I remember one guy thought the southern hemisphere didn't exist because everyone would be walking around upside-down. Even though the gravitational pull orients you the same way regardless of where you are. How many conspiracy theories are based on general misunderstandings?
All of them require antiintilectualism and a serious lack of knowledge of facts. Unfortunately people who are calling out real conspiracies often have MORE knowledge than most people on the given subject but, to someone who doesn’t know, they sound identical to the conspiracy theorists.
For the record, the earth is round, Qanon is bull shit, and vaccines don’t cause autism. My point is basically that a lack of knowledge only ever benefits the people in power which is why the American government is rabidly against well functioning education systems.
Dan Olson did a great explainer on YouTube that concluded that flat earthers want to take back the power they feel they’ve lost to the scientific method, Enlightenment, progressivism in general. Denying the truth is a kind of power in itself.
So, facts that don’t negatively affect Flat Earthers make them feel powerless so they…just pretend the facts aren’t real? Well, that just makes me respect them less!
It makes them more selfish for discrediting knowledge meant for everyone and FAR less intelligent because they DO know it’s all lies.
Some of their lives are working fine! IIRC one is a professional NBA player.
But the playbook is the same: deny evidence-based authority and establish your own. This practice is employed in politics all the time.
There's also conspiracies of Women not being real, and Australia being fake. As well as Birds just being drones made by the government to spy on us.
A lot of dumb conspiracies out there.
My personal favorite is that Kennedy was wounded by Oswald but actually killed by Special Agent George Warren Hickey, who was in the back seat, accidentally firing his AR-15 and killing Kennedy when the limo sped up.
Birds aren't real is a satirical prank conspiracy theory. But like so many things, I saw it on the Internet so it must be true.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birds_A...
Damn. It's worse when it's family members.
Is there an element of paranoia from mental health involved?
I've seen some "gang stalking" videos and they clearly need help.
I thought it was supposed to be that heliocentrism is a feature of the devil incarnate and also it’s promoted by the Vatican, which is also the devil, but that good Protestants know the truth that the Earth is flat and that scientific progress, and therefore progress of any kind, is hooey
I don't even get how this conspiracy theory exists. You can literally hire a company that takes you right to the south pole where you can observe 24 hours of daylight. I guess flat earther's would come up with something like "Dome refraction" to explain it.
The supposed purpose behind the conspiracy seems to be turning people away from God.
It's less "conspiracy theory" and more "Evangelical persecution fetish."
My favourite one is when they claim certain airline flights don't exist, because it doesn't make sense with their model that they came up with of the flat earth looks. Even though there are videos of the flights from all angles.
I was in the cockpit setting up for a flight and a guy wanted to bring his kids in to look around. After the kids walked back out, the guy leaned in and in a hushed tone asked if the earth was really flat. All I could think was “it’s too late, he’s already reproduced”.
That seal is very established and a gentleman/ woman, ever wince the stock market crash of the 1930’s i have never seen such a respectable man/woman what a jolly to see
