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Reporter Shares Experience of Visiting a Flat Earth Convention (vice.com)
Tom Usher, reporting for Vice: I arrived at the venue -- a Jurys Inn hotel -- on a wet Saturday morning, to discover that the event was essentially a small carpeted convention room boasting a few cameras, some stalls selling merchandise, and 70 or so attendees watching PowerPoint presentations beamed onto a wall. As I entered, I was offered a gift of "fluoride-free" toothpaste. This made perfect sense, given the location. A popular conspiracy theory states that governments across the world have been putting fluoride in our water supply to tranquilize the masses, despite the fact the only piece of "evidence" for this theory -- which involves both the Nazis and the Communists -- has been widely discredited. With the tone set for the day, I sat down to watch some speeches.
The speakers all seemed well aware of how "globe-earthers" view the idea of a flat Earth, i.e. ludicrous, and their talk of the current scientific establishment felt very "us versus them" -- a nice bit of truther tribalism. One speaker talked at length about the moon, and how its orbit proved the Earth couldn't be spherical, which seemed a little counterintuitive. Another talked about how the Egyptian pyramid structure points toward clues that the Earth is a flat diamond shape, supported by pillars. Between sounding off about the Vatican and the fact that the establishment has indoctrinated us to believe all sorts of things, including that the Earth is a sphere, a third speaker suggested that cancer is caused by negative emotions and argued that dinosaurs didn't exist. The story also explores why some people still believe these long-debunked theories. Further reading: The bizarre tale of the flat-Earth convention that fell apart (CNET).
The speakers all seemed well aware of how "globe-earthers" view the idea of a flat Earth, i.e. ludicrous, and their talk of the current scientific establishment felt very "us versus them" -- a nice bit of truther tribalism. One speaker talked at length about the moon, and how its orbit proved the Earth couldn't be spherical, which seemed a little counterintuitive. Another talked about how the Egyptian pyramid structure points toward clues that the Earth is a flat diamond shape, supported by pillars. Between sounding off about the Vatican and the fact that the establishment has indoctrinated us to believe all sorts of things, including that the Earth is a sphere, a third speaker suggested that cancer is caused by negative emotions and argued that dinosaurs didn't exist. The story also explores why some people still believe these long-debunked theories. Further reading: The bizarre tale of the flat-Earth convention that fell apart (CNET).
I'd say that anytime there is a duality of opinion, no matter how much evidence there is, you'll always find people on both sides.
I think we should be more concerned with the People Against Washing Hands Society.
Every Swiss citizen should know that there were dragons at the glaciers at least until the end of the 19th century.
Just like religions.
It's bizarre, isn't it?
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
Until they elect a gameshow host as president, start banning research, and screwing over everyone that doesn't kowtow.
I wonder how Trump is going to be remembered, once it isn't seen as important for half the population that he be seen as somehow respectable. In retrospect, most conservatives see George W. Bush as a big mistake... it'll be interesting to see how that pans out.
Why do we have to keep switching to these idiotic reactionary anti-science folks so often? What ideals does it serve? It always seems like such madness - madness yelling that it deserves respect as it disrespects everything else.
A popular conspiracy theory states that governments across the world have been putting fluoride in our water supply to tranquilize the masses,
I thought that was solved by television.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
C'mon, I thought it was common knowledge that the whole "movement" is a giant troll-job aimed at getting just this kind of hand-wringing attention.
...PowerPoint presentations beamed onto a wall.
WTF? Projected maybe? Or did they have some sort of alien technology that's somehow different than a projector?
Ob. Beam me up Scottie, this place sucks.
Just like Justin Bieber and Rebecca Black (Friday) back then,
whose names you *only* know, because you constantly read about how much everyone hated them.
I call it: The "Reverse Streisand Effect".
We should not ever talk about Beetlejuices like this. For the same reason we should not spread school shooters all over the news. They feed on it. Their meme does anyway.
"Russians in cahoots with Trump stole the election"
Same "us versus them" tribalism. Same conspiracy theory thinking, where belief gets wrapped up with ego and group identity, creating a motivation that transcends facts and logic.
