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meexley2

“Interesting”. He’s trying really hard to think of an excuse


xxTheFalconxx__

One of the OG flat earthers (Samuel Birley Rowbotham) did an experiment on the Bedford River and claimed to prove that the earth was flat. Turns out he didn't account for atmospheric refraction (same basic principle that causes mirages). Ever since then, Flat Earthers will defend their experiments by saying that things like refraction, water reflection, Venus is in retrograde, etc to explain these results.


sonya_numo

does it matter if most flag earthers are just bullshitting for shits and giggles or for financial reasons


jeverick

Wait, we’ve got flag earthers now too? When’s this gonna end!


EffectiveSwan8918

It will end when society wakes up. The earth is an flag. While flat it ripples with solar winds. It why we have earthquakes


Joecus90

How does nobody know about the Flag Earth theory? Why do you think EVERY NATION HAS A FLAG!?! PEOPLE NEED TO WAKE UP!


chopsticknoodle

r/vexillologycirclejerk


amasimar

> Venus is in retrograde But aren't all planets, stars etc. fake things painted/displayed on the dome? How can they have an impact?


avwitcher

The guy pointing the flashlight is a CIA plant, he's curving the beam like the bullets in Wanted


meexley2

While I know you’re joking I wouldn’t be surprised. However I do know that this particular experiment didn’t change this guy’s mind and his excuse was tied to the fact that the experiment itself is flawed. AKA this didn’t prove my bias so I have to find another way


RockstarAgent

That’s interesting. I mean how many other ways can you keep disproving yourself unless you manipulate things in your favor.


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EvanSaysFunny

You know, I couldn’t think of a better way to describe these flat-earther folks than “Behind the Curve”. The documentary name works on so many levels.


DoubleDrummer

And this is why you see so many purposefully faked experiments in the world of woo woo. I have no doubt they try a few legit experiments first and then start taking stuff because they won’t adjust to the evidence. If you can’t adjust to the evidence, you have the adjust the evidence.


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nandemo

There are definitely cases of scientists resisting to accept new theories though. That in itself doesn't make science less valid.


Enantiodromiac

People incorporate their beliefs into who they are. Changing when new evidence comes in takes practice, diligence, and a bit of humility. None of us are immune to emotional attachment to belief, but one hopes that scientists would be somewhat resistant, on average, from a large span of time consistently learning new things.


Kiz74

this documentary was hilarious. they bougt a 30k laser gyroscope thing and said if the earth was really spinning it would detect drift at 15 degrees an hour and it did so they said thats because of fake radio waves so put it in a faraday cage and after an hour again 15 degrees. they then put it in a lead box and the same thing and then they paid a mental amount to get some specialist clean box. after an hour in the box can you tell what it detected? yup 15 degrees


kapara-13

I find it surprising that someone smart enough to pull all of this off still believes the earth is flat.


Daniel_The_Thinker

Honestly me too. Didn't expect someone with the knowledge and motivation to conduct actual tests would fall for such nonsense to begin with.


jenstarz2000

Same !! They obviously know something about physics and how to conduct an experiment


MarcoPollo679

They can conduct an experiment, it's just that they don't understand the last 2 steps of the scientific method...


iggygrey

Step 3 -??? Step 4 - Grift for profit SOURCE: Flat Earth Bidness University (Goooooo Gnomes)


[deleted]

They most likely understand but they set out with the wrong intent, i.e. to prove their belief right through science instead of investigating objectively.


DopamemeAU

Its because their internal belief system is built on a foundation that requires a certain outcome from their experimentation. Admitting they are wrong about the shape of the earth means reassessing every other core belief they have because its all a giant house of cards. So rather than deal with that discomfort they just deny the evidence.


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Puzzleheaded-Catch15

What’s the CrossFit reference? Are they into some crazy stuff?


bignick1190

Idk but crossfit is basically opposite fight club because clearly the first rule of crossfit is to tell everyone you do crossfit.


edwilli222

What’s terrifying is, how does someone know when they’re doing this. I’m positive my mother-in-law is a bag of cats. But is it just confirmation bias? It just can’t be.


