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A few year back, there was a Netflix documentary about flat earther. They've done a couple of experiment to prove that the earth is flat which (Spoiler alert) demonstrated that the earth is round.

So now that these persons have demonstrated scientifically that the earth is round. How are they doing ? Still flat-earther ? or did they give up with the amount of evidence they collected ?

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[-] CaptainBlagbird@lemmy.world 177 points 1 year ago

The movie is called Behind the Curve, and imo is a great move.

It doesn't try to ridicule the people in it. Instead it tries to make a point that if a group like the flat earth society is being made fun of rather than engaged in discussions, then the gap just gets larger and the problem worse. (If everyone else makes fun of you, you avoid them and stay in the community that supports you.)

As far as I can tell, Mark Sargent is still believing in those theories and continues doing his part in it. This doesn't surprise me, he's quite prominent in that community and I guess if he stopped, he'd lose quite a lot of his personal achievements, friends, hobbies, etc.

I don't know about the others who were in the movie, it would be interesting to know. Especially about those who were directly doing the experiments, yeah.

[-] snooggums@kbin.social 164 points 1 year ago

It tries to show that good faith engagement is better than ridicule, but in the end it shows that flat Earthers are so contrarian that they will actively ignore the results of their own experiments and engaging in good faith is pointless.

[-] dustyData@lemmy.world 79 points 1 year ago

Basically, treat all humans with dignity. In psychiatry you're told to treat all patients with good faith, but don't let the guy who thinks he is Napoleon run the hospital.

[-] snooggums@kbin.social 34 points 1 year ago

By default all humans should be treated with dignity unless they are causing direct harm to others. Flat Earthers are kind of an edge case because their anti science and evidence approach is tied in with the antivax movement so they are harming others indirectly.

MAGA idiots, racists, and other hate filled people do not deserve dignity. In amedical setting, sure, but not in the real world where they are causing harm.

[-] dustyData@lemmy.world -2 points 1 year ago

TIL hospitals aren't real guys!

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[-] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 14 points 1 year ago

"Don't let the horse run the hospital"

-John Mulaney

[-] lingh0e@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 year ago

I didn't even know a horse could do that!

[-] vzq@lemmy.blahaj.zone 17 points 1 year ago

Why not, they are great at running.

[-] ivanafterall@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

Unfortunately, the guy who thinks he's Napoleon usually does run the hospital and most other organizations.

[-] HessiaNerd@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

My takeaway is there is something driving that contrarian attitude. We need to figure out how to address those underlying causes rather than exacerbating them through ostracization.

Really good documentary. I watched it while trying to engage over at reddit's AskTrumSupporters. It was interesting to see that community become more and more radicalized as the years went on, as the insane bullshit piled up. Helped me come to terms with the fact that engaging on that level is counter productive if anything.

[-] Phanatik@kbin.social 69 points 1 year ago

The problem with flat earthers is that they don't listen to reason.

You can't reason someone out of a position they didn't reason themselves into.

[-] jettrscga@lemmy.world 38 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The takeaway I got from the movie is it's not really about the theory, it could be literally anything that brings people together. It's just about being part of a community and being respected somewhere. Of course you can't logic someone out of that.

It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.

-Upton Sinclair

...But also his friendships, and entire sense of worth.

[-] Phanatik@kbin.social 10 points 1 year ago

I don't remember if it was said in the doc itself or it was a video discussing the doc (I think Hbomberguy), that said "they (flat earthers) are attempting a form of science".

To me, what that says is, if they were intellectually honest with genuine curiosity, then they would've changed their views in the face of contradictory evidence. Time and time again, they showed that they weren't willing to do that even after seeing the results of their own experiments.

As you said, they've staked too much on this notion that the Earth is flat and can't afford to give up the grift now.

[-] cows_are_underrated@feddit.de 5 points 1 year ago

You're right. It isn't about proving something with science. It's about the community. In this community you always hear the same things over and over again, so if you start questioning your beliefs you also have to question all this "evidence" you saw. You have to question all your beliefs. The beliefs that you defended in the Internet and real life against other people. Doing so can cause an "existential crisis". It isn't comfortable to question yourself. Humans don't like change, so they won't question anything and hold onto their beliefs, since it's easy. Also all the people always positively engage with each other so breaking with your beliefs also means breaking with your social circle.

[-] jandar_fett@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Yeah. It's totally the sunken cost fallacy. They mistakenly think that there is too much to lose to change their minds and cut their losses.

[-] Rhoeri@lemmy.world 23 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

These people deserve to be ridiculed. It’s time we stop catering to these Idiots and allow them to face the consequences of their ignorance. Same with the MAGA minions.

[-] Aabbcc@lemm.ee 7 points 1 year ago

What consequences are there for being a flat earth idiot?

I don't understand how you can see a comment that says "being mean is unproductive" and conclude "we should be mean anyways"

Do you carry the same principle for fat shaming?

[-] pathief@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

Fat shaming is such a bad analogy, I wouldn't dream to mock someone for their body.

Mocking someone for the factually wrong "theory" they scientifically disproved themselves.... That's fair game.

[-] Aabbcc@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

What if an individual believes in flat earth theories because of a mental disregulation they suffer from?

[-] seitanic@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 1 year ago

You don't have a choice over whether or not you're fat. If you ask a fat person if they want to be fat, I can guarantee that the vast majority of them will say no.

Believing in flat earth, on the other hand, is a choice. The people in the Flat Earth movement don't want to leave; in fact, when faced with contradictory evidence, they just dig their heels in.

[-] sirboozebum@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

The village should not change for the village idiot.

[-] seitanic@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 1 year ago

I agree, except WTF is catering to flat earth?

[-] Tedesche@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago

Didn’t they also establish that Sargent is a hyper-religious Christian and that the majority of American flat-earthers are? If this is a religious belief for them then there’s absolutely no hope that they’ll change their views.

[-] cogman@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

It's mostly a religious belief. There are a couple of Bible verses that say things like "the earth will be rolled up like a scroll" and "spread to the four corners of the earth".

Biblical literalists cannot handle the Bible being incorrect about anything, so it's everyone else that's wrong.

[-] jandar_fett@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Much easier to rearrange reality to fit your perception rather than alter your perception and admit that you're possibly wrong.

this post was submitted on 11 Nov 2023
318 points (96.8% liked)

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