Stupidity combined with arrogance ("We know better!") will always be with the human race. There are far to many stupid people that do not understand what a "fact" is. Of course, cults of stupid depend on a majority that is a lot less stupid, or they do not survive. If they reach a certain size (e.g. the US as of today), they eventually self-destruct as ignoring reality is not sustainable on that scale.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
You see the great delusion is at work. Satan has tricked you into thinking that facts, evidence and thought are good things when we all know that that evidence and those facts have been created by Satan to deceive us. Now excuse me as I have to step onto the patio and wait for the goose that lays the golden eggs.
Simulation Hypothesis, Like a DVD in the days of old. :)
[($)]
I wanted to say something about leaving at the zoo what happens at the zoo, but this here is actually a good question:
Why do we have to keep switching to these idiotic reactionary anti-science folks so often? What ideals does it serve? It always seems like such madness - madness yelling that it deserves respect as it disrespects everything else.
The answer lies in what sees itself as the camp of science and reason. Only it's not really science: "Policy-based science making" is what all too often actually happens. Nor is it really reason, seeing how the science is shoddy and the reasoning's logic subordinated to political goals. It's the claim of "meritocracy" when the meritocrats have no merits, only the claims. It's the smug superiority of being "science-y", in effect worshipping "science".And yet for all the science failing to notice what's actually happening. That makes the establishment the party insisting the band keep playing while the ship is afire and sinking.
That also makes anything else just as arbitrary, and therefore just as viable for the vast masses not initiated in the secrets of worshipping science. Which really is all you get at the "post fact" sociology and humanities and other soft-headed university departments. Which is part of the reason politics is full of those, and not so much of actual engineers and other people who deal with the actual laws of nature. When it turns out the science-worshipping doesn't actually work there's tangible reason to switch. And what does the (in this case mostly democratic party) "science-y" camp do? The pantsuits are still having hissy fits seven ways from sunday every day over their well-earned loss. But they have no arguments. They never had, as they were worshipping their own smug science-y dogma. That is their downfall.
And, of course, that means a vacuum. Which nature abhors. So any random crockery is very welcome to step in and fill the void.
Personally I don't think of these fringe characters as all that dangerous. It's the people who claim to know it all because "science" then themselves completely fail science that are doing the real damage. Also because there's so many more of them than there are flat-earthers. For now, anyway.
I'd say that anytime there is a duality of opinion, no matter how much evidence there is, you'll always find people on both sides.
Because otherwise there wouldn't be a duality of opinion?
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
Next time he should go to a church.
Captcha: baptized
The "Earth is a flat diamond shape, supported by pillars", is it? So what supports the pillars?
Garry Knight
Tautological assertions are true if tautologies.
The person in question not only strongly believed in flat earth, but also went on occasional starvation (water only) diets as 'food has toxins'. Nice chap, computer engineer as well, though completely detached from reality.
It is the by-product of many industries and is toxic. Whatever research this OP is citing (source?) is horribly wrong. The CDC even acknowledges it is toxic. $5 says my comment gets deleted. Slashdot used to be full of smart people, what happened? Oh, a large news company bought it...
These guys should be given a stage on college campuses to share their views. They should also allow the flat Earth theories to be taught in schools as an alternative to the round earth evolution theory. I'm sure once we show everyone that it is just another r theory our president Trump will be willing to consider replacing the ineffective liberal leadership at NASA with one of these guys that can help shake things up. Let's go MACA
If the Earth were really flat, cats would have pushed everything off of the edge.
Could we please stop celebrating and tolerating ignorance?
Thanks.
P.S. Just... literally... get a boat. Pick a direction - any direction. And keep going. Whether or not the Earth is flat will be proven within less than 80 days (and that was a long time ago, you can do it much quicker now).
If something's flat, it either has an edge, or it's infinite. You'll find out, to within a certain margin or error, in a couple of months of travelling, and have some great experiences along the way.
Either you'll never see the same place twice, or you'll fall off an end. Note: If you come back where you started, you're crap at navigation or the Earth is round. Both of which give you a pretty big hint that you shouldn't be formulating flat-Earth theories.
Or are we honestly claiming an infinitely long and wide self-repeating tiled plane?
I want one of those shirts with the UN emblem /w phrase "THE EARTH IS FLAT" under it.
By far my favorite and most interesting phrase from the whole article "So [becoming a flat earther] made me more skeptical, and more aware."
Back when Galileo was talking about "orbits" and such, I'm sure he had the same pushback -- "you IDIOT, how stupid ARE you?". Enough so that the church kept him under house arrest until his death.
