Earth has always been round, so why have the flat-out wrong become so lively?(arstechnica.com)
arstechnica.com
Earth has always been round, so why have the flat-out wrong become so lively?
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/03/squishful-thinking-whats-inflated-flat-earth-believers-in-2019/
19 comments
I was massively disappointed with it. It spent so much time looking at the woman and man's strange relationship and zero time looking into literally the mountain of basic science that can be done to prove to yourself the earth is round. It was very silly, and seemed to care more about playing a TLC style "reality TV" purpose than educating or documenting.
It really should have had at least basic rebuttals to everything claimed. They didn't even give the scientists a chance to say anything.
While plenty people claim debating nonsense-ers like flat earth doesn't help, showing only their side while making them "seem normal" certainly isn't better
Heaven's sake, Eratosthenes knew the earth was round before Christ was born! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eratosthenes#Measurement_of_th...
It really should have had at least basic rebuttals to everything claimed. They didn't even give the scientists a chance to say anything.
While plenty people claim debating nonsense-ers like flat earth doesn't help, showing only their side while making them "seem normal" certainly isn't better
Heaven's sake, Eratosthenes knew the earth was round before Christ was born! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eratosthenes#Measurement_of_th...
The problem is, anyone so divorced from reality as to sincerely believe the earth is flat isn't going to be convinced by the evidence, and no one else needs to be. What even would be the point of presenting rebuttals? It's like trying to prove gravity exists to someone who insists it doesn't.
I think you're looking at the documentary the wrong way. It's not about proving one way or the other, it explores the people behind the movement. Showing their relationships and their interests tells us they are otherwise average people who were unable to find a community of their own until they latched on to conspiracy theories. There are plenty of other resources available if someone is interested in learning the science.
I liken this documentary to another similar one called Jesus Camp. To either side of the issue, it will only reinforce your perceptions of your side. That's only because it's less about the issue itself and more about the culture and people surrounding it than anything else.
I liken this documentary to another similar one called Jesus Camp. To either side of the issue, it will only reinforce your perceptions of your side. That's only because it's less about the issue itself and more about the culture and people surrounding it than anything else.
Because every idiot with access to the internet can instantly spread any nonsense they want to millions of people. In the past, this type of nonsense was filtered by editors and such at media companies.
Am I the only person bored stiff by conspiracists? I don’t deny that the phenomenon is significant, has an impact, and needs to be addressed, but Christ it’s boring! Cranky and conspiracists have always been derivative, repetitive, often delusional people and all too often far from the brightest bulbs. Their “theories” are inevitably garbage, written and talked about in truly sub-mental ways.
I get it, it matters, but it turns out that a topic’s importance doesn’t necessarily correlate with it being interesting, intellectually stimulating, or deep. There is no there, there. It’s just the interaction of lonely people, stupid people, mentally ill poeple, and a few relatively bright people who fell into a cognitive trap and became insufferable. The ones with David Icke who think that the queen is a lizard, the ones who think the Earth is flat, or believe that dinosaur fossils were planted by the CIA, the chemtrialers, the ones into “cloud busters” and the Orgone, anti-vaxxers... they’re all so samey and goddamned boring.
I get it, it matters, but it turns out that a topic’s importance doesn’t necessarily correlate with it being interesting, intellectually stimulating, or deep. There is no there, there. It’s just the interaction of lonely people, stupid people, mentally ill poeple, and a few relatively bright people who fell into a cognitive trap and became insufferable. The ones with David Icke who think that the queen is a lizard, the ones who think the Earth is flat, or believe that dinosaur fossils were planted by the CIA, the chemtrialers, the ones into “cloud busters” and the Orgone, anti-vaxxers... they’re all so samey and goddamned boring.
I find it so fascinating though! During the New Years 2016 - 2017 I found myself sucked down the Youtube "Watch Next" Rabbit Hole™. I spent hours watching video after video by these folks. At first I was convinced that it was a massive troll. But the more I watched, I came to realize.... wait... these folks really _do_ believe this crap! It got old after awhile and I moved on to more exciting things. Youtube is still sure that I want to see this genre however, so I often have a few conspiracy-type videos over there in the right column.
I suspect there are a fair number of people participating simply because they find it funny, and they enjoy the reactions they get. IE, trolls. Especially online, where participation is relatively low-effort.
You can see the curve of the Earth on the horizon with your eyes from the top of a tall mountain, the window of an airplane or somewhere flat like prairies. Of all the ridiculous conspiracies, this one baffles me the most. This one, you can literally just go look for yourself. You don't need science, you don't need math, you don't need to be intelligent, you just need to be not fucking blind.
Without the 'level' falling off at a fixed-ish distance from you in all directions there wouldn't even be a horizon, so the horizon itself is proof of a round earth.
My (not very original theory is that the CIA, who provably coined the term conspiracy theory to discredit any sort of unfavorable research, is making sure to spread obviously false theories to discredit anyone who's associated with any conspiracy research (You doubt the official 9/11 story? Tell me more about how the Earth is flat, must be them chemtrails getting to you)
A good question to ask yourself is where do you get all the information about the earth being flat?
If the answer is the internet, then that is the reason why it has become so lively.
If the answer is the internet, then that is the reason why it has become so lively.
The advent of the internet was supposed to put instant access to information at everyone's fingertips, and be a net positive for facts and science.
However, people have ignored the same technology's ability to instantly gratify reinforcement of falsehoods, and the spread of misinformation.
You can see a correlation between the rise of the internet and continued rise of:
1. Radical religion
2. Anti vaccination
3. Flat Earth conspiracies
4. ....
However, people have ignored the same technology's ability to instantly gratify reinforcement of falsehoods, and the spread of misinformation.
You can see a correlation between the rise of the internet and continued rise of:
1. Radical religion
2. Anti vaccination
3. Flat Earth conspiracies
4. ....
Yeah, I agree.
With the internet you can share an idea regardless whether it is tied to the objective truth or not.
With the internet you can share an idea regardless whether it is tied to the objective truth or not.
You could always do that in the town square. The difference is that people would look down on town criers as "kooks", while a video made in premier, with one or two stupid quotes or drawings seems to pass the average person's bullshit detector
The movie exposes the sort of cultishness of flat earthers and more than anything ends up making you feel bad for their desperation. Seems like a lot of those people just need support groups for their problems, and flat earth theory gives them a common enemy to rally against.
The movie isn’t all sad though, several times during the movie the more scientific members end up proving themselves wrong, which is fun to watch.
Anyway, again, I recommend the movie. It’s good for a laugh but also offers a reminder of the group’s humanity, which I think is important when we look at fringe groups.