Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Ah, now I understand ............. er ............ hmm ............. but - oh never mind !
The Flat Earth society
- Thread starter parsifal
- Start date
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fubar57
General
Lucky13
Forum Mascot
vikingBerserker
Lieutenant General
How I long for the ancient days, when lions ate the stupid people.
Builder 2010
Staff Sergeant
They're following the same rule book that thinks the earth is 6,000 years old and dinosaurs and early man coexisted. If early man and dinosaurs coexisted, there wouldn't be a men around today. Dinos would win hands down. Don't those people ever watch what water can do and how slowly it takes to do it. We were just in New Mexico and visited the Ghost Ranch which where Georgia O'Keefe (famous American modern artist) lived and painted many of her most famous work. The ranch totals 21,000 acres (O'keefe owned 7), and has produced the most Triassic-epoch fossils of any place in the world. The cliff faces are unique and expose the modern era on top all the way to 220 million years ago on the bottom and all the ages in between. When people with odd beliefs are confronted with obvious facts, I wonder what happens in their brains. There is a cognitive dissonance that must be almost painful when a flat earther looks at the moon or any other the other celestial bodies and sees that they're obviously spheres and then keeps insisting that one he's living on isn't. I suggest taking them up about 150 miles and then throwing them out of the space ship. Give them a space suit so they'll survive in the vacuum and then let them contemplate the earth's roundness on their way to their demise.
wuzak
Captain
Meanwhile, there will be a trans-polar circumnavigation flight of the Earth later this year. I believe it is an attempt to beat the previous record.
https://samchui.com/2018/02/17/polar-explorer-2018-fly-north-south-pole-record-time/#.Ww9biUiFNhE
https://samchui.com/2018/02/17/polar-explorer-2018-fly-north-south-pole-record-time/#.Ww9biUiFNhE
fubar57
General
fubar57
General
fubar57
General
wuzak
Captain
10. Many flat earthers don't believe that Mars is a planet, nor are any of the other planets - they are lights in the sky.
3. Most flat earthers don't believe in space.
2. The numbers of people involved is still relatively small, and the search trends on YouTube has reversed.
Recently there was a documentary released called Behind the Curve. It can be found on iTunes, Prime Video, Google Play and Netflix.
It is worth a watch, as it does expose a few of the "leaders" of the movement as intellectually dishonest.
3. Most flat earthers don't believe in space.
2. The numbers of people involved is still relatively small, and the search trends on YouTube has reversed.
Recently there was a documentary released called Behind the Curve. It can be found on iTunes, Prime Video, Google Play and Netflix.
It is worth a watch, as it does expose a few of the "leaders" of the movement as intellectually dishonest.
- Thread starter
- #333
parsifal
Colonel
Its hard to accept that people believe this BS with the conviction of a sleepwalker. The question begs.....what are they so utterly misguided yet so obstinately certain they are right?
Crimea_River
Marshal
To understand them, your brain needs to work like theirs so be glad that you don't get it.
special ed
2nd Lieutenant
- 5,731
- May 13, 2018
There those who disbelieve gravity.............the earth sucks.
michael rauls
Tech Sergeant
- 1,679
- Jul 15, 2016
I suspect the flat earth" movement" for lack of a better term is basically a few scammers fomenting such beliefs so that they can make money off the gullible from news letters, books, confrences, etc.
Probably the same dynamic that propels the chemtrail phenomenon.
Probably the same dynamic that propels the chemtrail phenomenon.
GrauGeist
Generalfeldmarschall zur Luftschiff Abteilung
Most of these "conspiracies" have gained traction via the internet because any chain-smoking idiot with a caffeine addiction can create a web page espousing their theories (loaded with ads, of course for revenue) and make it appear legitimate.
First rule is to post some BS bits about a "government official, who has to remain anonymous for the safety of their family".
Then go on about secret documents and so-and-so passed these on, blah blah blah.
Then post some sketchy, granulated photos under the caption of "secret photos taken by (insert random name here" and the list goes on.
One of the greatest shams ever concocted, was by Art Bell and his Coast-to-Coast AM radio show. He started the "chemtrail" thing in the 90's, which happened to be connected to a natural remedy he was pushing.
Before the 1990's, everyone on the face of the globe knew what a contrail was...after the 1990's, the stupid started compounding at a ridiculous rate...
