When people are emotionally invested in a belief, it can be hard to shake that belief with simple things like evidence and proofs.

Yah. My methods so far with dealing with people like that are telling them they're stupid, and using threats. Got any better ideas?

Well either they are rational or not. I tend to just casually point out an obvious error in their belief, or positions. I don't try to cram it down their throats but if they are sharing their flat earth nonsense then the topic is up for at least a casual response. If they bite, *shrugs* then I just keep pointing out more and more flaws in their thinking until A: They get mad B: They give up C: They actually start asking questions.

When ridiculing, it's important to keep in mind the difference between the person and their stupid position. Calling their religious views stupid isn't calling them stupid as a whole. Only stupid people would think that!

"He who is stupid, hates to be reubuked." Or somethin like that, thats a line my church pastor once said.

And yes, i try to remember the difference between calling someone stupid, and what they think stupid.

Well your pastor is wrong there too. :p Most people don't like being rebuked on anything they are emotionally invested into. That's why Science is such a more intellectually honest tool of the mind. In Science you want to be rebuked so you will stop believing something that isn't correct and thus further your own knowledge. ^_^

But once someone has invested emotion into something? ~_~ Had a conversation about Obamacare and why I'm against it. (Mathematical reasons, the numbers don't add up properly.) the person took me saying that to mean, I think the elderly and children should be abandoned and thus I'm an evil person. o_O

There's also people that believe 9/11 was an inside job and/or was done by SPACE-BASED LASERS!

But the earth is flat, space doesn't exist and satellites are just a hoax!

But then how do the tides come in and go out?

the earth is flat and is god's frisbee!

^ this

The earth is NOT flat! It is a CUBE damnit!

no its a hexagon!

RHOMBUS!

tetrahedron

ok, maybe it's a hendekeract

dodecahedron, motherfucker!

No, that's time.

A time cube! It all makes sense now! http://www.timecube.com/

I read only a few paragraphs, but that was too painfully irritating to continue.

I managed to get through a page of text before feeling my IQ lowering. The real fun is watching him rant on youtube XD

Confirmed!

And it rides on the back of four elephants on the back of a giant space turtle!

It is known.

And then it's turtles all the way down.

"See the Turtle of enormous girth!
On his shell he holds the earth.
His thought is slow but always kind;
He holds us all within his mind.
On his back all vows are made;
He sees the truth but mayn't aid.
He loves the land and loves the sea,
And even loves a child like me." -Roland Deschain

Y.... W.... No... Noooo.... That's not, that's not possible... I, I thought it was a joke, just one big joke. Like Pastafarianism. Nobody could take this seriously. Right?
...... Right?

I also love that on the Frequently Asked Questions page, the ONLY thing answered is "Is this a joke site?"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discworld
a better explanation...

here's my proof! and actual picture of the world!
http://www.allmystery.de/i/t86ecd7_.....theyoungto.jpg

I have been a member of the flat earth society for years; first, as a sceptic. Now, as a believer!


It's been a while since I posted there, but I will happily answer any of your questions about our FLAT EARTH using real science and logic. The kind in the bible!

I want to write an essay about butts on there.

"Nah, the Earth-a she be-ah round" - C. Columbus
Actually, it's the Sun that is flat! How else do you explain how it slips between the Earth and the horizon at sunrise and sunset?

The sun is a flat texture on the skybox. How else could it render properly?

Yeah. The universe is just nothing but an well built SL sim that somebody left combat mode on and turned no flight on amongst other annoying stuff.

LMAO nice!!! *laughs so hard I fall out of my chair.... still laughing*

Then what about meteors smashing into earth?
How can they miss, if the entire world is a giant cylinder of bullshit physics?

As someone who was once romantically involved with a conspiracist, let me tell you something. People with brain injuries will believe literally anything if you phrase it the right way. Make your bullshit out to be secret knowledge that the brainwashed masses have been tricked into rejecting, and they'll eat it up because it makes them feel smart and superior. Other easy saps for this sort of thing include insecure people who need the ego stroke of being smarter than everyone else via secret knowledge, gullible people who believe anything anyway, and abusers of powerful hallucinogenic drugs who believe this shit because they see it after you tell them.

It's hard to shake, because the entirety of conspiracist belief is built upon a foundation of "if anyone disagrees with you, they're either brainwashed or in on it." No one can ever tell them they're wrong or point out the numerous flaws and contradictions in their theories, any attempt to do so will be rejected out of hand. It's like religion, but crazier. You can't talk a conspiracist out of conspiracies anymore than you can talk a christian out of god. If they listen to a word you say, they had doubts from the beginning.

