Why have flat-Earth theories become so prominent?

[LunarShadow 397]

I guess because some people just don't like reality or facts and they think denying facts makes there own little realities that they imagine in there heads somehow true. Flat Earthers serve as a perfect example for humanities capacity to display unfathomable levels of brain degenerating stupidity. 

[blackstarraven 142]

I think this is more a matter of people just pointing out something stupid and making it seam like its more prominent then it really is.

[SONICchaos 824]

Flat Earthers serve as a perfect example for humanities capacity to display unfathomable levels of brain degenerating stupidity. 

thats the interesting about human nature. As we assure ourselves our opinions are correct even flying in the face of fact and science we begin to judge others for their "incorrect" assumption. Its easy to say those who defy common science are "stupid" but they themselves will say the same of you. While science only goes so far as human knowledge and can result in different interpretations of data, but politics, religion, culture and society will almost always have difference of opinion and will result in both sides claiming the other is stupid by no more proof than the other.

 

Luckily science is more fact based so its a lot easier to disprove something as wrong but even then common knowledge HAS changed over the centuries as to adapt to new discoveries. While science itself is static and ever present its important to distinguish the field of science from known science as we still dont know that much of many fields.

[LunarShadow 397]

thats the interesting about human nature. As we assure ourselves our opinions are correct even flying in the face of fact and science we begin to judge others for their "incorrect" assumption. Its easy to say those who defy common science are "stupid" but they themselves will say the same of you. While science only goes so far as human knowledge and can result in different interpretations of data, but politics, religion, culture and society will almost always have difference of opinion and will result in both sides claiming the other is stupid by no more proof than the other.

 

Luckily science is more fact based so its a lot easier to disprove something as wrong but even then common knowledge HAS changed over the centuries as to adapt to new discoveries. While science itself is static and ever present its important to distinguish the field of science from known science as we still dont know that much of many fields.

We know one thing for certain. The earth is not flat. Which makes flat Earthers willfully ignorant or lacking in higher brain functions. 

[Yakamaru 3,074]

Flat-Earthers.. I'd rather listen to a Scientologist.

 

Or some Christian fanatic hitting your doorbell at 5 in the morning, asking "Have you found Jesus?".

[RavenholmZombie 1,329]

I hate having to deal with flat-earthers. They're so ignorant and always deny every single piece of evidence I cite, writing it off as a part of this grand conspiracy that the Earth is round...

What really surprises me about them is the fact that they still exist. We've known that the Earth is round for thousands of years, we have pictures taken from NASA and ESA probes showing a clearly-spherical Earth and Moon, and so on. But yet, they always stick their heads back in the sand and immerse themselves deeper into their echo chamber.

[Invincible 2,090]

I'll share a phenomenon I have noticed. People nowadays practice vanity almost ritualistically. And to further your vanity, you must set yourself apart from other people.

That's what I think is going on with at least most of these types of people. They try to act all special and pretentious, to some fetid form of attention seeking endgame. All in all they value meaningless ideals over the truth.

In this case, it has nothing to do with politics, education or even intelligence. People like these propagate false facts and flawed thinking because it promotes their agenda. 

[Stone Cold Steve Jobs 22,410]

Even the catholic church has called the flat earth theory bogus. There is no use in arguing with people like that. They will not see reason. Even if you sent them to space to look down at the planet they would deny what their eyes tell them.

if they are referring to the universe as being flat, however, that's another story. The universe itself is flat in the sense that no two parallels will ever touch.

[SquipyCheetah 448]

People are getting stupider and stupider by the day. Just look at the Earth, it's not flat. Idiots.

[GrimGrimoire 4,970]

Think I will just leave this here

Because Links are fun.

 

 

[Earl Grey Ghost 444]

On 3/2/2017 at 6:40 PM, Snowbound said:

Liberals have issued in a new era of science denial that appeals to younger generations. The simple notion that believing something means that it is fact is very appealing; coupled with the fact that Millennials constantly want to challenge social constructs, they don't even need concrete proof. It's more of a way to seem better than everyone else, and smarter than them, despite the fact that they are looked down upon almost everywhere.

 

...or, like Tails said, stupidity; stupidity works too.

Yeah I'm going to agree with Alvin Yakitori on this one, liberals are pro-science. And challenging social constructs is a human thing, not a liberal thing. If social constructs weren't challenged, women still wouldn't be able to vote, we'd still have slavery, public hangings, witch burnings, etc. 