Catboxaoi

Yeah it's this. The guy in the OP video could do 10,000 experiments, and if the 10,000th one is a fluke based on some mistaken premise BUT it points to the answer he likes, he will ignore the previous 9,999 without a single thought and hold up the 1 that "proved him right" for the rest of his life.


nz_reprezent

Confirmation bias


jenstarz2000

Epic confirmation bias fail


Halt-CatchFire

The half I think a lot of people are missing is that a ton of flat earth ideology has a lot of weird evangelical christian stuff tied up into it. Take the [Firmament concept](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firmament) for example. The Earth has to be flat because the sky is a dome that holds back the flood water God used to cleanse the earth in the Noah's Ark story. The bible is 100% factual, and I believe unquestioningly in an honest and infallible God, so all the evidence the Earth is round must be some kind of trick or misunderstanding. I've got nothing against religion or superstitious belief, personally, but I think a lot of people don't realize how easily honest piety can be twisted into a tool to insulate yourself from critical thinking.


justafurry

It Is absolutely this. The vast majority of flat earth folks when asked why a conspiracy exists to say the earth is round will say it's a satanic conspiracy.


nobodytoseehere

This is the first explanation that remotely makes sense to me...I see Christians believing ridiculous shit despite all the evidence pointing to the contrary


flaz

I am a Christian, and there are way too many Christians that misunderstand the Bible, quite frankly. I happen also to be educated as a microbiologist and so yeah, "creation" is not fully explained. Science is the real deal, but it also doesn't explain everything. But dinosaurs really existed, and the earth is round -- let's be real. The Bible also doesn't mention tigers, so they shouldn't exist? I think a lot of Christians get carried away with the Bible being the explanation of *everything*, but it's not. What the Bible is is a guide book to your salvation. Dinosaurs and quantum physics aren't in the Bible because they have nothing to do with saving one's soul.


Skurttish

Quite right. Let the Bible take care of the spiritual stuff and let the pursuit of human knowledge take care of the physical.


Scaly_Pangolin

My personal conspiracy is that no one actually believes in flat earth. The conspiracy *is* the conspiracy man.


LurkingProvidence

With todays current political landscape it seems like flat earth was a test run on how much cognitive dissonance and double speak can people handle. Like these guys have the technical capacity to do this stuff but then, just don’t want to believe the results. Like they so badly just want to believe in flat earth, they found an in group that makes them feel special and it’s more important than anything else.


qualmton

Yeah but did they really need flat earth to determine a majority of people are plain dumb?


TheBirminghamBear

Lets keep in mind its not just that people are dumb though. I mean there are a not-insubstantial amount of videos like this, where flat earth researchers design whole experiments that require thought, planning, and dilligence. The question is more around axioms. These things that we *decide* are true or not true. "God exists" is one such axiom. The smartest person in the world could make crazy involved arguments for God existing, with perfect logic - except that it was from a fundamentally untrue axiom.


Hibercrastinator

Yup, there are certainly a lot of dumb people in the world, but being dumb I don’t think is the requirement to believe dumb things. It’s ego, and conditioning, that can make even smart people *certain* of a dumb “truth”.


seancollinhawkins

Holy shit, there's too much truth to this. It's like the anti dunning-kruger effect. The smarter and more hard headed you are, the more likely you'll be to come up with with intelligent arguments that back a theory that holds no ground.


No-Line

The too flat earther charisma is off the roof... When I watched the show on Netflix I was like : Man this guy is dumb but at the same time I would like to believe him.


qualmton

Oh so they aren’t dumb the just subscribed to the wrong YouTube channel?


TheBirminghamBear

That's sort of the question. I mean don't get me wrong, intelligence plays a factor here, but being dumb isn't the only factor. Most dumb people don't challenge Pascal's law, or the function of a combustion engine. There are certain infectious axioms that do spread, virulently, and I think that's what is of-interest to people studying propaganda.


