• @chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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        221 year ago

        Have you ever had the change your fundamental understanding of the world? What if you found out today that our entire understanding of science and the universe was flawed due to the interference of some outside force that caused us to make all kinds of faulty observations.

        Would you instantly accept it as fact when presented with evidence? Or would your lifetime of observations still carry weight?

  • @EvacuateSoul@lemmy.world
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    1111 year ago

    I feel like it’s been memory holed, but I remember 00’s flat earth being genuinely smart people using it to illustrate the ridiculousness of teaching creation beside evolution, which was a push around that time. It was a Church of Satan style mockery, but I guess the arguments were too convincing.

    • @Pan_Ziemniak@midwest.social
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      471 year ago

      I member… i learned of it from a vsauce video i watched when it first dropped. Was mindblown years later when ppl were touting the flat earth society seriously. Their tagline was literally, “We Have Members Around the Globe!”

    • @Patches@sh.itjust.works
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      431 year ago

      Poe’s Law

      Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is utterly impossible to parody a Creationist in such a way that someone won’t mistake for the genuine article.

    • @chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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      71 year ago

      It was a weird blend of that and true believers. Then the people there for the joke of it all got weirded out by the crazies and left.

    • @Naz@sh.itjust.works
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      71 year ago

      I recall it being an argument in a high school debate club or someother which made it’s way onto 4chan and found supporters, who then proceeded to do what 4chan does best, and troll people/targets of their derision. Basically they assumed no one was stupid enough to believe it and were shockingly surprised.

  • @onlooker@lemmy.ml
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    1011 year ago

    Has anyone seen Behind the Curve? Most of these flat earth people seem to possess some level of critical thinking, just… not enough. That, or their pride or obstinacy get in the way. At the end of the documentary, a team of flat-earthers perform an actual, well thought out experiment. It’s… well, just watch.

    Best part? Immediately after this, they discard the results of the experiment saying the premise was faulty. Somehow.

    • @BlueMagma@sh.itjust.works
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      151 year ago

      Try being in their shoes: you set up an experiment to prove the earth is not flat and is indeed round, you run the experiment and at the end you realise your experiment fail and would prove the earth is flat. Would you changwe your point of view ? I know I wouldn’t, I would immediately assume I am an idiot and messed up the experiment, because I am so much convinced it is round, it would be much more realistic to assume I messed up.

      • @thesporkeffect@lemmy.world
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        151 year ago

        If I do it 10 times and each time the result is ‘flat’, and 99.99% of scientists in the field say it’s flat, at that point I would do some self evaluation to see why I was so hell bent on being wrong

      • This. This is exactly it. Commonly referred to as cognitive dissonance where when presented with evidence differing from that of one’s beliefs, they will discard said evidence as faulty and will double down going deeper into their wrongfully held beliefs. Cognitive dissonance can be overcome but it is very difficult to do so, especially if you aren’t willing to entertain the idea that your beliefs might be wrong.

    • Flying Squid
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      31 year ago

      I think it may have the best last line of any documentary. I won’t spoil it.

    • @DarkMessiah@lemmy.world
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      101 year ago

      The people who benefit from division, confusion, and inability to determine information from misinformation. Aka, the rich and powerful.

    • @Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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      41 year ago

      Some of them are really raking it in through Patreon and sales of shoddy merchandise. That’s how Alex Jones finances HIS deranged ramblings too.

      Spouting bullshit while pretending that THEY are trying to stop you to get people to donate and buy your shit is unfortunately an extremely lucrative business for many.

    • @Thorny_Insight@lemm.ee
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      21 year ago

      I’m still convinced that none of these people actually believe in flat earth. It’s the kind of belief you can pretend to hold without any other that reputational damage to yourself but I doubt any of them would be willing to put their money where their mouth is.

      • Oyml
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        61 year ago

        My mother joined the Flat Earth Society when she went to college because she thought it was so absurd and would be a fun experience. Turns out none of the people in that group actually believed it either, so it was just a club to hang out and socialize.

        Seems the whole flat earth thing is a lot more prevalent now so I’m guessing there are more and more people buying into the narrative.

        • @FilterItOut@thelemmy.club
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          41 year ago

          It’s the exact same phenomenon that several other fandoms or belief groups have gone through. First, start a satirical society and laugh about the foolishness with boon companions. Enjoy the companionship. Second, expand so that the society doesn’t die when you leave college or the location. Begin recruiting folks and telling them about your society. Third, watch as people join and some don’t realize it’s satirical. Disbelief dawns on the originals. Fourth, the true believers take over as the people in on the joke slowly leave due to all sorts of reasons, including no longer finding the society funny because of the true believers.

          I watched it happen with bronies (not the furry sexual folks, 4chan already had those, but just people who were really, really into the show) on 4chan, a ‘drinking’ club at my college that was a joke because they only drank water at the meetings (at first, anyway), and a local activity (can’t name it because it’s specific and would give it away) club that was truly supposed to be just a social gathering but is now populated by a gaggle of 70 year old women fervently taking part.

  • @JakenVeina@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Damn, actual personal growth being displayed on the internet? Such a rare thing I find myself wondering it wasn’t all staged. How messed up is that?

    Also, how messed up is it that it worked, cause I’mm’a go watch all of these.

  • @mojofrododojo@lemmy.world
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    181 year ago

    I am crazy impressed that anyone could follow that path and not just drop off the internet in shame when they realized. I hope if anything I view in the same manner ever comes up as fabricated I’m as brave.

    • @Agent641@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I used to be a 9/11 truther, convinced of ex military, windowless jets with missile pods, thermite and a global conspiracy to kill thousands just to fake the death of a few important scientists who were on the plane so they could be kidnapped and enslaved to prevent them leaking government secrets while also making bank on the insurance claims and destroying evidence of massive corruption and compromat, just like the scuttling of the titanic.

      Im still not really sure when and why I changed my mind.

      • @mojofrododojo@lemmy.world
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        11 year ago

        it’s the human experience - plenty of real conspiracy shit - from cia acid/mk ultra to the tuskegee experiment makes anything seem possible.

        I’ve always felt there was some stuff on the saudi side that was left unexplored but know that a passenger plane could take out a building, and working in vfx, knowing there was no way to fake it on site. life will offer more examples of ambiguous outcomes, and they’ll be replete with government fuckery in some cases, in others, it’ll just be random tragedy. good luck!

  • @Thorny_Insight@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    I wonder which kind of arguments made him change his mind; the evidence based ones or the ones calling him an idiot.

    • @flying_sheep@lemmy.ml
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      101 year ago

      Probably personal connection paired with facts and persistence.

      It’s not easy changing someone’s mind. You need a lot of dedication, especially if they’re in a community that reinforces their belief.

    • @robocall@lemmy.worldOP
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      51 year ago

      IIRC another YouTuber did a response video to his, disproving everything he said. And it opened his eyes.

  • @big_slap@lemmy.world
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    31 year ago

    it takes a lot to admit you are wrong, however, it only benefits yourself. it’s something I still struggle with emotionally, but it is what it is