = average objects knocked off per cat per day.

D D = distance from any point to the “edge” of the flat Earth.

Historical approximations:

Even a conservative Bronze Age cat population (wild and semi‑domesticated) might be ~100,000 cats.

Modern house cats knock an average of 3 small items off per day. Ancient cats were likely no less industrious: O=3 O=3.

Over 5,000 years, total potential object displacements = C×O×365×5000 C×O×365×5000.

Thus:

100,000×3×365×5000=547,500,000,000 100,000×3×365×5000=547,500,000,000 opportunities to “test” the edges. Over half a trillion edge tests.

Even if only 0.001% of these tests reached the Earth’s “edge,” millions of objects would have been lost into the void. Yet there are no historical records of objects vanishing off the side of the world or cats peering smugly into infinity.

Conclusion: Bowl‑Shaped Earth

Since the oceans have also failed to pour off the alleged edge, the only reasonable conclusion—using the undeniable experimental rigor of cats—is that the Earth is not flat but bowl‑shaped. The bowl curvature naturally contains the oceans, that’s how the oceans stay in!

The Biblical Case for a Bowl-Shaped Earth

For centuries, believers have debated the true shape of God’s creation. Many have embraced the “flat earth” model, claiming it aligns with Scripture. Yet a closer reading of the Bible reveals a more nuanced picture — not a flat disk, but a concave vessel, a bowl-shaped earth crafted by the hand of the Creator.

1. The Earth as a Vessel

Scripture repeatedly uses vessel imagery to describe creation. Isaiah 51:17 speaks of “the cup of His wrath,” and Revelation 16:1 tells of “bowls of the wrath of God” poured upon the earth. These are not mere metaphors. They echo a cosmology where the earth itself is a vessel — a bowl holding the waters and nations within.

“Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, or with the breadth of His hand marked off the heavens?” (Isaiah 40:12)
“Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens?” (Job 38:37)

Here God Himself is depicted as shaping creation like a craftsman forms a bowl — measuring, hollowing, and containing.

2. A Circle With a Rim, Not a Flat Disk

Flat-earth proponents frequently cite Isaiah 40:22 (“He sits above the circle of the earth”) to justify a disk model. But the Hebrew word chûg (circle/compass) can also imply an enclosed, rimmed boundary — like the lip of a bowl. Job 26:10 reinforces this:

“He has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness.”

A circle inscribed on the waters at the edge of light and darkness perfectly fits a concave bowl, whose rim marks a natural boundary.

3. The Gathering of the Waters

Genesis 1:9 describes the creation of dry land:

“Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear.”

Water “gathered” into “one place” implies containment — not spread over a flat infinite plane, but collected into a basin. Proverbs 8:27–29 echoes this:

“…when He drew a circle on the face of the deep… when He assigned to the sea its limit…”

Only a bowl naturally assigns limits and holds waters without spillage.

4. Prophecy, Bowls, and the Shape of the World

Prophets repeatedly invoke bowl and cup imagery for judgment and blessing. Zechariah 12:2 calls Jerusalem “a cup” to the nations. Revelation 16:1 speaks of “bowls” being poured out on the earth. This is not accidental. These images point to a divinely revealed cosmology — a world designed as a vessel, to receive and to be poured into.

5. The Bowl Earth and God’s Design

A bowl-shaped earth unifies all these descriptions:

It has a circular boundary (Isaiah 40:22, Job 26:10).
It contains waters (Genesis 1:9).
It functions as a vessel (Isaiah 40:12, Job 38:37).

This model respects every passage flat-earth advocates cite, but explains them more consistently — without the contradictions of an infinite plane.

Conclusion

The “flat earth” interpretation is only a partial reading. When we study all of Scripture, a clearer picture emerges: the earth as a bowl, concave and rimmed, gathering the seas and nations within its hollow as God designed. This is the true Biblical cosmology.

TeoTwawki/cat-science.md