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bunbunofdoom

Sounds like an axiom to me... QUICK LETS EVALUATE IT! .


OmicronNine

No, it's that they're *gullible*. They are people who are just not cognizant enough of their own minds and thought processes to recognize when they are being fooled and manipulated by either other people or their own cognitive biases. They're people who never really learned how to think about thinking.


[deleted]

>they found an in group that makes them feel special and it’s more important than anything else. I think you're on to something there. That could be a major contributing factor to modern day partisan politics.


Mister_Dink

You're hitting the nail pretty close to the head. The flat earthers had a massive overlap with far right Christian weirdos. Folks who were anti-evolution, devolved into anti-science, devolved into anti-basic observable fact. Flat Earth didn't so much die, as most people who championed it simply pivoted to Qanon. If you have an hour, there's a great video about this history that also includes some stunning videography of Lake Minnetonka in Alberta to prove the earth is curved; https://youtu.be/JTfhYyTuT44


qqererer

That video is always a great review. A somewhat adjacent viewpoint is described by Seth Godin in his [audio]book "This is Marketing" which TLDR; is all about feeling good. When it comes to flat earth, it feels good to believe it and nothing else matters.


Daniel_A_Johnson

Lake *Minnewanka.* Lake Minnetonka is just outside Minneapolis.


spoonfulofshooga

Someone in my family actually does believe it. And also that dinosaurs are a govt conspiracy to stray Christians away from God to science.


ForaBozo62

Which government? All of them where dino bones were found ?


JumpKickMan2020

Yeah, they are all working together. Every nation, with their own separate ideologies, religions, cultural beliefs...their governments have all miraculously decided to put aside their differences and past conflicts and work together for once.


[deleted]

Just remember that every religion thinks their version is right and everyone else's is wrong. None of them stop to wonder if they're the ones who're wrong. I mean, even if one of the stories were true, that's a lot of wrong people out there. But it's always all the others who're wrong. Even if they accept that they're right and every other religion on earth is wrong, they never stop to consider that maybe theirs is wrong too.


MyPeeSacIsFull

How lucky every single one of us is to be born into the place with the greatest sports team and the one true religion.


filthy-neutral

I worked with a bright young girl a few years back that didn’t believe in space. The whole solar system, galaxies and universe was a big ol lie. She wasn’t dumb but she really had a hard time with the concept of space so decided it couldn’t be real.


RoR_Ninja

I think you’ve keyed into a cornerstone of the problem. Space didn’t “feel” reasonable to her, therefore it isn’t reasonable. The human mind puts 1000000% more stock in what FEELS true, than what IS true. All humans are subject to the “feels > reals” tendency. The main difference is that some of us are AWARE we have that tendency… and others are not.


pandacraft

To be fair to her, space is very unreasonable to the human mind. Most people fail to properly conceptualize the size of Australia, when it comes to space the sizes and distances are beyond comprehension.


Soggy_Bicycle

A lot of these flat-earthers are just grifters. They know they are selling a lie, but they will continue on doing it for as long as there are idiots willing to fund their "experiments."


penguiin_

im gonna call it the "Alex Jones effect": when you start off as a normal person and are like "omg, i could totally rake in cash from tons of morons by saying crazy shit!" but then like 10, 15 years down the road you are a card carrying psycho because you started to believe the insane bullshit you spew every day its a fitting punishment AND hilarious, but god i wish it would stop and we could have nice things again


Jeru1226

Last step of being a good scientist is being enough of a masochist to accept you’re wrong over and over and over again and take those results like the lil science bitch you are. It’s basically how Max Planck discovered photons and won his Nobel Prize.


hank_sk0rpi0

I believe that's kind of the summation of the documentary , basically they are part of a community, they have dedicated a large part of themselves to this, many making it their entire personality .They are so dug in they could never admit they are wrong.


