Flat Earth: Who's it hurting? - Anybody at all?

[Red Hood]

I view the censoring of any scientific or political viewpoint to be tantamount as admitting they're afraid of it having some legs. It lends it credence- "they're trying to silence us, they know we're onto the truth!". Just let people publicly look stupid, when their friends make fun of them, they'll either stop or double down. I'm not afraid of flat earth gaining more popularity because it's a stupid niche opinion.

 

[CivilianOfTheFandomWars]

Honestly, I love the Flat Earthers and am much more annoyed by the people who sperg out over them.
They don't harm anyone. And god bless them, at least they try to reach their own conclusions. No use getting angry about them, leave the poor sods alone.
It's factually wrong, but they are trying to question things, and that's nice.
Besides, as we all know, the world is carried on the backs of four elephants and the elephants on the shell of a giant turtle. Basic science.

 

[Takodachi]

Nah, they serve the same purpose potheads did in the 90's
"Look at that crazy woman Jimmy, if you dont study and do something with your life, you'll end up like her, a complete and utter loser"

 

[Otterly]

I was wondering the same thing - what justification is there to censor flat earth believers? All the usual ‘reasons’ are absent - it’s not ‘hateful’ and it doesn’t harm anyone.

I watched the Netflix docco on them. At one point a scientist makes the observation that they’re all budding scientists - testing observations and challenging orthodoxy and as such they should be talked to, not censored. I agree with him.

We should not be censoring views we find hateful, never mind views that are harmless but incorrect. WHY would you even want to? I am from the scientific side of things and I have no wish whatsoever to censor people.

I think it’s sinister to try. What a population needs is the critical skills to evaluate evidence and views. A grounding in critical thinking, the ability to look at statistics and arguments and to think, read and formulate rebuttals. We are losing this - no platforming in universities is stopping students from being exposed to alternative or unpleasant views. It’s stopping them being able to cope with other people’s views. It’s stopping them being able to engage with opposing views critically and peacefully and it’s leading to the shot we have now where you just shout down anyone you disagree with and demand they’re punished for WrongThink,

What we risk, when we censor stuff that’s wrong, daft, or even hateful, is making the state the arbiter of truth and rendering us incapable of critically assessing what they then tell us. The state ends up being the monopoly on ‘truth.’

That’s totalitarian and that’s where we are heading. So I fully support flat earthers having a platform. And all the other fringe weirdos, and hate mongers. I disagree with them, but I want a society where people can look at a view and say ‘no that’s wrong because of this evidence.’ Not one where the state or mark sodding zuckerberg tell me what truth is, and i blindly nod along,

 

[Black Waltz]

flat earthers are dumb and funny, let them keep talking

 

[Corbin Dallas Multipass]

I apologize, I didn't read much past the OP so I'm probably just repeating what someone else said.

I sort of think the "Flat Earth" theory is a fucking fantastic "Babby's first conspiracy theory". They should teach it in school, honestly. First, teach kids the truth. A few years later, "educate" them on flat earth theory, cherry pick examples and make it believable as possible. Then you show them all the methods that disprove it.

Flat earth theory is great in a few ways, as conspiracy theories go. For one thing, it's pretty simple, as conspiracy theories go. You've got your all controlling all powerful government agency (nasa), you've got your well known science fact (Earth is round) that you are contradicting. You've got basic observation on your side, since the curvature of the earth can't be seen from ground level. Let's ignore the deeper examinations of how physics would work since most flat earthers don't really think about that anyway.

It's so great because while thinking up ways to "prove" the earth is flat, you come up with replications of old tests done by ancient scientists for finding the circumference of the globe, and you can intuitively teach yourself not only that the earth IS round, but now you can PROVE it!

Before the flat earth movement, I would have been hard pressed to come up with a method off the top of my head to prove the earth isn't flat. Now I know half a dozen ways.

 

[Smug Chuckler]

People willing to go to Antarctica to prove their point.

 

[Drunk and Pour]

There's some talk about censoring Flat Earthers and I'm not entirely sure what the point would be. Where's the danger? I doubt any of them are working in aerospace or doing anything that would require them to understand what is, for most people, just an academic thing. It doesn't really effect my life one way or another on a day-to-day basis whether the Earth is flat or not; I'm not saying that there aren't numerous technologies that I rely on that only work because our astronomy is correct (GPS is an obvious one) but other than that, who cares?


I don't think I do.

Edit: Fucked up asking an intelligible question in the poll. Hope I fixed it.

No, it's not hurting anybody. As far as I've heard, Flat Earthers started as a joke, just like Kikistan, Okay sign meaning White Supremist, and the Free Bleeding movement.