My point isn't that they're right, but they have an idea. Just like WE have an idea about spherical planets. So just like MOND vs dark matter, there's a debate (at least on their side.)
FINE. That's fine. *I* think the world is literally a cube from Superman's Bizarro World. So let's ALL make some predictions and observations and see what works. If you don't like an observation, fine, explain how it's wrong or produce a repeatable different one. But the more things a theory explains the "better" it is, right?
Spontaneous generation might still be proven right, but you'd better have everything absolutely perfect and repeatable to be accepted. I want the galaxies closer together -- AND a pony -- but wishing doesn't make it so. (So I guess I'll have to use astral projection to visit them instead of in person -- have to get the help of "expert" Shirley MaClaine for that one. Anyone have her phone number, or is she Out of Office / Body for awhile?)
Or is Flat Earth an unsupported belief AKA religion? "I don't care what you say, I know what's right." What, are they going to take their ball with an ant on top and go home?
If the universe is someone's simulation -- does that mean the stars are just stuck pixels?
A conspiracy theory is simply when two or more people keep a plan secret that involves breaking the law. It's literally every single crime ever committed by two or more people. Not only are conspiracies real, you can get a respected job as a crazy conspiracy theorist, it's called being a detective.
Some nut jobs believe everything fake TV news says, without doing any reaserch using the Internet. What a bunch of libtards! ae911truth dot org
Ideocracy is coming real sooner than I expected.
Ever consider they're just funnin' y'all? The goal being to see spherical folks get all huffity-puffity, whip out their self-righteous indignation and use it like a bludgeon to beat sense into people they disagree with. And hopefully learn about their own inherent prejudices in the process.
Just a theory.
The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
There really are also modern concave Earthers, too...who no doubt tonight think they are looking up at China...
If you kiss goats, you're a goat kisser, even if you're only doing it ironically.
For once I'm a little disappointed in Slashdot and it's Exerpt process.
The post on /. was basically focused on "Haha, these people are all crazy" and completely ignored that there is a legitimate (albeit, still mostly bonkers) reason behind flat earth theory, and many other conspiracy stuff. It's not because they believe crazy things, but they feel disenfranchised by those in power, and those who control knowledge. The crazy stuff is more of a symptom, than the cause.
I've seen a ton of other articles elsewhere that touched on this, and totally changed my understanding of these people. They're still nutters, sure. But at least I 'get' why they're nutters. Just the same as I 'get' why religious people do what they do. I don't buy it, it's silly... But I certainly judge them a lot less for it. /. failed to do that here, and point out that they're humans.
Fiona continued: "I think, being African Caribbean, you tend to live to a certain extent on the outskirts of mainstream society. It's something the majority of white people don't experience,"........That was probably the most reasonable thing I'd heard all day: If you've been marginalized and feel like you've been lied to by institutions and people you're supposed to automatically trust for much of your life, why should you trust what any of them have to say?
So to some of these people, it doesn't matter so much whether the earth is flat or round. They are there more to have a community of people they can relax with and feel good with. The science is secondary (or in this case, non-existent).
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
My point isn't that they're right, but they have an idea.
It's an idea which has been disproven. That makes clinging to it dumb.
So let's ALL make some predictions and observations and see what works. [...] Spontaneous generation might still be proven right,
Yeah, if your experiment was dumb enough. That's the problem with listening to EVERYONE. Some people you clearly don't listen to about anything. For example, if they think the earth is flat, you clearly don't need to listen to their theories on fluoridation. Even if fluoridation did turn out to be a commie plot, they wouldn't have been saying so for any logical reasons. They would have been accidentally right, and it still would have been dumb to listen to them. And god forbid ;) that you should get into the habit of listening to them because they were accidentally right, because then just imagine how far down the rabbit hole you could get!
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
If the Earth is as flat as claimed and the F.Es are suggesting we can't observe the Earth as a sphere, would it be useful to provide a test that provides the observation?
I propose the following test. A triangle's interior angles all add up to 180 degrees. If the Earth is flat it should be possible for three sufficiently spaced teams moving out to the horizon with laser surveying equipment to measure the interior angles of a triangle covering some part of the earth.
Obviously the larger the triangle the more accurate the result however if the Earth is flat the interior angles will be 180 degrees, and if the earth is a sphere then the angles will be greater than 180 degrees.
My 2c
My ism, it's full of beliefs.