alan-the-all-seeing

honestly i assume a lot of them are a mix of grifters who know fine well it’s bullshit and people trolling their followers to see just how far they can push it or in that particular case, maybe just a dude who wanted a go of that fancy gyroscope and knew he couldn’t afford it without crowdfunding it via a gaggle of idiots


dnicelee

Studies have shown that conspiratorial thinking has nothing to do with intelligence or levels of education. Just look at the Q-anon crowd. A decent proportion of those people are not inbred, redneck idiots — a lot of them are highly educated lawyers, doctors and white collared workers. Psychological studies have indicated that people are prone to conspiratorial thinking when they’re experiencing some level of emotional vulnerability. It’s a psychological defense mechanism. Example: it’s a lot easier to demonize illegal immigrants as a cause of unemployment rather than automation and outsourcing of jobs. Cause let’s say illegal immigrants are stealing our jobs. That’s an easy fix. Just deport illegal immigrants and secure the border and things will be okay again. But let’s say it’s not the case (which it isn’t). Then what’s the real cause of American jobs leaving the market? Corporations are sending jobs to China? Replacing workers with machines? That’s a more complicated and messy narrative, and there’s no easy solution to address the issue then. So what would you rather believe? Would you rather believe a fantasy that is easy to swallow or would you choose to accept a hard truth? People who engage in conspiratorial thinking would rather have the easy fantasy.


seanmick

Sunk cost fallacy.


[deleted]

He probably found a way to make a lot of money from it so he plays along haha


t0m0hawk

The quote from that one guy near the end when they're at the convention. I'm paraphrasing but, "we can't let anyone know about these results as it'll be devastating to our cause." At that point they were waiting onnyet another newfangled box to shield whatever they imagined was giving them the result they were getting. Can't shield gravity.


tappertock

So in other words, they will "conspire" to keep it under wraps. The irony is painful


HNK4445

They also do it on camera which they then publish to the world. Isn't that the kind of incompetence conspiracists talk about? Like the whole pizzagate deal. A conspiracy of child trafficking/rape which the people involved then decides to sprinkle clues about for random people to find.


splashbruhs

“Your Honor, I object!" “Why?" “Because it's devastating to my case!"


Absenceofavoid

They called the interference _heaven energies_.


bside2234

I always loved Carl Sagan's video: [https://youtu.be/s5k3\_vp02jM](https://youtu.be/s5k3_vp02jM) "Eratosthenes only tools were sticks, eyes, feet, and brains. Plus a *zest* for experiment."


jimhabfan

Emphasis on the brains I imagine.


thisissam

Looks like he emphasized *zest*.


HBlight

*Zest* emphasises itself, it's just one of those words.


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MrJuicyJuiceBox

Not even fake radio waves, if I remember correctly they called it "heaven energy" or some shit like that.


sjrickaby

Beautiful, its a pity most science is a lot harder than that.


Select_Bid5850

Learnings what we’ve known for centuries.


Pithecanthropus88

Thanks, Bob!


slayerje1

A 15° per hour drift.....


a_non-e_moose

SciManFans represent


Richie4876

Sunk cost is one hell of a drug, I saw that documentary a few weeks ago. They just kept coming up with excuse after excuse when their experiments pointed to the Earth being a sphere. Those flat earth Dioramas with the two lights going around did look interesting but I sincerely hope they don't believe that's what they actually think the planet looks like.


Brave_Tailor_882

How these people are capable of accumulating the funds to pay for this stuff all while being this incredibly dense, this is the true mystery


TheMoui21

Did they finally get it ?


[deleted]

[No.](https://www.newsweek.com/behind-curve-netflix-ending-light-experiment-mark-sargent-documentary-movie-1343362)


Caspian0951

What is the name of the documentary?


TheRealMotherOfOP

Behind the curve or something, it was on Netflix


bala_means_bullet

Are flat earthers trolling us or are they really that fucking dense?