First rule is to post some BS bits about a "government official, who has to remain anonymous for the safety of their family".
Then go on about secret documents and so-and-so passed these on, blah blah blah.
Then post some sketchy, granulated photos under the caption of "secret photos taken by (insert random name here" and the list goes on.
One of the greatest shams ever concocted, was by Art Bell and his Coast-to-Coast AM radio show. He started the "chemtrail" thing in the 90's, which happened to be connected to a natural remedy he was pushing.
Before the 1990's, everyone on the face of the globe knew what a contrail was...after the 1990's, the stupid started compounding at a ridiculous rate...
mikewint
Captain
First off I applaud the fact the Flat Earthers' are actually employing Cartesian doubt, a method of skeptical thinking following a philosophical idea that the world outside the self is subject to uncertainty initially promulgated by René Descartes, the French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist.
Next consider Michel Foucault, a 20th century philosopher who made a career of studying those on the fringes of society to understand what they could tell us about everyday life.
He looked closely at the close relationship between power and knowledge. He suggested that knowledge is created and used in a way that reinforces the claims to legitimacy of those in power. At the same time, those in power control what is considered to be correct and incorrect knowledge. According to Foucault, there is therefore an intimate and interlinked relationship between power and knowledge.
Consider, for example, the way in which early religious institutions, who previously held a very singular hold over knowledge and morality exercised a very ridged control over that knowledge which then in turn supported their position of power. While that religion based control eventually ended it would seem that today we are moving towards a network of scientific institutions, media monopolies, legal courts, and bureaucratised governments which are replacing those former religious institutions. Foucault argued that these institutions work to maintain their claims to legitimacy by controlling knowledge.
Consider HG Well's "world brain" essays in 1936, that held that a worldwide shared resource of knowledge (such as today's internet) would create peace, harmony and a common interpretation of reality. It appears that quite the opposite has happened. With the increased voice afforded by social media, knowledge has been increasingly decentralized, and competing narratives have emerged each supported by cadres of followers who would never have met nor been able to organize without social media.
So far so good, then it gets scary.
A recent YouGov poll (believe it or not) found that only about two-thirds of Americans aged between 18 and 24 believe that the Earth is round. Furthermore, there seems to be a growing belief that the idea that the Earth is round (well actually an Oblate Spheroid iff'n ya wants to be picky) is actually a conspiracy theory.
And it's gaining more believers than some of the other conspiracies out there, like chemtrails (which, as we all know is actually Chris and his cohorts, dispensing chemical and/or biological agents from their high flying jets).
Interest in most of these other far-fetched theories remains relatively stable but the flat-Earth movement is growing, particularly in America. And it has some high-profile supporters, from basketball players to musicians, rappers to TV hosts, a number of celebrities are jumping on the flat Earth bandwagon.
So why, despite overwhelming scientific evidence, is the flat-Earth movement gaining traction in the 21st century? IMHO, it's due to a general shift towards populism and growing distrust in the views of experts, academics, scientific agencies, the government and the mainstream media. Once again IMHO, I lay this at the door of social media. A fringe group of really good "influencers" can now hold more sway than an expert in the field and very soon you can get a bunch of people around you who are constantly reaffirming your belief. These social media self-proclaimed experts are really good storytellers and people naively think, 'Oh, they're a real person, not an academic, a scientific agency, part of the government or the mainstream media so it must be true'.
The flat Earth community uses various social media platforms to create a kind of welcoming ecosystem that attracts those who distrust the "establishment". YouTube becomes a content hub, Facebook becomes an administrative one-stop shop for that hub, and then Twitter continually pushes out the message. For these fringe groups flat-earthers, et al, YouTube becomes an alternative documentary channel. Via YouTube these groups can have their daily or weekly TV show in the same way that we might watch David Attenborough, Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawking, etc.
YouTube is a powerful social media tool, more so than Facebook or Twitter because it's a "high context" platform, where users can stream themselves with an immediacy and intimacy that's lacking from text or TV specials. And unlike TV, on YouTube you can go searching for videos by people who agree with your view of the world or in this case, the Flat Earth. As we increasingly rely on social media for entertainment, we are creating an environment where misinformation easily circulates and becomes reinforced.