The flat earthers are out there, but also the other extreme of the scientific method can be equally annoying. Where's the evidence that debunks there is no mind/body connection correlated to cancer? Just because u can't prove it in an objective sterile lab setting, doesn't mean it isn't the case. Perspective of the patient is the important variable here, and I doubt it's been fully tested, nor could be, as the domain of the mind is infinite.
I'd say that anytime there is a duality of opinion, no matter how much evidence there is, you'll always find people on both sides.
Because otherwise there wouldn't be a duality of opinion?
Scientists have also determined if your parents did not have children, you probably won't either.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
Oh yeah, definitely. A sparse handful of 60 year-olds from the midwest renting a hall at the nearest Holiday Inn, in the middle of Cornfield, Nebraska to discuss "Flat Earth" with an uncanny kind of deep conviction - are definitely a club of secret intellectuals merely role-playing as "ignorant hayseed rednecks" not only for the joy of pranking the outside world -- but also as sophisticated vehicle for personal enlightenment.
But no, I never did consider that they we're just funnin m'y'all
There are just some folks that will believe anything is a conspiracy. They believe science and the world is out to get them. Thankfully these folks are the lunatic fringe and most people understand this. Earth is a sphere, the debate is long over.
So how do people come to believe this stuff?..... it was after watching some YouTube videos and realizing that "with all this movement, water stays flat, calm, and reflective to the point of being a perfect mirror, something that is not possible on a curve."
If someone said that to me, I would say, "Great! You are thinking outside the box, you are questioning Why?" That is how science starts. Then we would start doing experiments, showing that water can be flat in a curved dish, or discussing momentum in thought experiments (or even going out on a flatbed truck). Asking these kinds of questions is great, but you need to go beyond questioning and start experimenting. That is when your questions turn into discoveries and understanding.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
Scientists have also determined if your parents did not have children, you probably won't either.
Not true. You can adopt an adult and become their parent in most states.
My point isn't that they're right, but they have an idea.
It's an idea which has been disproven. That makes clinging to it dumb.
So let's ALL make some predictions and observations and see what works. [...] Spontaneous generation might still be proven right,
Yeah, if your experiment was dumb enough. That's the problem with listening to EVERYONE. Some people you clearly don't listen to about anything.
There is an internet philosophy that has people bringing up disproven or dipshit theories, and screaming that other people have to disprove them. A really warped idea if "If you don't disprove me to my satisfaction, you prove that I am right!"
Well, I suppose these modern day Neanderthals paid zero attention in science class, but I remember ancient concepts like spontaneous generation and flat earth being discussed in class, and unless a person wasn't capable of critical thinking, they would catch on real early and quickly that the earth was spherical, and that animals don't pop out of nowhere. Note yes - we now know that the earth was an oblate spheroid and a little chunky at the center.
The biggest problem with the idea that we must exhaustively explain every debunked idea over and overandoverandover again for people who have exactly no intention of taking the telling is that we'll be stuck forever explaining things like say, the phlogiston theory, when in fact we've moved so far beyond that that it would be a waste of time. Read it in a book, and move on.
Especially in the age of the internet, a skeptic could set up an experiment with say 50 others of like mind across the globe. Do the old Erastothenes experiment but around a meridian line describing a circle.
But who am I fooling.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
Not true. You can adopt an adult and become their parent in most states.
But then you would have adults, not children. And your adults would have a parent who was never born.
There are some good quotes in the article, explaining the viewpoints of the people involved. This one:
Fiona continued: "I think, being African Caribbean, you tend to live to a certain extent on the outskirts of mainstream society. It's something the majority of white people don't experience,"........That was probably the most reasonable thing I'd heard all day: If you've been marginalized and feel like you've been lied to by institutions and people you're supposed to automatically trust for much of your life, why should you trust what any of them have to say?
So to some of these people, it doesn't matter so much whether the earth is flat or round. They are there more to have a community of people they can relax with and feel good with. The science is secondary (or in this case, non-existent).
I also read the implicit connotation that the oblate spheroid that the earth is claimed to be is to be consider a racist white concept? Who knew?
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
Yeah you're reading too much into it.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
Scientists have also determined if your parents did not have children, you probably won't either.
Not true. You can adopt an adult and become their parent in most states.
Adoption does not change genes. You are talking about the difference between a legal construct and children via the normal male/female sperm and egg thing.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
Yeah you're reading too much into it.
