The Final Experiment: proving the earth is flat (or a globe)

Supportact · May 20

ToneControl said:

After the lengthy flat earth thread, there was some discussion and learning about what drives people to conspiracy theories

here's some links:

Why some people are willing to believe conspiracy theories (apa.org)

People Drawn to Conspiracy Theories Share a Cluster of Psychological Features | Scientific American

Who Is Likely to Believe in Conspiracy Theories? | Office for Science and Society - McGill University

Three tendencies were strongly correlated with conspiracy ideation, which is the inclination to endorse conspiracy theories. They were:
perceiving threat and danger;
relying on intuition and having odd beliefs and experiences; and
being antagonistic and feeling superior.
You can think of each as a pillar that supports conspiracy ideation and/or is nurtured by it, and each pillar can be looked at in more detail.

Thanks for that. I've been thinking about this recently as I know a few people who have really got into conspiracy theories in recent years. I had a read of those links and they are quite helpful.

It's mentioned in one of the articles, but of the people I've known who are like this, a big factor seems to be anxiety, or a traumatic life event that has caused anxiety. It's sad because generally they're not bad or stupid people, but they seem to get caught in this mindset that everything is a conspiracy.

ToneControl · May 20

fretmeister said:

ToneControl said:

scrumhalf said:

Thinking back to David Aaronovitch's superb book "Voodoo Histories" about conspiracy theories you have to ask:
Who benefits from suppressing "the truth" about earth being flat?
How many people who know it's not round have to keep quiet in order for that to remain the prevalent opinion?
What's the probability that such a wall of silence would remain?

there was about 94 pages of this sort of discussion here, a couple of years ago

To be fair it was SirAxeman on one side, and sane people on the other.

Yeah,
but what surprised me was

How convinced we were that we could talk him out of it with logical discussion
How it didn't work on him

Paul_C · May 20

ewal · May 20

drofluf said:

OK all you smart “globe earthers” if the world’s not flat then explain maps.

Having studied Topographic Science at university which involved weeks of lectures on map projections, I'd really rather not. It's quite boring.

ToneControl · May 20

Supportact said:

ToneControl said:

After the lengthy flat earth thread, there was some discussion and learning about what drives people to conspiracy theories

here's some links:

Why some people are willing to believe conspiracy theories (apa.org)

People Drawn to Conspiracy Theories Share a Cluster of Psychological Features | Scientific American

Who Is Likely to Believe in Conspiracy Theories? | Office for Science and Society - McGill University

Three tendencies were strongly correlated with conspiracy ideation, which is the inclination to endorse conspiracy theories. They were:
perceiving threat and danger;
relying on intuition and having odd beliefs and experiences; and
being antagonistic and feeling superior.
You can think of each as a pillar that supports conspiracy ideation and/or is nurtured by it, and each pillar can be looked at in more detail.

Thanks for that. I've been thinking about this recently as I know a few people who have really got into conspiracy theories in recent years. I had a read of those links and they are quite helpful.

It's mentioned in one of the articles, but of the people I've known who are like this, a big factor seems to be anxiety, or a traumatic life event that has caused anxiety. It's sad because generally they're not bad or stupid people, but they seem to get caught in this mindset that everything is a conspiracy.

this one is good too:
Why People Believe in Conspiracy Theories (verywellmind.com)

Someone I know who is into some has made millions, but is a bit thick

Explanations
Researchers suggest that there are a number of different reasons why people believe in conspiracy theories. Many of these explanations boil down to three key driving factors:
A need for understanding and consistency (epistemic)
A need for control (existential)
A need to belong or feel special (social)

As far as I can tell, he knows he doesn't understand lots of stuff people around him do understand, and then learns lots of these theories, then feels he has special knowledge that other people don'y have

fretmeister · May 20

ToneControl said:

fretmeister said:

ToneControl said:

scrumhalf said:

Thinking back to David Aaronovitch's superb book "Voodoo Histories" about conspiracy theories you have to ask:
Who benefits from suppressing "the truth" about earth being flat?
How many people who know it's not round have to keep quiet in order for that to remain the prevalent opinion?
What's the probability that such a wall of silence would remain?

there was about 94 pages of this sort of discussion here, a couple of years ago

To be fair it was SirAxeman on one side, and sane people on the other.

