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These Coloradans say Earth is flat. And gravity’s a hoax. Now, they’re being persecut

It's not even "belief" that is old, it's the science backing up Earth's roundness that is old. The Greeks used the sun's positioning with some math equations and got really close at predicting the accurate size of the planet. Flat Earth was never actually a belief in scholarly circles because you would be cited as an idiot. And the internet is the perfect foundations for idiots to gain a voice.

some 7th and 8th century christians that were old testament originalists clung to the belief it was flat. This was pre-medieval times. Then they folded as well.

if there is a new american taliban the flat earthers will fit right in.
 
What always gets me about these people is that belief in a round earth is old. Really really old. Like, I'm pretty even Jesus believed in a round earth.
Yeah Jesus believed in the round Earth.

It's after the apostles were killed that things started to...change.
 
The leaps in logic of flat earthers is incredible. To actually believe that schools that send cameras up on weather balloons that see the earth at the edge of space are somehow in on a conspiracy! All those astronauts are liars, as well as people like Felix Baumgartner and the current highest free fall record holder Dr. Alan Eustace. All those air force pilots and airline pilots. They're all in on a massive cover up because.......why exactly?

Like I said it's not about facts or evidence (they have neither) it's about belief. These people may have some kind of dissociative mental issue where they feel that the world around them makes no sense or they simply don't trust anyone. To give credibility to these feelings they create a narrative that explains why they are so different from others and why they are strangely superior to them as well (the arrogance of a flat earther that thinks they're closer to the truth than fucking Einstein ever was is un-fucking-believable). I mean, psychologically it's interesting. They're not mad but they're not completely rational either.
Obsessiveness seems part of it too. It's as if they can see a part of something huge and if they can just see more of it they'll be fulfilled.

They probably think there is something special about themselves, something unique because look, only we know the truth! I'm so fucking special! Yes, you're special. In the same way someone with a mental illness is special. They're completely functional nutcases. But nutcases all the same.
 

Salamando

Member
Yeah Jesus believed in the round Earth.

It's after the apostles were killed that things started to...change.

The work Eratosthenes did on Earth's geography was astounding...and he did it ~200BC. He calculated the circumference of Earth with amazing accuracy, and even worked out the tilt.

All you need to figure out the earth is round are two sticks in the ground....
 
The work Eratosthenes did on Earth's geography was astounding...and he did it ~200BC. He calculated the circumference of Earth with amazing accuracy, and even worked out the tilt.

All you need to figure out the earth is round are two sticks in the ground....
Not doubting that at all. It's incredible to think about honestly considering it was 2000 years ago and yet someone still figured that out! Just wish that the flat earthers did.

Sorry I'm just still trying to process how anyone could believe in a flat Earth when there is OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE that proves a round Earth!
 
What is that dudes youtube channel? I'm kinda curious to see what type of so called research he and his wife have done, and how they are gwtting people to believe them.
 

sazzy

Member
The reason why people choose to be flat earth-ers is the same as why "undecided" voters exist: these folks with boring, shitty, unremarkable lives want to feel special, significant.

Talk is cheap and the blind leading the blind in self-affirming group hugs is nonsense.

They need to sit down and rigorously define mathematically how a flat would work. Let's start with the simple stuff like the masses of Earth, Moon and the Sun.
 

night814

Member
Not doubting that at all. It's incredible to think about honestly considering it was 2000 years ago and yet someone still figured that out! Just wish that the flat earthers did.

Sorry I'm just still trying to process how anyone could believe in a flat Earth when there is OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE that proves a round Earth!
They don't want evidence, they just want something to believe in and they want to sleep in on Sundays.

It's the idea that they get to be a part of a group without any actual responsibility like going to church or confessional. They get to spout their nonsense and act like they're in on something incredible while everyone with a logical brain points and laughs at the incomprehensible lack of thought on display. All for the belief.
 

sazzy

Member
even easier: put them all on a 747 and tell them to fly from Sydney to New York using flat earth principles.
 

Tylercrat

Banned
I wonder what is behind the ice wall. Is this like The Truman Show (or Pleasantville) where no one ever bothers to check what is on the edge. On top of the wall is like a painted blue sky on some cardboard you can smash through. Maybe you enter another dimension after you cross the ice wall where the Creator lives or something.

Could we get someone brave enough to actually go past the Ice Wall please!
 
61a.jpg
This is amazing.
 

sarcastor

Member
I wonder what is behind the ice wall. Could we get someone brave enough to actually go past the Ice Wall please!

No, cause if one of them actually tries to sail south, they would see there's no wall and then their entire world would crumble. So they would rather stay at home with their anecdotal evidence and feel better about themselves I guess.
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
To be honest, I don't see much of a difference between people who believe the earth is flat, or 6,000 years old, or that there are anthropomorphic sky pixies, that evolution doesn't exist and humanity is somehow special.

all those things are dumb but flat earth can be directly refuted by one's own experience whereas the others rely on accepting carbon dating or can't be disproven but also have no evidence
 

TAJ

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
I love this because their tiny, close version of the sun is hitting the Earth like it's a sphere.
Also, it reminds me that Gods of Egypt is a flat-Earther movie.
 

Teh Lurv

Member

I love how that gif is supposed to represent a flat Earth, but the way the light from the sun falls still shows that the Earth is round.

Also, how would one explain a sunrise with that "model"?

IIRC Flat Earthers hand-wave any light or horizon contradictions as optical illusions. Night-time only happens because the atmosphere bends the light at a downward angle or some non-sense like that.
 

Triteon

Member
I honestly thought the flat earth thing was a goof and was all for the lols but its starting to worry me a little, its almost like we let the religious have their creationism and combined with vested interests trying to discredit climate change there has been a wedge created that has somehow legitimised rampant stupidity.
 