What do you expect from an old white guy? ;^)
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
They're just trolling. The reporters are the ones who look stupid, for thinking these people are serious. Getting a reaction is the entire reason trolls troll... dumbasses.
I'm a ham and in a radio club. I don't go to the radio club anymore. It's more a social club than anything else. People don't even have radios. They just gather for weekly dinners. All of them have valid radio amateur licenses but most of them haven't even touched a PTT since they took the exam.
vaccines cause autism.
single payer comprehensive health care for all is bad.
the earth is flat.
voted for trump.
'don't have sex' is a sufficient sex education lecture.
___
round 'em all up and teach them about the science of kinetics, ballistics and the effects of supersonic projectiles to melon sized masses of soft living tissue.
I'm very concerned to see all slashdotters being told what to think, both by the article and the comments. Hard candy is not at stake: no proofs of neither the globe or the flat have been given. Vague lines attributed to the flatties are the shallow "now I see the stillness of the water", not the mathematical, laser beam etc experiments like you can find in the concaveearth documentary or the 100 proofs the earth is not a globe (book).
These days, though, conventions like these are infested by rage-twisted conspiracy nuts. Predictably, people who were there for an amusing time and playfully-nonsensical "science papers" head for the exits.
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
I see no evidence of that.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
And that's when you cease to be a flat-earther and therefore no longer count. The FES will always, by definition, consist of people who suck at science and gravitate towards conspiracy theories.
What religion were the Byzantines?
Since I actually have a clue what I'm talking about, I'll give you a hint: not Buddhists.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
That's not necessarily a bad thing. I used to be a member of a drinking club with a rugby problem.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
I have the impression that many on the flat earth society are only there to sharpen their argumentation skills, because if you can actually defend something like flat earth without being destroyed on the first or second question, you're pretty darn good at it.
The whole conference left people feeling flat!
That must be the dumbest example because you can actually see the curve when you are near the sea with decent visibility.
These people are tools you cannot reason with. And that is fine as long as they don't hurt anyone.
OTOH half of Americans believe in God. And to me that is no different than believing the earth is flat. So there is that, lol.
Maybe they've never been to the ocean, or if they have, maybe there were no boats on the ocean at the time.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
That's how it started.. but then the dumb people listened to this...
At small enough scale, the distance between two (near-by) points is a straight line...something about calculus. Given that few people have to deal with distances larger than those allowing good approximation with plane geometry, I don't see why these people are considered "crazy". It is a reasonable assumption when most of what you do is on scales of less than 100 m. Some ridicule flat earthers, but allow the (lazy?) (foolish?) to claim that the Earth is "spherical", when it is not. Claiming that i) the Earth is flat, ii) the Earth is spherical, or iii) the Earth is an oblate spheroid (etc.) are all approximations. Earth's shape depends on the assumption that it has a surface, but at subatomic scale, distinguishing where *exactly* that surface is, is not a matter (pun?) of physics but a matter of definition, and the definition changes depending on context (if anyone bothers to use a definition; I doubt if most people here could offer one that was consistent). Only if we agree to average over both time and distance does it make sense to claim that there exists some surface (2d) on one side of which is Earth, and on the other non-Earth.
The issue isn't something that can be resolved with a reasoned argument. Flat earthers believe that evidence for the earth being a globe (oblate spheroid) is a conspiracy. Under that circumstance it makes it difficult to have a reasoned argument. It's why Mad Mike Hughes was prepared to launch his home-made rocket to a height that he could prove the Earth really was flat. Those Astronauts and Cosmonauts and Taikonauts are all lying about what they see from orbit. Also those people that have gone up in U2 spy planes and Concorde are also lying. As you can clearly see, no room here for a reasoned argument.
The part that I find funny is that it is simple to test the flat Earth theory... If the Earth is flat, then it must have edges right? It would be enough for one of these guys to get a boat and then navigate to find one of those edges. Or would they have some "fail-safe" theory to explain how a supposed flat Earth would have no edges?
Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
It does keep you from looking into those newly released kennedy papers right!! The Plan and useful ID.s are working as expected. Imagine if all the energy was put into say discovery why building 7 the unstruck 3rd building collapsed? See, just another planned and paid for 3 letter agency psy job.
The Merseyside Skeptics have a nice report on this sort of conference. Sounds very similar.
