4 ms·
I found it highly amusing how much people care about what other people think, as if the earth is really going to physically change its shape if some people beli
by slmjkdbtl 5y ago
I found it highly amusing how much people care about what other people think, as if the earth is really going to physically change its shape if some people believe it to be another. It's like believing the world is created by a god, or believing the universe isn't expanding, or believing there are finite amount of prime numbers. So what? These beliefs are descriptions, not ideals. They are believing in the earth is flat, not the earth should be flat (oh but I hope so much there's someone believing in the earth is round but we should flatten it). I personally prefer to live in a world where people have absurdly different beliefs on things that won't make a difference in everyday life.
- eximius 5y agothey dont make a difference until they do. ignorance builds into decay of our institutions.
- slmjkdbtl 5y agoWhat kind of difference do you think they want to make?
- JetAlone 5y agoI'm probably wrong about this but I think Flat-Earthers, if they became influential enough, should want to clandestinely (due to concern of dangerous guards patrolling the world border) colonize Antarctica (with resources provided by all sympathetic to their cause) as a staging ground to find and prove the existence of the ice wall. If thwarted in their search for it, they might conclude that the authorities set up some kind of ionic illusion field to make it seem like it simply isn't there and redirect them to wander the same ice plains forever. If the Antarctican colony were successful, I think the importance of believing in earth's flatness would be the mark of a true citizen, and for people of faith among them, they would be willing to schismate over highly literalist interpretation of parts of scriptures that suggest imagery of a flat earth. The Ice Wall might be colloquially seen as a legendary gate which will one day be revealed, through which the just citizens of Antarctica will be invited to escape to heaven before the end of the world...
- eximius 5y agoMy point was about ignorance in general, not specifically flat earthers.
- NikolaNovak 5y agoIt's tricky. On one hand I agree that variety of thoughts and opinions and ideas make things FUN. But we live in an interconnected society. The person next to me who thinks vaccines are tools of the devil that will install chip, or who believes climate change doesn't exist and God has promised to never again destroy the earth so we are fine, or the guy who believes homosexuality is a sin, or that earth is flat... They Get the same vote I do and their efforts impact me and others, and the only way I can see forward is education. So we can debate things which are value oriented and subjective but dear Gawd let's at least agree on basic facts :->. Or to put it differently, to what degree is true heart-felt belief in flat earth a predictor or sign of a belief system axiomatically different than mine - which again is super fun in casual philosophical chat with coffee way, and truly terrifying when they are e.g. in position of authority. To use example you've put forward, people who truly fervently believe ib a literal god can be lovely people on individual basis, but on average are likely to act in ways which terrify me. To put it another another way - a random person from another country being a flat earther is fascinating. My minister of science being a flat earther is not :-P
- slmjkdbtl 5y agoI agree with everything you said. I'm under the impression that flat earth does not possess an actual threat. If that's true then there's a difference to people believing vaccines are evil, an idea that also advocates action - to not take vaccine, which is capable of causing actual damage. Or believing in homosexuality is a sin - which advocates disrespecting or trying to convert homosexuals which can make people's lives harder. So curious to know how big of a threat flat earth truly is today.