'personal experience' (the kind where you are paying close attention to what you are actually seeing)
So seeing the sun just above the horizon doesn't convince you that you can see just as far 'laterally' as 'vertically'? Okay. Your concept of 'paying close attention' is different from mine.
In every place that you refuse to look...
That's a non-answer. I ask for
scientific studies, you respond with snark. C'mon Gary, you're better than that. If you can't cite any studies, just admit it.
You need to understand that the horizon is more about the way our eyes work and the way we see things than it is about a hard-limit fixed distance based on 'curvature'. If you have not realized yet that in different contexts-and-situations the distance to the horizon varies (sometimes greatly) - you are not paying very good attention at all...
If you want to be considered a jackdonkey (as certain of the other FE-advocates are), you can continue making unwarranted assumptions like this. I thought you were capable of basic respect.
The horizon is simply the farthest-visible surface, no matter the distance. In hilly terrain it might be a few hundred feet away, while on the ocean it is several miles away, and near (but not among) mountains, the distance could be a hundred miles or more.
The horizon is not an always-at-a-fixed-distance phenomenon - which it would have to be if it was based on 'curvature' of the earth.
Dead wrong; see above.
In the FE world, the horizon would always be the 'nearest highest ground'. I would suggest you do some examination of a topographical map of your local area to determine what you
should be able to see if the Earth were flat, and compare it to what you
can see. Further, seeing across vast water bodies to the far shore should be a
commonplace thing (with thousands if not millions of photos as evidence), not a rare occurrence captured with special equipment and difficult-to-replicate circumstances.