Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

BigmanPigman

(51,582 posts)
Tue Nov 14, 2017, 07:05 PM Nov 2017

I met someone who believes the "flat Earth theory".

Last edited Tue Nov 14, 2017, 08:52 PM - Edit history (1)

I came home and Googled it and it does exist. People are actually believing this crap all over social media now. They say that the planet is flat, the sun goes around the earth and there is a wall of ice around the whole planet.
I read your replies and this link is almost word for word what this person told me...believe me I ASKED A LOT OF QUESTIONS!
Here is the link: http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/space/the-flat-earth-theory-has-seen-a-resurgence-with-people-trying-to-prove-our-planet-is-not-a-sphere/news-story/0bd1226fbe2e2bc819ec12733591e8c9

18 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies

PoindexterOglethorpe

(25,839 posts)
5. I wonder if it would do any good to ask that person
Tue Nov 14, 2017, 07:26 PM
Nov 2017

for proof of the wall of ice. Like a photograph. Or how do they think airplanes go from one place to another?

BigmanPigman

(51,582 posts)
9. They have an answer for all of it.
Tue Nov 14, 2017, 08:59 PM
Nov 2017

I posted the link above in an edit. Apparently NASA, the Govt and scientists are all in cahoots of course

StatGirl

(518 posts)
7. Of course! And it's all carried on the back of four elephants standing on a turtle . . .
Tue Nov 14, 2017, 07:38 PM
Nov 2017

. . . who is swimming through space. I read it in a book, so it must be true.

BigmanPigman

(51,582 posts)
10. Yes, it is all fake and it involves NASA,
Tue Nov 14, 2017, 09:04 PM
Nov 2017

airline pilots, photographers, etc. He REALLY believed it and it is a real internet conspiracy theory. I was going to ask if he believed about the fluoridation conspiracy too but thought better of it since he started to go into 9/11 and how there was no plane that actually flew into the Pentagon. Other than this he seemed quite sane.

TreasonousBastard

(43,049 posts)
12. Even better than "flat earth" is the idea that we are living on the inside of a sphere...
Tue Nov 14, 2017, 09:49 PM
Nov 2017

We can't fall off the edge because there is no edge. Day and night are caused by the moon circling around the sun, which sits in the middle of the sphere. The rest of solar system and the universe is either orbiting the sun or just an illusion.

Now, try to argue with THAT nutter!

TreasonousBastard

(43,049 posts)
13. Even better than "flat earth" is the idea that we are living on the inside of a sphere...
Tue Nov 14, 2017, 09:50 PM
Nov 2017

We can't fall off the edge because there is no edge. Day and night are caused by the moon circling around the sun, which sits in the middle of the sphere. The rest of solar system and the universe is either orbiting the sun or just an illusion.

Now, try to argue with THAT nutter!

Turbineguy

(37,312 posts)
14. Bound to happen.
Tue Nov 14, 2017, 10:03 PM
Nov 2017

People have to adapt. Trump was not elected by the sort of people who live on a round Earth. And if they are here, they are everywhere.

 

Codeine

(25,586 posts)
15. Same here, about six months back.
Thu Nov 16, 2017, 09:32 PM
Nov 2017

I was FLOORED. Dude was completely serious, right down to believing that the night sky we see is really a huge crystalline dome. It was whackadoodle.

DetlefK

(16,423 posts)
17. The sad part is, they refuse to prove their own claims. Refuse to do experiments.
Tue Mar 6, 2018, 08:33 AM
Mar 2018

1.
Many Flat-Earthers simply don't know science. They don't know what they are talking about. They can parrot talking-points about geometry, inertia and relativity, but when you try to have a discussion with them, they get confused and angry.

2.
Flat-Earthers refuse to provide hard data.
Flat-Earthers refuse to run rigorous experiments to test their theory whether Earth is flat.
There are so many eyewitness-accounts that Earth is flat, but somehow there are no photographs, no measurements, no hard data you can double-check.

I kid you not:
Their best-possible evidence that Earth is flat is a series of eyewitness-accounts from 150 years ago.

BigmanPigman

(51,582 posts)
18. I ran into the flat earth dude walking his turtle again
Tue Mar 6, 2018, 05:59 PM
Mar 2018

a few weeks later. He is the guy who I met in the park while training his turtle to walk on a leash. He told me about this theory and so I went home and googled it. He was trying to sell someone else on his theory. I was able to intervene and rescue her from listening to this crap for half an hour like I did.

Latest Discussions»Retired Forums»Creative Speculation»I met someone who believe...