Yeah,
but what surprised me was
How convinced we were that we could talk him out of it with logical discussion
How it didn't work on him

Image: https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fzqdvmotvbag61.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=46fd7e85373aeac9e7aa169b00bdaec63f654092e906e265f7d5f71519aa6261&ipo=images

drofluf · May 20

ewal said:

drofluf said:

OK all you smart “globe earthers” if the world’s not flat then explain maps.

Having studied Topographic Science at university which involved weeks of lectures on map projections, I'd really rather not. It's quite boring.

Did the course cover the Topographic Oceans and their history?

thecolourbox · May 20

I hope they've extended invites to flat earthers from all 4 corners of the globe

Kittyfrisk · May 20

drofluf said:

ewal said:

drofluf said:

OK all you smart “globe earthers” if the world’s not flat then explain maps.

Having studied Topographic Science at university which involved weeks of lectures on map projections, I'd really rather not. It's quite boring.

Did the course cover the Topographic Oceans and their history?

Yes, all the tales.

Philly_Q · May 20

On the subject of challenging conspiracy theorists, I found this article quite interesting:

‘You’re going to call me a Holocaust denier now, are you?’: George Monbiot comes face to face with his local conspiracy theorist | Life and style | The Guardian

Supportact · May 20

ToneControl said:

Supportact said:
Thanks for that. I've been thinking about this recently as I know a few people who have really got into conspiracy theories in recent years. I had a read of those links and they are quite helpful.

It's mentioned in one of the articles, but of the people I've known who are like this, a big factor seems to be anxiety, or a traumatic life event that has caused anxiety. It's sad because generally they're not bad or stupid people, but they seem to get caught in this mindset that everything is a conspiracy.

this one is good too:
Why People Believe in Conspiracy Theories (verywellmind.com)

Interesting what they said about trying to bolster someone's sense of their own worth/agency and helping them think about achieving their ambitions as a way of countering the conspiracy stuff. This makes a lot of sense to me, as I can see that directly challenging someone's beliefs can often be difficult or counter productive.

Supportact · May 20

Philly_Q said:

On the subject of challenging conspiracy theorists, I found this article quite interesting:

‘You’re going to call me a Holocaust denier now, are you?’: George Monbiot comes face to face with his local conspiracy theorist | Life and style | The Guardian

I can relate to what he says about seeing a bit of your own beliefs in some of this stuff. When I've spoken to people who believe in Conspiracy Theories I generally find there's a part of it I can agree with. For example , 'powerful institutions hide things from us' - well they do sometimes (see the infected blood scandal, Post Office scandal, etc.), or 'pharmaceutical companies are lying to make profits ' - yes they have done that (see the Opioid crisis in the US).

So generally there's a bit of truth in the conspiracy, or just a feeling that something isn't right, which is a fair enough thing to think. And there are things which are real conspiracies which happen. But then that feeling turns into beliefs which are clearly wrong and sometimes dangerous, and they end up thinking all sorts of mad stuff.

Reverend · May 20

Globists and Flerfers are both wrong.

Pellucidar is the the truth

steer · May 20

The Flat Earth Society is truly a global organisation.

Philly_Q · May 20

Reverend said:

Globists and Flerfers are both wrong.

Pellucidar is the the truth

And they're not telling us the truth about Mars.

scrumhalf · May 20

Philly_Q said:

Reverend said:

Globists and Flerfers are both wrong.

Pellucidar is the the truth

And they're not telling us the truth about Mars.

I know, it's much smaller than it was when l was younger, you used to be able to feed a family of four on one.

Reverend · May 21

They silenced Edgar Rice Burroughs, because he told us the truth

viz · June 1

Update: 6 globe earth youtubers are involved in some way or other (actually going, or contributing ideas for experiments or whatnot); but no flat earthers have engaged with it, which is a right shame.

Kurtis · June 1

Got to wonder if that's because they're worried about what they find, or they just think it's all fucking ridiculous.

viz · June 1

I think they know it’s going to be a pretty embarrasing and horrible 5 days for them.

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The Final Experiment: proving the earth is flat (or a globe)

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