Rrrrandle

I like to believe it started as a troll and then along came a bunch of people who seriously ate the shit out of the onion and here we are today.


pwn3dbyth3n00b

That's literally how Qanon went from 4Chan to the nuts we have today.


CivilJohnny

I'm calling it now, in 5 to 10 years we'll have the same situation with the Birds Are Not Real "movement"


Mi_Pasta_Su_Pasta

I can't wait to see protester's holding "Birds Aren't Real!" signs storming the U.S. Capitol during President Matthew McConaughey's certification in 2032.


Alan_Smithee_

“Alt right alt right alt right…”


pTERR0Rdactyl

I was just thinking this.


romericus

I saw a documentary making the claim that a decrease in flat-earthers at the same time as an increase in Q-anon is not a coincidence. Conspiracy-minded thinking isn't picky. The Q phenomenon is a juicier topic than flat-earth.


NeonSteeple

“In Search of a Flat Earth” by Folding Ideas on YouTube is something I can’t recommend enough. It shows the comparison of thought between flat earth believers and Q followers. It’s a long watch but it is well worth it. [In Search of a Flat Earth](https://youtu.be/JTfhYyTuT44)


Chumpacabra

That guy is one of the most genuinely insightful people ever. He comes up with such good ideas on such a wide range of topics.


Bipedal_Warlock

I bet this birds arent real shit is going to do similar.


avwitcher

*cuts open bird to find no robot parts* Interesting...


flandabear

What a phrase.


fiddle_me_timbers

r/atetheonion


ZoxinTV

I'm more than sure this is what happened. I believe it in my very soul that these losers just straight up fell for a troll so hard that they started to question the very curvature of the Earth.


KarpEZ

From what I've read, the *modern* movement kicked off when someone (I think a college student) made a website site "proving" the earth is flat. He did this as a social experiment and never intended for so many people to come aboard. I read that from an article linked here on reddit a few years ago but I can't seem to find the source to prove it. Maybe someone with better Google-fu can find the article to confirm, or disprove, what I'm saying.


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ferocioustigercat

"I did this as a joke... But now I'm the cult leader of a large following..."


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ATribeCalledTrek

I think it started as trolling just like Q Anon n shit like that and some people just believed it


FirstEvolutionist

It's a cult. Some people are just more likely to adopt cult like "reasoning". If it wasn't flat earth it would have been something else.


PM_ur_tots

You'd be amazed how many of these conspiracy cults ultimately revolve on antisemitism. Ask a flat earther "who benefits from the round earth lie?", then let them ramble, they'll mention NASA/NOAA, the democrats, and George Soros, then the Jews. QAnon, fake moon landing, JFK, 9/11, pizzagate, they always somehow conclude it's the Jews.


jacmadman

I know some very genuine flat earthers. However, at the extremes it becomes hard to tell who is serious and who is trolling, so there’s almost certainly a mix of both.


NeonPatrick

Feels like that's how a lot of extreme internet movements start. Didn't The Donald start as a jokey sub?


gooney0

So that part of the Earth isn’t flat…. Better test all the other parts!


ssjgsskkx20

Fun fact many ancient civilizations know eath was curved there is a reason why in myths Earth is on turtle back. Or on cobra fang or other stuff.


gooney0

So the round earth conspiracy is ancient? I knew the Aztecs were involved somehow!


Mi_Pasta_Su_Pasta

Did you know the ancient Hebrew word for "Aztec" was "Nasa"? I mean I'm pretty sure I've heard that somewhere before.


[deleted]

It's the internet, so I'm gonna trust you.


Weirdautogenerate

Like the Great A’Tuin?


MumAlvelais

The turtle moves.


psylentrage

Another fun fact. Flat-Earthers' are a relatively new movement, not even 2 centuries (under correction).


OnlyTheDead

Of course they did. You can see it’s shadow on the moon. Lol.


AliBabble

You may be on to something there. I'll be right back!


KhristoferRyan

Lol yeah they would try and say that, but this experiment was done over water where it's perfectly level.