Look at how quickly the Flat Earthers spread the idea that the UN supported their position by their very logo which they say is actually a flat Earth map.
Lastly let me add that the results of a single public opinion survey are by no means authoritative. Differences in the phrasing of questions, variance in the methods of polling, randomness and error and (rarely but sadly) misconduct: all of these guarantees that a single survey should never be taken as the last word.
Next consider Michel Foucault, a 20th century philosopher who made a career of studying those on the fringes of society to understand what they could tell us about everyday life.
He looked closely at the close relationship between power and knowledge. He suggested that knowledge is created and used in a way that reinforces the claims to legitimacy of those in power. At the same time, those in power control what is considered to be correct and incorrect knowledge. According to Foucault, there is therefore an intimate and interlinked relationship between power and knowledge.
Consider, for example, the way in which early religious institutions, who previously held a very singular hold over knowledge and morality exercised a very ridged control over that knowledge which then in turn supported their position of power. While that religion based control eventually ended it would seem that today we are moving towards a network of scientific institutions, media monopolies, legal courts, and bureaucratised governments which are replacing those former religious institutions. Foucault argued that these institutions work to maintain their claims to legitimacy by controlling knowledge.
Consider HG Well's "world brain" essays in 1936, that held that a worldwide shared resource of knowledge (such as today's internet) would create peace, harmony and a common interpretation of reality. It appears that quite the opposite has happened. With the increased voice afforded by social media, knowledge has been increasingly decentralized, and competing narratives have emerged each supported by cadres of followers who would never have met nor been able to organize without social media.
So far so good, then it gets scary.
A recent YouGov poll (believe it or not) found that only about two-thirds of Americans aged between 18 and 24 believe that the Earth is round. Furthermore, there seems to be a growing belief that the idea that the Earth is round (well actually an Oblate Spheroid iff'n ya wants to be picky) is actually a conspiracy theory.
And it's gaining more believers than some of the other conspiracies out there, like chemtrails (which, as we all know is actually Chris and his cohorts, dispensing chemical and/or biological agents from their high flying jets).
Interest in most of these other far-fetched theories remains relatively stable but the flat-Earth movement is growing, particularly in America. And it has some high-profile supporters, from basketball players to musicians, rappers to TV hosts, a number of celebrities are jumping on the flat Earth bandwagon.
So why, despite overwhelming scientific evidence, is the flat-Earth movement gaining traction in the 21st century? IMHO, it's due to a general shift towards populism and growing distrust in the views of experts, academics, scientific agencies, the government and the mainstream media. Once again IMHO, I lay this at the door of social media. A fringe group of really good "influencers" can now hold more sway than an expert in the field and very soon you can get a bunch of people around you who are constantly reaffirming your belief. These social media self-proclaimed experts are really good storytellers and people naively think, 'Oh, they're a real person, not an academic, a scientific agency, part of the government or the mainstream media so it must be true'.
The flat Earth community uses various social media platforms to create a kind of welcoming ecosystem that attracts those who distrust the "establishment". YouTube becomes a content hub, Facebook becomes an administrative one-stop shop for that hub, and then Twitter continually pushes out the message. For these fringe groups flat-earthers, et al, YouTube becomes an alternative documentary channel. Via YouTube these groups can have their daily or weekly TV show in the same way that we might watch David Attenborough, Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawking, etc.
YouTube is a powerful social media tool, more so than Facebook or Twitter because it's a "high context" platform, where users can stream themselves with an immediacy and intimacy that's lacking from text or TV specials. And unlike TV, on YouTube you can go searching for videos by people who agree with your view of the world or in this case, the Flat Earth. As we increasingly rely on social media for entertainment, we are creating an environment where misinformation easily circulates and becomes reinforced.
Look at how quickly the Flat Earthers spread the idea that the UN supported their position by their very logo which they say is actually a flat Earth map.
Lastly let me add that the results of a single public opinion survey are by no means authoritative. Differences in the phrasing of questions, variance in the methods of polling, randomness and error and (rarely but sadly) misconduct: all of these guarantees that a single survey should never be taken as the last word.
11) They are all morons...
Shortround6
Major General
I have my own theory about polls, 1/3 of all poll responders are having a laugh at the poll taker "Hmm, I wonder if this guy asking these stupid questions really believes my answers".