You just described the contemporary Tea Party and religion-base Republican party. Well done!

Well I dont believe that. I mean my partner doesnt believe half the stuff I investigate and research when it comes to conspiracy theories and that I tell him about just out of joy of sharing interesting things to pass the time. But even if I say "what if?" to some of those things and he doesnt I dont tell him hes brainwashed, wrong, or in on it. I just shrug and say hey Im just the messenger but I wont attack you if you dont believe or study the kinds of things I do or like to think about. I wouldnt say I am a conspiracy theorist... just extremely open minded and love to research and read about things like theories, beliefs, supernatural, spiritual, fantasy, sci fi, and conspiracy theories. So even though I am into some of them and think of some as plausable I am still open minded and dont push it onto others I just pass on the message of stuff I hear and learn about just in case they need to know if it ever does happen. :P

And I dont consider myself as gullible, insane, or paranoid. Just curious and like to be in the know of things people are discussing these days thats all. I believe in magic and that anything is possible rather than chaining myself down to defeat, despair, sadness, and futility of mankinds fate. I keep an open mind, investigate for myself, and pose my own theories too. :)

I apologize if I offended you, but my comment doesn't apply to you. I was speaking of conspiracists, which is a term referring to people who treat conspiracy theories like a religion. As in, approaching every theory they believe with the utmost seriousness and gravity (even if they have no supporting evidence) whilst disregarding any and all disproving evidence out of hand regardless of how thorough it may be. They don't need proof to believe their theories and won't accept proof against them because they operate on faith. They believe it's real, therefore it has to be, evidence be damned.

I'm sure not all conspiracists are as hardcore as the ones I've met. Some may even be halfway reasonable. If you're open-minded and research things for fun, then we actually have a lot in common. I'm highly interested in cryptids myself, but I've dabbled in conspiracy theories. I don't believe most of what I read (I'm the kind of guy who needs to be convinced, and mainstream science can't even do that all of the time), but it's usually pretty interesting stuff.

Same here so yes we do have quite a bit in common. And dont worry no offense taken I was just saying some people who are on the fringe of being a conspiracy theorist but arent quite one dont all act that insane or rag on others just cuz they dont believe. LOL ;3

I do see what you are saying out there. I believe their is a nutcase in almost all areas of study even in science who treat it more as science fiction and pose impossible theories and pose them as legit and real without a doubt. In my opinion that is just as bad as the religious nuts who believe things without a shadow of a doubt because they read it somewhere or have been told. Same thing with the hardcore conspiracy nuts LOL.

I like to be in the middle of the road. Questioning things... seeking answers...dabbling in theories. But I always say.. unless we die and meet our maker or simply fade away then I guess we will never know. The only proof is to experience it for ourselves. So cheers to a fellow open minded person! :D

Some people even treat mainstream science like a religion. To accept everything someone says without a hint of skepticism is an outward refusal to think, and refusing to think is a rejection of intelligence. Science can be wrong, has been wrong before, and will be wrong again. It's because science is wrong that humanity continues to grow smarter. Science is meant to continually grow based on new evidence, and because of that all currently accepted explanations for phenomena should be taken with a flicker of doubt. Because if something we believe to be true is proven wrong, we all become smarter for it, and we should hope for that to happen. To accept scientific findings as absolute truth without the slightest doubt is not being scientifically minded, it is applying faith to science, which I believe to be contradictory.

Exactly. Applying faith to science. And that is exactly what some scientists do. Some scientists want to be the end all be all of everything and have the final say about the afterlife, where we come from, and where we are going if in fact we are going anywhere. And to me that is just plain preposterus. No one can presume to know 100% for sure whether on the side of religion or science or even not ascribing to either one. We all dont know but we all might know in the end when the bell tolls for us all. ;3

I do like science.. when its accurate, reasonable, and logical with evidence to back it up. I do like religion when it is spiritual and not blind faith or mass organized religion. I love politics when people are not biased and crude on all sides hating on each other but rather telling the truth and trying to solve problems we as a very over populated species have. But I do not like any of these things if they seek to dominate, control, murder, swindle, or harm human beings and our right to question, think, ponder, and expand our experiences through our own personal achievements.

I do so agree with you whole heartedly and thank you for being of a reasonable mind to say so. We need more open minded and honest people like that in the world and then our world would be a better place.

Earth most defiantly isn't flat.

Expanding Earth Theory doesn't allow for a flat Earth!

The earth neither flat nor a sphere. It's can be more expressed as a polygonal mesh shaped as an ellipsoid.
Mind=blown.