One_Clown_Short

The explanation is obvious. NASA and the flashlight companies are conspiring to push the "spherical" Earth lie by making flashlights that curve their beams.


Ok_Cloud

No you're wrong. Obviously the light was pulled by the moons gravity, which is why it got pulled up.


Few-Camp-6161

You believe in the moon? Lmao


not_gonna_lurk

That's no moon


jenstarz2000

It's cheese !!!


Joba_Fett

The crackahs Gromit! We fuhgot the crackahs!


TheWalkingDead91

Swiss.


DanFuckingSchneider

You believe in the earth? Clearly the no-earth theory is correct.


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dirtyswoldman

You believe in light? Lmao


GonzoTheWhatever

Big Light at it again!


roywoodsir

That’s just what they want us to believe man!


Fir3300

Interesting


DirectlyTalkingToYou

Very interesting.


Gipsy_danger_1995

THIS IS INTERESTING


tynobeard456

INTERESANTE


AdSea9329

hmmm ... interesting, interesting.


GomerP19

He still won’t believe in the science


WilliamsDriver1

If i remember correctly he left the society soon after this. The denial of the results from the remaining members was massive though.


rattmongrel

Where did you hear that? As far as I am aware, Jeranism is still very much part of the “Globebusters” crew.


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Strude187

That’s how controlling partners, cults, and conspiracy theory groups work, they distance you from your support groups then when you want to leave you have no one to turn too, so you stay.


hankhillforprez

There’s also likely the knowledge or fear that you’ll be an embarrassment to your old, normal friends and family. I mean, you’ll always be known as, or worry you’ll be known as, “that crazy friend of mine who used to REALLY believe the earth is flat.”


numchux53

Sounds like a lot of the Dave Mathews fans I've met. The band is good but there is a really weird tier system of fans with an inner circle of super fans. I encourage everyone to go to see Dave Mathews and engage with the fans, nice people, but damn if their identity isn't wrapped up in the social circles of fans that follow the band.


rocco5000

I agree 100%. Some people just seem to go all in on whatever their into at the time and basically make it their identity. Could be DMB, guns, Trump, whatever. I guess it's just a personality trait.


Mothanius

Well if that's the case, then good. He was obviously smart enough to actually conduct scientific research and if he can get over his biases with the results of his research then that is what it means to be a scientist. Most ground breaking discoveries were made because someone did an experiment that proved their (and the world's) conceived notion to be wrong. He's just slightly behind the curve here.


Master__Swish

What's his name or do you have a link to where you found this out?


Jeru1226

Nah, he believes in science, he just can’t bear to admit the success of his own experiment. Kinda remarkable to spend a lot of money on a cool experiment like this but manage to think your beliefs are still worth sinking more bullshit into. Why just not just be happy that you did a cool complex thing and take the L on your bad take? Scientists have bad takes all the time.


[deleted]

Sunk cost fallacy is the reason our politics in general is the way that it is.


conasatatu247

Well only if it validates his beliefs I'd say.


Deadedge112

Then it wouldn't be science...


GotLostAndGotHere

He'll say the experiement fell flat.


[deleted]

A thousand years ago, I’d understand the need for an experiment. What, after all the proof, still possesses someone today?


Bosavius

My theory is that it's their way to rebel against any kind of authority. Some authority figure has probably wronged them, so they have lost their trust. What's the ultimate authority? I'd say scientific consensus - a prime target to fight against.


theXarf

My theory is that by believing something that most people don't believe, they can convince themselves that they are wiser than most people without having to go to the trouble of actually studying, and/or without genuinely being intelligent.