Flat earth belief has become the latest gullibility test, it is no different from the badly spelt 419 emails. The ideas are deliberately bad to attract only the most gullible and easily fooled people. The scammers don't want to waste their time on people that figure out the scam late in the game.
https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.c...
I think it has to do with the fact that the edges are basically Antarctica and you can't pass through all that ice or some such nonsense.
What is a "truther"? Are you trying to suggest that people who question 9/11 are also flat Earthers?
The Flat Earth meme was set up by NASA so that they could flood Youtube videos about the moon landings being faked with comments about 'flat Earth', in order to discredit anybody who questions NASA's blatant lies...
I think the last decade has shown that it's not the US that we should worry about but rather Europe, which pretty much bankrupted itself out of sheer greed and laziness.
I think it has to do with the fact that the edges are basically Antarctica and you can't pass through all that ice or some such nonsense.
These guys have played too much civ. Except even then it would be a cylinder, not flat.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Flat earth represents one thing really, and that's general distrust for the the establishment. I don't agree with their viewpoint but I understand where they're coming from, how can you trust the popular narrative when media, gov, etc, hide and lie to our faces so often...
Back when Galileo was talking about "orbits" and such, I'm sure he had the same pushback -- "you IDIOT, how stupid ARE you?". Enough so that the church kept him under house arrest until his death.
It's ironic that you used Galileo given that (a) he was wrong due to the use of (Copernican) circular orbits (versus Kepler's elliptical), and (b) any predictions made using his models turned to be wrong (see (a)).
Further, even if his models were accurate (which they weren't), that doesn't mean they actually match reality (e.g., Ptolemy's models made accurate predictions too). You still need empirical evidence, and that didn't arrive until 1728 James Bradley detected stellar aberration in -Draconis (a hundred years after the Galileo drama).
* http://tofspot.blogspot.com/2013/10/9-great-ptolemaic-smackdown-from.html
Einstein's models were well received and the math worked out, but everyone waited until there was experimental observations:
* https://www.wired.com/2009/05/dayintech-0529/
Galileo, when asked for empirical evidence, couldn't provide any. So it was Galileo that was "religious" (using your definition of the term) and insisted that people put faith / trust in this idea.
A new hard-hitting report from our undercover reporter reveals the truth about flat-earthers and you won't believe it!
Vice increasingly behaves like Gawker, pumping out clickbait pieces that take aim at that easiest of targets under the guise of serious journalism.
I read a different article that made similar but different explanations. Obviously these folks are missing out on the riches of the world around them and "we" will never convince them otherwise. The concerning part is that the internet brings them together. The basis for their alternate belief system though is grounded in the way "we" tell them they are ignorant, stupid, and fail them in mentoring. We Control the belief system and counter opinions are tossed out as ignorant.
Go back a thousand or so years and the Church was pushing Earth as the center of the universe (and flat ?!) - a battle of sorts ensued to move to a sun centric philosophy. It was heresy to believe otherwise. Those in power stuffed Earth-centric down your throat and you had better believe or else. They controlled knowledge & belief. People probably didn't know what to believe and half-truths and pseudoscience was strong. Ultimately Earth-centric lost out.
Fast forward to modern times. AI that routes you to articles you may like, alternate facts, and Global Warming (man is not the center of the universe). You have people like Bernie Sanders making everyone stand up and swear an Oath that Global Warming is real... Or Else. Heresy to say or believe otherwise.
Then a little "alternate voice" comes along and whispers into the ears of these people who aren't sure what to believe and have no strong convictions. "Flat earth - these people will accept you. It is anti-establishment, come be one with us" And the Internet AI helps them along, plus Russian non-collusion but I digress.
But what does all of this say about truth, authority, and future design makers? One journalist suggested that this is the end of the Expert.
"Do your own research" Thoughts and Prayers everyone. Good luck.
The part that I find funny is that it is simple to test the flat Earth theory... If the Earth is flat, then it must have edges right? It would be enough for one of these guys to get a boat and then navigate to find one of those edges. Or would they have some "fail-safe" theory to explain how a supposed flat Earth would have no edges?
If the world was flat, cats would have pushed everything off the edge by now.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
They obviously are not!
Given how many reports I've seen about this, from people who attended purely in order to write an article about it, it would not surprise me at all if the majority of the convention's attendees were faking it.
https://xkcd.com/154/
Not true. You can adopt an adult and become their parent in most states.
But then you would have adults, not children. And your adults would have a parent who was never born.