 

I always thought it started off as a troll joke---then people actually began taking it seriously and now there are people out there that are just ignoring basic grade-school science and logic. It's sad what a group of people can negatively accomplish. That's how cults begin and ignorance spreads.

[TBD 17,228]

last time I checked....

Who's "they"? They're the flat earth theorists.  

Edited April 2, 2018 by TBD

[Denim&Venöm 16,507]

Because reality is either too much or not enough for some people. So whatever "theory" makes them feel best about life and the universe is what they'll go with.

Some people don't want the truth, the facts or even answers. They just want to be "right".

[Tytygigas 20]

one of the main reasons i feel flat earth theories have become so prominent is the rise in contrarianism in politics that I've noticed. I can't think of many other reasons other than blatant stupidity. It's the same reason there's been a large rise in conservatism and ESPECIALLY the alt-right. In fact, I notice the same people touting these nutty flat earth/conspiracy theories. Makes me wonder if there's some sort of correlation.

I almost exclusively never notice any "liberals" or """""SJWs""""" repping them and chalking it up to politics entirely is short sighted and nonsensical. There are many factors that would lead to somebody buying into flat earth theories such as lack of access to education or simply herd mentality that i would place over political affiliation. the term SJW has become mainly a strawman and a buzzword people use to dismiss opinions or viewpoints they disagree with outright rather than addressing them straightforwardly.

Sorry for the little rant, just something i see often and i felt i had to get off my chest.

[Brony Number 42 9,927]

Term alt right has become mainly a strawman and a buzzword people use to dismiss opinions or viewpoints they disagree with outright rather than addressing them straightforwardly.

[Twiggy 2,965]

No one actually believes the Earth is flat. It's all just trolls trolling trolls operating on a plane of irony several layers deep. 

You will not convince me otherwise. 

Edited April 2, 2018 by Twiggy

[Tytygigas 20]

4 minutes ago, BronyNumber42licious said:

Term alt right has become mainly a strawman and a buzzword people use to dismiss opinions or viewpoints they disagree with outright rather than addressing them straightforwardly.

Nitpicking and subverting a single thing i said in an attempt to devalue my other points is low effort and unproductive. 

[RDDash 18,866]

About 20 years ago or so, Pluto was a planet

[GrimGrimoire 4,970]

10 minutes ago, Twiggy said:

No one actually believes the Earth is flat.

I would say someone building a homemade rocket and attempting to launch themselves into space to photograph it qualifies as a believer.

Either way, I have had to argue with a few of these people from time to time... some raging lunatics who can't form a coherent sentence,  and some who can give an amazing power point presentation and almost convince me if I did not already know better. What is really fun is when you run into those who will start talking about the second Earth, the infinite Earth, or the government controlled utopia Earth.

[Tytygigas 20]

1 minute ago, GrimGrimoire said:

I would say someone building a homemade rocket and attempting to launch themselves into space to photograph it qualifies as a believer.

Either way, I have had to argue with a few of these people from time to time... some raging lunatics who can't form a coherent sentence,  and some who can give an amazing power point presentation and almost convince me if I did not already know better. What is really fun is when you run into those who will start talking about the second Earth, the infinite Earth, or the government controlled utopia Earth.

My favorite is second earth lol

[ShadOBabe 18,984]

23 minutes ago, BronyNumber42licious said:

Term alt right has become mainly a strawman and a buzzword people use to dismiss opinions or viewpoints they disagree with outright rather than addressing them straightforwardly.

So has “SJW”.

In short, every human who has ever existed ever is stupid and biased and can’t stand people not agreeing with them.

Note: I am using hyperbole.

[The Recherche 29,965]

2 hours ago, Tytygigas said:

My favorite is second earth lol

... What is that? I just Googled it, and I didn't find anything other than NASA discoveries. 

[kaiser5578 340]

Well people have always been stupid, it's just now those idiots are able to have their ideas heard and spread to other people like a disease. Also the people who use relegious texts as a science text book fit in to this group.

[Guest]

On 3/2/2017 at 9:22 PM, Nerdy Luigi said:

The answer is simple.

 

Some people are stupid.

😂 this post made me laugh more than I should have!

Here is proof that the Earth is indeed flat! A flat mat of the earth that you can put on your floor or on a table 

Edited April 2, 2018 by Gone Airbourne

[Celli 4,332]

Some people just really prefer to ignore reality I guess.