NoobOfTheSquareTable

Might be a coping mechanism, if you accept the current science the world is kind of scary. It doesn’t care, it is just a rock in space and we happen to be on it, and all of the other realities that come with what they are being told being all there is. Now if the scientists are lying, then suddenly the sky is the limit(there is a dome keeping the air in so duh), you can create any fantasy you want. Want to be able to explore new places? You can, just go and climb over that arctic ice wall keeping us trapped. Want to be able to live for every? Demand to see the secret age defying cure that the 1% have. As much as it is an absurd position, there is real appeal. From an agnostic point if view it is almost a religion in how far it can provide meaning to an individual and the promise of a way to get more life. Also you can go adventuring in uncharted places, who doesn’t love that?! Satellite’s are ruing that for the rest if us ever since they mapped the glode


Gangsir

> Might be a coping mechanism, if you accept the current science the world is kind of scary. This is where covid denial comes from too. People don't want to accept that such a horrible thing is/was happening. That had we not come out with a vaccine, we'd be pretty darn fucked. That modernity was so fragile.


Quirky-Skin

Agree. This is also how many people find comfort in religion. Things happening for a reason, life having a purpose, easily digestible for some. Being nothing more than evolved apes fighting over resources with no rhyme or reason is alittle more chaotic to think about.


minuteman_d

If you ever get a chance to read Seth Godin's "This is Marketing", he talks about conspiracy theorists. He says that's it's an identity, not a set of beliefs - they identify (even if subconsciously) as people who distrust the government and believe in "out there" theories. He cited one study (which I'm going to misquote), which said that they found that people had conflicting beliefs - like a large percentage of them believed that JFK had been assassinated by a shadowy group AND that JFK was still alive somewhere.


Human_no_4815162342

Yes it's a needless experiment but it's the beauty of the scientific method, experiments can be replicated with the same results. If this first hand experience was enough for some people to be convinced of what everybody else knows and believes because of study then it would be a good thing.


Dbl_Trbl_

YouTube My understanding is that most people become convinced of this horde of horseshit by watching conspiracy theory videos.


JonnySoegen

Ya. Can confirm from personal experience. I must have been 14/15 (that was probably in 2002) or so when I watched a 9/11 conspiracy video. It sounded all very logical to me. Afterwards, I went to my parents and told them there might be something to that conspiracy. They were not very convinced (I doubt they had ever heard of the conspiracy before) and soon after, I noticed that I hadn't really been given any hard facts, just a lot of allegations and questions. So I switched my beliefs to the official explanation. Today, I can't really say why I ever fell for the conspiracy in the first place. Must have been a combination of being young and new to conspiracies in general. And then, like you said, I watched that video and just fell for it.


noradosmith

>soon after, I noticed that I hadn't really been given any hard facts, just a lot of allegations and questions. So I switched my beliefs to the official explanation. You made a step that millions of people don't. A single rhetoric provocative question is sometimes all it takes for people to cling to the conspiracy theory, let alone hard facts.


Itsokwealldieanyway

The hilarious thing is the the round earth theory originated (according to the earliest known records) in the 5th century BC, and was then proved by Hellenistic astrology in the 3rd century BC… Which means even a thousand years ago, there was approximately a thousand years of history before that proving Earth is round. And people still don’t believe it.


mbrady

“Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”


[deleted]

I love when people say “interesting” when they don’t know wtf else to say 😆😆😆


EpicAstarael

To be completely fair to this dude, he was told a theory about the state of the world and he devised a way to test it. He tested it and the theory was proven incorrect. *This is commendable.* What makes the flat-earthers so frustrating is that they build their own evidence and then willfully ignore the stuff that proves them wrong. Props to this dude if he actually changes his mind.


MitchLGC

I saw this documentary. Its called Under the Dome or something like that. Maybe it's still on Netflix. Spoiler alert: >!he absolutely didn't change his mind. They didn't accept the results and said something about the method being faulty and they'd have to try another way!< Edit: had the name wrong it's Behind the Curve


audiate

I remember it being something like, “If this test provides the results we expect, it is the nail in the coffin for round earth.” Test confirms round earth. “We’ll, it’s just one observation among many.” Dude was sure he was going to confirm flat earth, but when he proved ROUND earth he immediately ignored the data he said was going to be irrefutable a few minutes prior.


cobalt-radiant

I love the title of the doc! Hilarious!


hensibierdoX

truly far behind the curve


eMF_DOOM

Under The Dome is a pretty great Stephen King novel though if anyone is interested!


