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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132281
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| Posted: 17 November 2019 at 10:53am | IP Logged | 1
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Seriously, should these idiots really be getting press?CNN I’m reminded of an FBI agent years ago saying he wished the Press would stop doing stories on the KKK. The Klan was tiny and powerless, he said, but every time 60 MINUTES or NBC NIGHTLY NEWS did a story about them they experienced a recruitment surge. Flat Earthers, Moon Landing deniers, Ancient Aliens “theorists”.... These people are just too stupid to be talked about.
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Michael Penn
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 April 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 12438
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| Posted: 17 November 2019 at 10:57am | IP Logged | 2
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Constantly reporting on, to borrow from Aaron Sorkin, the "galactically stupid" may indeed help explain how some of our politicians got elected -- and keep getting re-elected.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132281
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| Posted: 17 November 2019 at 11:15am | IP Logged | 3
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I’m going to grab a moment to mention again how much it bugs me to hear the “ancient aliens” idiots called “theorists”. At the MOST generous, all their nonsense might—might!—qualify as a hypothesis, but it’s nothing like a theory.
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Trevor Smith
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 September 2006
Location: Canada
Posts: 3520
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| Posted: 17 November 2019 at 11:28am | IP Logged | 4
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"I saw it on TV/the internet - it MUST be true!"
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Michael Penn
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 April 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 12438
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| Posted: 17 November 2019 at 11:55am | IP Logged | 5
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Oh, how many morons use the expression "it's only theory" to dismiss even the most pragmatic challenges to their fantastical folderol ?!
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Vinny Valenti
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 8030
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| Posted: 17 November 2019 at 12:02pm | IP Logged | 6
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I was tempted to post this article today.
Once again I ask: What would be the motive for lying to people that the Earth is round for generations?
(If we consider a generation to be about 20 years, given over at least 500 years of this "myth" that the Earth is round, we are talking bout 25 generations!)
Is there a cabal of "so-called"-scientists that whisper to each other on their deathbeds "keep perpetuating the myth"?
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Brian Floyd
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 07 July 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 8355
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| Posted: 17 November 2019 at 12:13pm | IP Logged | 7
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I've actually watched ANCIENT ALIENS a time or two when I needed a good laugh. The Flat Earthers, however, are just outright stupid.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132281
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| Posted: 17 November 2019 at 12:59pm | IP Logged | 8
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Thing is, lots of ancient cultures had figured out the Earth is round CENTURIES ago. There’s a popular myth that Columbus had trouble financing his first voyage to the New World because popular consensus was his ships would “sail off the edge,” but in fact his whole pitch was based on his conviction the World was SMALLER than it is. He was wrong, and his crews would have starved had not North and South America been there. Medieval Arab scientists had not only figured out the World was round, but had calculated its circumference with great accuracy. Flat-Earthers are proof some people really are getting dumber.
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Steve Coates
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 November 2014
Location: Canada
Posts: 750
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| Posted: 17 November 2019 at 1:40pm | IP Logged | 9
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Believing much be so much easier than thinking.
I wonder how many of the Flat Earthers use GPS in their daily lives without thinking about how it works?
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Carlos Velasco
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 02 August 2019
Location: Spain
Posts: 280
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| Posted: 17 November 2019 at 2:15pm | IP Logged | 10
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A couple of years ago I spent (wasted) a lot of time trying to make a bunch of Spanish-speaking flat-earthers (most of them Latin American) see the light via Youtube comments.
Obviously, it didn't work, because they suffer some form of mental problem, they have some kind of addiction to their "truth" because it makes them feel different, "superior" in a way, special. They don't consider going back. For them, the official theory is just another thing that the world is imposing on them and this is their way of "breaking free"... Of course, they should try to fight "the power" some other way that actually solves real problems, but oh well...
However, trying to reason with them can also be an interesting experience where you learn some scientific facts and some debate techniques. Some examples:
- The curvature of the Earth can be easily perceived by looking at the horizon at the sea in a place with boats or windmills... but flat earthers say it's because of "the mirage".
- In a flat Earth, the Sun would always light the whole planet... but flat earthers say the air creates a visual effect that makes us believe that the sun is much lower than it actually is.
- In a flat Earth, the rotation of the stars would be in the same direction in any point of the planet... and I honestly don't remember their explanation for this. It can be an "interesting" Google search though. I remember something about a mirror effect in the atmosphere.
- In a flat Earth, some flights would be impossible due to the distance... but the flat earthers believe that there is a major conspiracy and those flights are not even real or something.
- In a flat Earth where Antarctica surrounds the whole planet and there is a big, giant wall of ice (this is what they believe), you should not be able to travel to Antarctica and actually move freely and explore the place... but the flat earthers refuse to attempt an expedition to prove that this is actually possible (actually, several months ago someone organized a flat earth cruise to prove that the ice wall is real in 2020, but no further details have been revealed).
- Earth is clearly spherical from space... but flat earthers believe that all the videos and pictures are fake.
One of their main arguments is that the water should fall off the spherical Earth, because... well, gravity doesn't exist ("water does not curve" being one of their slogans). They also believe that the Sun and the Moon have "a diameter of 32 miles and are located approximately 3000 miles above the surface of the Earth".
Another interesting aspect of their belief system is that they are ultra conservative... apparently the massive conspiracy going on with all the countries, NASA, both conservative and liberal political parties, several major religions and many small ones... all those people are "against God". Because well, scientists are bad or something.
Since these people are actually harmless, I believe the best approach to this topic would be to create subtly humorous science fiction movies, series, books or comic books about this topic. In one movie, for example, the Earth could actually be flat in the final revelation (in an ironic way). In another movie, a flat earther could be taken by a friend around the world to prove that the Earth is spherical, with a final scene of the guy seeing the Earth from a space ship and believing that the windows are HD screens. These movies and stories could be a great way to send a message defending science and logic against fanatism, while at the same time providing a fun experience.
Edited by Carlos Velasco on 17 November 2019 at 2:32pm
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Peter Martin
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 March 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 15794
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| Posted: 17 November 2019 at 2:51pm | IP Logged | 11
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Since they don't believe in space, maybe offer them some proof by sending them all to the moon. Since they know more than the illuminati/combine/ruling elite keeping them down, they can work out their route back.
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Michael Penn
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 April 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 12438
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| Posted: 17 November 2019 at 3:34pm | IP Logged | 12
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...with just a stick and his brain...!
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