For some this is basically anti-intellectualism dressed up as a proto religious belief system. For most it's all about belief not proof. Flat-Earthers are basically religious. It's essentially a belief that makes them feel special, important, meaningful. Even the well educated 'believe' this shit. - The Men Who Believe The Earth Is Flat

If nothing else the sheer fucking arrogance of these people is breathtaking. Mental illness is a possibility.

The thing I hate most about fake ass stories like that (besides how obviously fake they are) is that they give credence to the logical fallacy that just because you’re smart or kind in some areas means you’re smart or kind in all areas.

John from that story could be all those things and also a child molester. Or a cannibal. Or a Trump voter.

Let me tell you about Tom.

Tom says he's not crazy. I believe him.
"I am a normal person," he says.
But Tom isn't a 'normal' person. Not quite.
Well, he is and he isn't.
Tom is a golfer. A pro golfer.
Actually, Tom is more than a pro golfer. Tom is the kind of pro golfer who mentors other pro golfers.

Tom is the kind of person you want to hug.
Tom is chubby. His eyes are bright. He laughs and his belly shakes like a twerking stripper’s ass. When you arrive at Tom’s home the first thing he shows you is his balls. His golf balls. He’s got a collection signed by some of the best who ever played the game.

Tom has an almost childish passion for things.
Tom is a great guy. A good pro golfer. A loving husband and a great father. Tom is all these things and more.
But one tiny detail, not evident.
Not immediately.
Tom believes that when you fart, it’s actually a demon that lives in your butthole who’s trying to escape and cast the world into darkness.
Tom absolutely believes in the butthole demon.
This not a joke.
This is not irony or an exercise in intellectual curiosity.
Tom is not playing Devil's Butthole’s Advocate.
Again: Tom believes that when you fart, it’s actually a demon that lives in your butthole who’s trying to escape and cast the world into darkness.
 
or solar eclipses. Speaking of which, there's gonna be a massive one in August. I wonder how those fuckers are gonna explain this one.

https://www.greatamericaneclipse.com/

So... we've got an eclipse coming up in a month. How does that work in a model like this?
Oh it's a wonderful answer! From the OP's linked article:
Denver Post said:
Others stump even the experts. “How are we Flat Earthers supposed to explain to our friends the solar eclipse in August?” asked one attendee. The room fell silent. “We’ll have to do more research and get back to you on that.”
 
The one thing I've never understood from being a kid in science class is why if the earth spins so fast does it have no affect on the human body? Being on a plane or in orbit in a space shuttle should be a difference of speed exactly what the Earth's rotational speed is. But they experience no difference as far as movement speed than people on Earth, right?
 

Paltheos

Member
How do they explain time zones and shit? I have so many questions about the idiocy that entails this lol.

This is a tough one. Maybe for some of the other ones you could come up with some cooky theories like, "Oh, well, the Earth's not perfectly flat, there are some areas where it's curved but it evens back up when you go out." The only way you could get past this one is to claim that anyone you could talk to on the other side of the planet is lieing about what time it is or that those people aren't real or some other nonsense.

Edit: I got really curious about this, so I googled it. Apparently some flat-earthers allege that the sun is, actually, a giant spotlight that circles around the north pole (this ties together with the disc theory posted earlier), and the areas that it focuses are the ones that are day.

The first thought I had is, "Ok, then, what is the shape of this spotlight then?" Because of course if it's not a giant ball of light in the sky, that means at points where it's not directly overhead people won't observe a circle in the sky. Someone else in one topic I read also pointed out that this theory would necessitate that the lengths of days in southern hemispheres would be far, impossibly inconsistently shorter than in the north.

Of course these are just a few problems here, but bad time zones is just the one I wanted to follow up on. I did run across some other nuggets though - Like the claim that gravity isn't nearly as powerful as mainstream scientific outlets claim and that the force we commonly experience is actually simply a result of the earth constantly accelerating upwards at a rate of 9.8m/s^2. I wonder how they explain light.
 

TAJ

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
The one thing I've never understood from being a kid in science class is why if the earth spins so fast does it have no affect on the human body? Being on a plane or in orbit in a space shuttle should be a difference of speed exactly what the Earth's rotational speed is. But they experience no difference as far as movement speed than people on Earth, right?

You still have your momentum from the Earth's rotation when you leave the ground and the atmosphere moves with the Earth.
It's like how if you were in the back of a box truck hurtling straight down a highway at a constant speed and you jumped straight up you wouldn't go flying to the back.
 

StoneFox

Member
The one thing I've never understood from being a kid in science class is why if the earth spins so fast does it have no affect on the human body? Being on a plane or in orbit in a space shuttle should be a difference of speed exactly what the Earth's rotational speed is. But they experience no difference as far as movement speed than people on Earth, right?

Because it's constant. If you are in a moving train and it keeps a constant speed--barring some minor vibration--you can convince yourself that it isn't moving and we keep the momentum of the Earth's rotation with us. If the Earth suddenly slowed down, we would definitely notice it. So you are always feeling Earth at 1G force. When you are on a roller coaster, or in an ascending airplane, you can feel the force of gravity because of the sudden acceleration.
 

ibyea

Banned
Hasn't any of them gotten on an airplane, looked out the window, and notice Earth's curvature? The curvature is literally visible with the naked eye.
 

Spectone

Member
Hasn't any of them gotten on an airplane, looked out the window, and notice Earth's curvature? The curvature is literally visible with the naked eye.

The Windows in airplanes curve the light coming through them so that it appears curved when it is flat. That's total bullshit since you can do it from a hot air balloon which has no windows but they will just move the goalposts again.
 

Timedog

good credit (by proxy)
Is there a single person that actually knows math and physics that believes in flat Earth? Like is anyone coming from the angle that math itself is fake?
 
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