Talking about censoring Flat Earthers is much more dangerous, because it starts a precedent where any authoritarian can justify even obvious jokes as wrong think that needs to be censored to protect the common good.

 

[Anonymous For This]

So I'm getting the impression that nobody here believes in a notion I've seen hinted at, basically goes like this; if we allow superstition or ignorance a foothold in our society, it will grow larger and larger until we're plunged back into a Dark Age.

Hicks in West Virginia have been handling rattlesnakes in the name of Jesus since rattlesnakes and Jesus were invented. You just can't reach some people.

 

[nonvir_1984]

Speaking on my own behalf and that of the reptilian overlords, they are harming no one. And, so no, they should not be censored.
And besides, they give me something more to laugh at. But all the same I do not want them living next door.
But it's only a matter of time before some SJW calls out flatearth talk as hate speech - hate for people who think the earth is a vague spheroid orbiting a star....

 

[UQ 770]

Probably late but its damn well hurting the Flat Earthers themselves. Quite a lot of them cling to their idiotic beliefs and their whole social and family life disintegrates as a result. They also end to be people who were not exactly the most well-adjusted to begin with, and on top of that they appeal to other people on the edge who take up the cause as a result. Essentially spreading the affliction. Outright censorship isn't going to do anything, but we should be a little more clinical about this and begin treating overly (I mean "serious shit overly") empathetic people the same as we treat people with immune system disorders and such.

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

We need Flat Earthers around so I can have something to laugh at: the normal people who get way too upset by them.

I’m pretty sure it’s almost all ironic anyways.

 

[Webby's Boyfriend]

There's some talk about censoring Flat Earthers and I'm not entirely sure what the point would be. Where's the danger?

"Just let people believe what they want as long as they don't hurt anybody. There's freespeech and censorship is bad."
"Yeah that's true, but still, if I'd claim nonsense, like that Donald Trump has become president of the US, ye would still criticize me for that, or?
"Huh, what? I mean, he IS the president."
"No, he isn't."
"Er, he is! Everybody knows."
"Who cares! Why don't ye just let me believe and say what I want?"

 

[Exigent Circumcisions]

"Just let people believe what they want as long as they don't hurt anybody. There's freespeech and censorship is bad."
"Yeah that's true, but still, if I'd claim nonsense, like that Donald Trump has become president of the US, ye would still criticize me for that, or?
"Huh, what? I mean, he IS the president."
"No, he isn't."
"Er, he is! Everybody knows."
"Who cares! Why don't ye just let me believe and say what I want?"

Show me that person and I'll have found a new best friend.

 

[BillionBisonBucks]

Yeah, we should probably allow all manner of snake oil salesmen to victimize credulous idiots. There's never been negative consequences to charlatans building entire societies around canonizing their lies.

 

[Begemot]

Yeah, we should probably allow all manner of snake oil salesmen to victimize credulous idiots. There's never been negative consequences to charlatans building entire societies around canonizing their lies.

I guess globetards like you always have to denigrate the intellectual competition, huh? You scared, kid?

 

[Lioness]

I think it's a fantastic gateway to questioning the nature of reality in general; something far too few are willing to do.
Taking simulation and collective consciousness theories into account, the Earth being flat gets less ridiculous.

Besides which, they will only take censorship as validation.

 

[Lemmingwise]

Yeah, we should probably allow all manner of snake oil salesmen to victimize credulous idiots. There's never been negative consequences to charlatans building entire societies around canonizing their lies.

Every nation ever.

 

[Super Color Up]

Flat Earther's mystify me. What possible reason could they have to oppose the fact that planets are round? It really just seems like they wanna be right about something, No one ever asks them the pertinent questions related to their outrageous claims.
"why would they photoshop the earth?"
"if you walked all the way to one side of the world, would you fall off? How do you justify going around it?"

On top of that, I wouldn't say they're truly harmless. They're trying to teach people things that are just blatantly untrue, creating ignorance and spreading misinformation because... why?

 

[BillionBisonBucks]

I guess globetards like you always have to denigrate the intellectual competition, huh? You scared, kid?

Sorry, who's the 'intellectual' competition? The morally vacuous, or the mentally limited they exploit? The only thing I'm scared of is my descendants having to deal with another mormon/scientologist tier shitshow throwing resources after literal insanity.

Every nation ever.

I mean... You're not wrong. I could make semantic quibbles, but the only major distinction is that all governments have an understood process to change them, whether by votes or guillotine, and people get really upset when you apply either of those to a coalition of idiots incapable of rudimentary defense.