But wouldn't that make you your own grandparent? Who was never born of course.
Wanna buy a shirt?
https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
My point isn't that they're right, but they have an idea. Just like WE have an idea about spherical planets. So just like MOND vs dark matter, there's a debate (at least on their side.)
The difference is there is evidence for a round earth, lots and lots and lots of it. There is zero evidence for a flat earth other than some lines in ancient books and ... well that's about it really. Unless you count the dedication to delusion. You'll notice the overwhelming majority of flat eathers are religious types that just can't accept the fact the universe not only wasn't made for them but does not give one single iota of a shit about them.
Wanna buy a shirt?
https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
vaccines cause autism.
single payer comprehensive health care for all is bad.
It certainly can be. If administered by incompetent or corrupt people.
the earth is flat.
It still shocks me that the flat earther thing isn't all some elaborate parody.
voted for trump.
over 40% of voters did. Each for their own reasons. Some of them voted for insane reasons. Others were sick of the barriers that exists between the regular folk and those that rule us. Trump won because he wasn't a career politician, and for some it almost didn't matter what he said or did.
Basically anyone who isn't Clinton, Bush, or Kennedy could get that right leaning independent anti-establishment vote.
'don't have sex' is a sufficient sex education lecture.
If the young listened to their elders it would be a very effective program. Old farts, especially religiously conservative old farts, forget that the young don't instantly accept the dictates of authority figures.
In this way the abstinence program is quite insidious. The purpose is to indoctrinate children into the blind acceptance of authority figures and is really no different than a religious service.
And your adults would have a parent who was never born.
Why? While they made it weird with the adults angle, they were right regarding adoption at least. It is perfectly possible for a person to have parents who never "had" kids, if that person's parents adopted them.
So I'm not a "Flat-Earther" or whatever you call them (simple argument is, explain how the math behind satellite communications work if Earth is not spherical).. but I do believe Fluoride shouldn't be ingested. Everything I've read on the subject points toward Fluoride being beneficial as a topical agent only (i.e. when applied directly to teeth). Ingesting it (for instance via public drinking water supply) causes harm as it passes the blood-brain barrier and collects in the Pineal Gland, calcifying and causing issues related to the early onset of puberty and other hormonal/chemical imbalances throughout life which inhibit normal, healthy function. I'd welcome any constructive countering of my stance. My simple conclusion is, if Fluoride is classified as a neurotoxin and, as such, you're not supposed to swallow Fluoride toothpaste or varnish, it's probably better not to swallow it from drinking water either.
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
...to a first approximation....
Wait just a minute.
I thought that the Flat Earth Society had changed their name to Mothers against Guns.
Good golly, don't tell me that there are two of them.
... played too much civ...
I don't understand the concept...
That's not necessarily a bad thing. I used to be a member of a drinking club with a rugby problem.
So how long have you been rugby-free?
They'd never get past the oceans.
I'm not sure why these guys are newsworthy. I mean I don't read horoscopes or that kind of stuff. However, I was a Physics/Astronomy major many decades ago. I have pointed out to people through the years that the heliocentric perspective is really not a TRUE perspective, but rather a mathematical convenience. Indeed, we could have a Pflugerville-Texas-centric perspective if we wanted. The math would be a nightmare, but it is doable! :-)
This fluoride-free toothpaste is generally made from a plant called the toothbrush tree.
The toothbrush tree contains unusually high levels (for a plant) of fluoride, which is probably how it got the reputation as good for tooth-brushing in the first place.
~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
I read that one notion they have is that it works like the Pac-Man tunnels, that's why the edge can't be located, cause you warp right on through to the opposite edge.
Only I can judge you.
Im definitely against hand-washing ...haven't you heard of the guy who walked bare-foot in a 3rd world public restroom so he could get the ring-worms and thus immunity against some stomach infection ??
Washing hands deprives us from getting much 'sought-after' germs from others :-)
The part that I find funny is that it is simple to test the flat Earth theory... If the Earth is flat, then it must have edges right? It would be enough for one of these guys to get a boat and then navigate to find one of those edges. Or would they have some "fail-safe" theory to explain how a supposed flat Earth would have no edges?
If you suggested such a thing to a flat-earther (and I'm certain that it has been suggested before) they would invent some reason why going out to the edge won't work, or can't be proven. It might even involve a government conspiracy.
