Flat Earthers: What They Believe and Why - Birth of an old Religion
(www.scientificamerican.com)
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My hypothesis is that real flat-Earthers (not the trolls or feds) simply can't evaluate evidence. They just don't have the capacity to do so. This is why 39 out of 40 get into it because of videos (and why they always try to share videos and articles instead of ever explaining anything); FE is a religious belief, not a scientific theory. You need to be persuaded, not convinced.
To a certain extent, I sympathize. If you can't determine truth for yourself, what are your options? It's not stupid, in that case, to go along with the crowd, or a trusted authority; they're far more likely to be right than a random guess. But they're fallible and, particularily these days, corrupt and spread misinformation.
So they FE types throw the baby out with the bathwater. If they're lying about one thing, they must be lying about everything, all the way to the shape of the planet and the physical systems that govern it.
And they're not entirely wrong, either. I can't prove who did 9/11, but I have no faith in the official explanation. They basically admitted to JFK and even the moon landing could very well be fabricated; it's just the kind of deceptive theater that they do.
But, at the end of the day, the FE crowd is making wild guesses. That I don't mind. What I mind is that they think they should be taken seriously when they literally don't understand anything they're talking about; they're just out to trip you up with obscure factoids and gotcha questions which, if you can't answer off the top of your head, supposedly prove FE.
It's really hard to look into FE due to the toxic attitudes and bombastic assertions made by many FE's. I'm 100% supportive of questioning everything, but making claims as if they were fact and ridiculing anyone who questions it does not lead to constructive research. The name-calling is so juvenile that it is hard to take either side seriously.
There are exceptions to this toxic behavior, but it's rare. It seems like the same cult-like behavior that afflicts covidians has also taken hold of many FE's. They saw their YouTube teachers talk shit about everyone, so they do the same.
They have some great questions, and even some great evidence. They need to remember that what they are working with is a theory, and it is okay to be wrong about something and go back to the drawing board.
Yes.
It is a religion in the sense it is used to control thought and effort.
Just like league sports are used to occupy a portion of your thought and effort, since their conception as a tool to draw crowds.
You could be doing something or having an important conversation, if you are one of these people sucked into this, if a news broadcast starts to talk about your team, then your brain is immediately refocused on your trained interest, as an example.