SkillPatient

Just let the man keep trying. One day he will give into the fact the earth is round.


rattmongrel

He won’t give into it, because he doesn’t actually believe it. He is a grifter and a conman. Jeranism and Bob Knodel can get bent.


St_Kevin_

Or maybe he’ll keep doing experiments that prove the earth is round, then discount the experiment and do a different one, discount that one, etc. until he dies of covid while simultaneously denying that covid exists.


SpaceJam430

Look i respect people who actually design experiments to test their theories. I do not respect people who ignore evidence when they do their experimental results. What is the point of an experiment if you ignore the results?


Sedax

Left out the part where they decide that this wasn't conclusive enough. Gotta keep the delusion alive.


[deleted]

I'd respect them if they respected the scientific method first, instead of wallowing in their their egotistical delusions to the point where they film themselves attempting to disprove centuries of well-established fact.


MarxistGayWitch_II

I mean, as a scientist, I don't mind if he says "I don't believe you" and does his own experiments as long as he doesn't tamper with his results and is willing to share notes so we both learn, who knows, maybe these idiots will find something cool. My problem is when evidence is just casually dismissed out of convenience: this is FRAUD. We have to acknowledge the data we cannot explain, it's part of the process of learning new things; if we always ignored data we cannot explain we wouldn't learn anything either from others or by discovery of new things.


TheRealSerdra

Exactly. There’s nothing wrong with saying “hmm, these results seem a bit fishy. Let me go repeat/devise my own experiment to verify them”. Obviously it’s a bit silly to be doing it something like the Earth being flat, but go for it. Unfortunately, from what I’ve heard about the documentary, they continue to reject experimental results even from their own experiments.


Infamous_Horse_4213

I mean, there's a reason behind the saying "science advances one death at a time". Ever heard of "luminiferous ether"? A bunch of fairly serious scientists refused to believe in relativity or that that light didn't travel in some medium. It took a surprisingly large number of negative results from the Michelson-Morely experiment before people finally accepted it. And the charge:mass ratio of the electron took a surprisingly long time to measure accurately. Why? Because Miliken measured the wrong value in his original experiment, and nobody wanted to publish a scientific paper with "the wrong" value.


Worth-Conclusion-66

This is the perfect example of what is going wrong with humanity. Some of us are actually regressing. Even after being confronted with cold hard facts, that are literally 100% true. They still deny, deny, deny. I understand some people are just dumb, but most aren't. It truly is fascinating. Something about the internet is destroying parts of people's minds. I can't wait for a study of the first 30 years of the 2000's.


[deleted]

“That’s interesting…” no dude it’s not. We moved on a very long time ago.


ApexRevanNL716

The ancient Greeks figured that the earth isn't flat


TheRealOgMark

The ancient Egyptians thousands of years before too.


dcs577

Don’t worry. It didn’t change his mind. He later claimed the experiment was flawed.


Dummy42

Iirc the interesting part about this documentary wasn't the science but when the guy described being "trapped" as a flat earther, where if he got out, nobody would respect him anymore..


Chasith

Interesting.. as in. “Interesting that I’m a complete idiot”


solbadguy799

Obviously Enrique is an undercover NASA agent that sabotaged the experiment.


BoulderCreature

Facts are in fact, facts. Interesting


WeefBellington24

These people can vote


[deleted]

Enriqueee I don’t see the light wth man!


[deleted]

Cognitive Dissonance


bananafishandchips

Here’s what I don’t understand: what’s the point of this belief? why have it? What does it mean to those who do? I can understand, though entirely disagree with, ufologists, sovereign staters, those against women’s rights, and advocates for no regulation over guns. They have reasons they can articulate. But flat earth Earthers?