But really, I think you've missed the essence of flat-eartherism. It's not so much that they genuinely believe in a flat earth (though some surely do). Rather, flat-earthers are the original internet trolls, long before internet trolls or even the internet was a thing. The motivation of most flat earthers is simple: they get off on winding up otherwise very smart people. As the argument progresses, they will spin more and more outlandish explanations for why the earth is flat, each "theory" honed to a razor-sharp point through countless arguments in discussion forums over many decades. These arguments are designed to confound, not to actually explain sincerely-held belief.
TL;DR: Never wrestle with a pig. You'll just get dirty and the pig will enjoy it.
People who say "sheeple" have about as much sophistication as an AOL user, and in fact are probably actually AOL users.
Antarctica goes all the way around the edge of the flat earth.
-- ssoorrrryy,, dduupplleexx sswwiittcchh oonn.. -Quote found on actual fortune cookie.
> These arguments are designed to confound, not to actually explain sincerely-held belief.
That is certainly true for much, or most, of the flat-earthers, some of whom are obviously creating fake 'evidence'. For example there is a video of a ship going over the horizon and then the camera 'zooms in' to bring it back. This is obviously a part of the earlier video reversed and expanded.
But _some_ flat-earthers seem to be genuinely thinking that it is true because they think it is in The Bible and then _must_ be true else their whole being is worthless. Some think that they are the centre of the universe and thus it _must_ be geocentric.
....stand hearing all the "DUHs"! in the room all day? Those people are freaking retarded.
nice
I think you mean "averse", not "adverse".
I read that one notion they have is that it works like the Pac-Man tunnels, that's why the edge can't be located, cause you warp right on through to the opposite edge.
I read that, too. But if you're going to believe that, then you pretty much have to believe that the world is a computer simulation, because otherwise that makes no goddamned sense.
Now, where is my portal gun?
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Lets go with Pac-Man tunnels and the world is not a computer simulation.
Wouldn't warping to a place some 25,000 miles away affect the star-field?
Only I can judge you.
Former water system operator, here.
Fluoride helps the body fight de-mineralization of (and supposedly can help RE-mineralize) calcium deposits, basically teeth and bones. The benefits are dependent on proper dosage.
Putting fluoride in the drinking water at concentrations of about 0.7 parts-per-million helps significantly reduce the incidence of leg, hip, and wrist breaks in the elderly after falls. That is reduce, not eliminate. Higher concentrations (above about 2 ppm, IIRC) become toxic and cause other problems.
However, 0.7 ppm is not strong enough to really help teeth. Toothpaste is applied topically, so it can have a very high concentration of fluoride (also why you are never supposed to swallow fluoridated toothpaste).
Wouldn't warping to a place some 25,000 miles away affect the star-field?
You're only saying that because you do not understand TIME CUBE.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Not true. You can adopt an adult and become their parent in most states.
But then you would have adults, not children. And your adults would have a parent who was never born.
But wouldn't that make you your own grandparent? Who was never born of course.
This is starting to sound like a Rick and Morty episode.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
And your adults would have a parent who was never born.
Why? While they made it weird with the adults angle, they were right regarding adoption at least. It is perfectly possible for a person to have parents who never "had" kids, if that person's parents adopted them.
Even my Aspie friends get the joke. Then again they are smart enough to understand the difference between adoption and the results of male and female copulation to produce a replicant person. The point of it all is that if you were not born, you won't have offspring.
Presumably other than the Christian myth of virgin birth, each of us is the result of a man and woman engaging in sex, getting pregnant, and experiencing birth. Those two people are the biological parents.
Society may implement legal constructs allowing a child to be adopted, but in the biological aspect the child is not the offspring of the people that adopt him.
The play on words stands, because the child doesn't exist if his birth parents never gave birth to him.
Much whooshies.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
Back when Galileo was talking about "orbits" and such, I'm sure he had the same pushback -- "you IDIOT, how stupid ARE you?".
This is known as the "they laughed at Einstein" argument and it's total bollocks.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
But _some_ flat-earthers seem to be genuinely thinking that it is true because they think it is in The Bible and then _must_ be true else their whole being is worthless. Some think that they are the centre of the universe and thus it _must_ be geocentric.
Agreed. The moral of the story is that some people will believe even the most preposterous, obviously fictional bullshit. See: War of the Worlds
People who say "sheeple" have about as much sophistication as an AOL user, and in fact are probably actually AOL users.