3 ms·

I watched the documentary about flat Earthers and I think they're just having harmless fun.

jussij 7y ago
I've watched quite a few of the flat earther videos found on youtube and at least to me, they seem to come across as genuine and sincere, yet very much misguided. I would say this is also a good description for todays climate change deniers.
- liability 7y ago
  On the other hand, I have pretended to be a flat earther many times for fun and I've noticed there are some people who seem convinced you're genuine no matter how silly you make your arguments. That's kind of a sport in itself; seeing how ridiculous you can get before other people realize you're having them on. > "The earth used to be round but over a timescale of billions of years it slowly flattened out like a ball of silly putty left sitting on the table."
p1mrx 7y ago
It's all fun and games until someone falls off the edge.
- huffmsa 7y ago
  Til a cat knocks you off the edge.
lukifer 7y ago
I found the same documentary instructive. I think there's an insight there into human tribal instincts, demonstrating that our epistemologies can't help be be socially mediated. It was flabbergasting how deeply intelligent some of the true believers were, and it's a little too convenient to label and discard them as crazies or outliers. They might be a little more representative of the human animal than any of us want to admit. What's most unsettling is, there's no reason to expect that the same psychosocial tribal mechanisms are not constantly active, even when the facts are on the side of one's tribal beliefs. This leads to any number of blind spots, not only in truth-seeking and self-correction, but in social dynamics (in-group vs. out-group). Our brains are exceptionally, insidiously good at working backwards, not just to convince others, but to convince ourselves. Those who can spin on a dime and update/discard ideas in the presence of new evidence are a truly rare breed. Two of my favorite books on motivated reasoning and self-deception: Strangers to Ourselves, by Timothy D. Wilson: https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674013827 https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674013827 The Elephant in the Brain, by Robin Hanson & Kevin Simler: http://elephantinthebrain.com/ http://elephantinthebrain.com/

I've watched quite a few of the flat earther videos found on youtube and at least to me, they seem to come across as genuine and sincere, yet very much misguided. I would say this is also a good description for todays climate change deniers.

liability 7y ago
On the other hand, I have pretended to be a flat earther many times for fun and I've noticed there are some people who seem convinced you're genuine no matter how silly you make your arguments. That's kind of a sport in itself; seeing how ridiculous you can get before other people realize you're having them on. > "The earth used to be round but over a timescale of billions of years it slowly flattened out like a ball of silly putty left sitting on the table."

p1mrx 7y ago

It's all fun and games until someone falls off the edge.

huffmsa 7y ago
Til a cat knocks you off the edge.

lukifer 7y ago

I found the same documentary instructive. I think there's an insight there into human tribal instincts, demonstrating that our epistemologies can't help be be socially mediated. It was flabbergasting how deeply intelligent some of the true believers were, and it's a little too convenient to label and discard them as crazies or outliers. They might be a little more representative of the human animal than any of us want to admit. What's most unsettling is, there's no reason to expect that the same psychosocial tribal mechanisms are not constantly active, even when the facts are on the side of one's tribal beliefs. This leads to any number of blind spots, not only in truth-seeking and self-correction, but in social dynamics (in-group vs. out-group). Our brains are exceptionally, insidiously good at working backwards, not just to convince others, but to convince ourselves. Those who can spin on a dime and update/discard ideas in the presence of new evidence are a truly rare breed. Two of my favorite books on motivated reasoning and self-deception: Strangers to Ourselves, by Timothy D. Wilson: https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674013827 https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674013827 The Elephant in the Brain, by Robin Hanson & Kevin Simler: http://elephantinthebrain.com/ http://elephantinthebrain.com/