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The risks according to the article are that these modern stories of alien visition could: - encourage conspiracy theories, which could undermine trust in democ

The risks according to the article are that these modern stories of alien visition could: - encourage conspiracy theories, which could undermine trust in democratic institutions - get in the way of legitimate science communication - threaten to overwrite indigenous storytelling From an anthropological view, myths of supernatural or superhuman beings are the norm, rather than any unique phenomenon arising from modern society. Many religions have stories of gods, angels, or ancestors who live among the stars and visit the earth on occasion. Are religions a "serious problem" in our society? Some would argue yes, especially as such stories can compete for mindshare with the worldview and narrative of science. What about traditional myths and legends? Or astrology and other non-scientific metaphysical beliefs? Fantasy and science fiction? I guess this last one is not a problem since people know it's for entertainment and don't actually believe in them.

netsharc 2y ago
> What about traditional myths and legends? Or astrology and other non-scientific metaphysical beliefs? Yeah, too much belief in junk like this is a hindrance to progress, IMO. Things like "freedom of religion" meaning you have to tolerate some bullshit because "their god said so, and we have to accept this bullshit because, freedom of religion" make me facepalm... Which I know make me sound like a right-wing fascist, but hey Western right-wingers also have views like the fucking Taliban. Some people ask "What's the point in believing and preaching about flat-earth?", that must also be a trick somebody came up with to sow disbelief in accepted science, and to deny all evidence except the ones their cult leader say are correct. Also it's a good way to spot fools whose money you can easily split from. Donate to the cause! Buy this frequency crystal to enhance your erection! For a good read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Demon-Haunted_World https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Demon-Haunted_World
- krapp 2y ago
  People still pretend flat-earthers are just well meaning skeptics and iconoclasts trying to demonstrate the faults of blind faith in scientism, but if you look into it, there's a lot of Biblical literalism and right-wing conspiracy theory behind it. Not to get too thumbtacks-and-string with it but if you keep following the connections of influence for most of these fringe memeplexes eventually you find the racists and antisemites "just asking questions." There should be a unit of measurement - maybe call it the "Icke" - of how far down the rabbithole you need to go until you find references to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Because it's usually not very deep.
  - bcrl 2y ago
    The flat earth documentary Behind The Curve made it clear that the reason for participation in the flat earth community is more about a sense of belonging for the people involved than anything else. Give people something that is better for society that can meet that emotional need, and maybe things will change.
    - krapp 2y ago
      They say the same thing about QAnon - most people wind up there simply because they want to belong. And the Proud Boys are just a bunch of harmless nerds who like Hawaiian shirts. And the people who busted into the Capitol on Jan. 6th were just confused. And all of the racists on 4chan are just harmless kids being ironic. Everyone always has only the purest of intentions, and it's always society's fault if one of them shoots up a synagogue. If you can only find a "sense of belonging" by opting out of consensus reality to that degree then there's something else going on besides social awkwardness. Also the links between the modern flat earth movement and antisemitic/white supremacist ideology are literally just a Google search away. This isn't even difficult to find.
      - netsharc 2y ago
        This anthropologist thinks so, he researched ISIS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlbirlSA-dc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlbirlSA-dc . A lot of people seem to treat their political identity like their favorite football team, it's pure tribalism in the form "My 'team', right or wrong!". Kind of sad that they'd rather have that "in-group" feeling rather than be a defender of what's moral and fair. And/or that they manage to twist their position to be the moral and fair one.
      - bcrl 2y ago
        The big difference today is that 40+ years ago, organizing a group based on fringe beliefs had a cost. People had to put real effort into finding and organizing these groups by sending out flyers and spending time in the real world. Today, it costs almost nothing to promote any organization based whatever you want -- hate, conspiracy beliefs, virtually anything that society as a whole agrees is harmful is but a few clicks away with mere pennies being paid for getting views. I strongly believe that hyper-targeting of these kinds of online ads and social media based content promotion is not good for humanity because it removes the social checks and balances that traditional less specific advertising or promotion of content have. Having people outside of the target audience see ads that promote hatred makes it more likely for them to be flagged or even cause a police report to be filed. It's a pity that big tech has completely removed human over-site of these issues in the name of "scale". Maybe "scale" isn't what humanity needs.

netsharc 2y ago

> What about traditional myths and legends? Or astrology and other non-scientific metaphysical beliefs? Yeah, too much belief in junk like this is a hindrance to progress, IMO. Things like "freedom of religion" meaning you have to tolerate some bullshit because "their god said so, and we have to accept this bullshit because, freedom of religion" make me facepalm... Which I know make me sound like a right-wing fascist, but hey Western right-wingers also have views like the fucking Taliban. Some people ask "What's the point in believing and preaching about flat-earth?", that must also be a trick somebody came up with to sow disbelief in accepted science, and to deny all evidence except the ones their cult leader say are correct. Also it's a good way to spot fools whose money you can easily split from. Donate to the cause! Buy this frequency crystal to enhance your erection! For a good read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Demon-Haunted_World https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Demon-Haunted_World

krapp 2y ago
People still pretend flat-earthers are just well meaning skeptics and iconoclasts trying to demonstrate the faults of blind faith in scientism, but if you look into it, there's a lot of Biblical literalism and right-wing conspiracy theory behind it. Not to get too thumbtacks-and-string with it but if you keep following the connections of influence for most of these fringe memeplexes eventually you find the racists and antisemites "just asking questions." There should be a unit of measurement - maybe call it the "Icke" - of how far down the rabbithole you need to go until you find references to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Because it's usually not very deep.
- bcrl 2y ago
  The flat earth documentary Behind The Curve made it clear that the reason for participation in the flat earth community is more about a sense of belonging for the people involved than anything else. Give people something that is better for society that can meet that emotional need, and maybe things will change.
  - krapp 2y ago
    They say the same thing about QAnon - most people wind up there simply because they want to belong. And the Proud Boys are just a bunch of harmless nerds who like Hawaiian shirts. And the people who busted into the Capitol on Jan. 6th were just confused. And all of the racists on 4chan are just harmless kids being ironic. Everyone always has only the purest of intentions, and it's always society's fault if one of them shoots up a synagogue. If you can only find a "sense of belonging" by opting out of consensus reality to that degree then there's something else going on besides social awkwardness. Also the links between the modern flat earth movement and antisemitic/white supremacist ideology are literally just a Google search away. This isn't even difficult to find.
    - netsharc 2y ago
      This anthropologist thinks so, he researched ISIS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlbirlSA-dc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlbirlSA-dc . A lot of people seem to treat their political identity like their favorite football team, it's pure tribalism in the form "My 'team', right or wrong!". Kind of sad that they'd rather have that "in-group" feeling rather than be a defender of what's moral and fair. And/or that they manage to twist their position to be the moral and fair one.
    - bcrl 2y ago
      The big difference today is that 40+ years ago, organizing a group based on fringe beliefs had a cost. People had to put real effort into finding and organizing these groups by sending out flyers and spending time in the real world. Today, it costs almost nothing to promote any organization based whatever you want -- hate, conspiracy beliefs, virtually anything that society as a whole agrees is harmful is but a few clicks away with mere pennies being paid for getting views. I strongly believe that hyper-targeting of these kinds of online ads and social media based content promotion is not good for humanity because it removes the social checks and balances that traditional less specific advertising or promotion of content have. Having people outside of the target audience see ads that promote hatred makes it more likely for them to be flagged or even cause a police report to be filed. It's a pity that big tech has completely removed human over-site of these issues in the name of "scale". Maybe "scale" isn't what humanity needs.