Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To “Convert” Them

A recent poll from Insider has shown that a third of Americans believe in at least one unscientific idea, from the Illuminati to extraterrestrials visiting Earth. Believing that our Earth is flat is one of those common conspiracies that the science community, from physicists to astronomers, find ludicrous.

But in the age of the internet, advanced biotechnologies, gene engineering, and AI, many people genuinely believe it. In fact, a YouGov survey found that just 66% of young adults, aged 18 to 24, have “always believed the world is round.”

The great challenge in tackling the flat Earth conspiracy is knowing how to talk to people who genuinely believe that the Earth is flat. And this viral Twitter thread offers an invaluable lecture on that.

Written by an Oklahoma-based astronomy educator, Okie Space Queen, the thread reveals how they take their portable planetarium to show the universe to people in rural areas. Let’s see the particular arguments the author arms themself with to convince flat Earth believers they are in fact wrong.

The author of the viral thread carries this portable planetarium to teach people astronomy, and often they encounter flat earthers

Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To "Convert" Them

Image credits: okiespace

Armed with wit and astronomy knowledge, the author uses these useful tactics to talk to flat earth believers

Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To "Convert" Them

Image credits: OkieSpaceQueen

Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To "Convert" Them

Image credits: OkieSpaceQueen

Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To "Convert" Them

Image credits: OkieSpaceQueen

Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To "Convert" Them

Image credits: OkieSpaceQueen

Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To "Convert" Them

Image credits: OkieSpaceQueen

Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To "Convert" Them

Image credits: OkieSpaceQueen

Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To "Convert" Them

Image credits: OkieSpaceQueen

Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To "Convert" Them

Image credits: OkieSpaceQueen

Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To "Convert" Them

Image credits: OkieSpaceQueen

Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To "Convert" Them

Image credits: OkieSpaceQueen

Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To "Convert" Them

Image credits: OkieSpaceQueen

Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To "Convert" Them

Image credits: OkieSpaceQueen

Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To "Convert" Them

Image credits: OkieSpaceQueen

Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To "Convert" Them

Image credits: OkieSpaceQueen

Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To "Convert" Them

Image credits: OkieSpaceQueen

Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To "Convert" Them

Image credits: OkieSpaceQueen

Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To "Convert" Them

Image credits: OkieSpaceQueen

Flat Earth conspiracy is part of an ongoing trend of general skepticism and disbelief in authorities

To find out more about what makes people believe that the Earth is flat, Bored Panda reached out to Dr. Chris Fleming, an associate professor at the School of Humanities and Communication Arts in Wester Sydney University.

“There’s a generalized skepticism towards all established authorities, so this is sort of an old historical trend that you can trace back to the European enlightenment. Part of what it did was questioning authority.” But with flat Earth conspiracy, that kind of skepticism towards institutions has become insane.

“Most of our knowledge of scientific theories comes through institutions. None of us go around independently verifying laws of physics or effectiveness of drugs. We take it from institutions and experts, we only got indirect evidence,” the professor explained.

Moreover, “Partly the way that people end up disbelieving in science is a questions of the trust in human beings placed in institutions,” Fleming said and added that “Just as people become increasingly suspicious of the government, often for a good reason, and suspicious about science, sometimes with good reason, then you have this idea that I am going not believe these kind of things.”

“And that can become a kind of syndrome, this notion that you’re being lied to by authorities. So in a way, it’s a particular crazy expansion of an otherwise quite healthy attitude,” he added.

‘Democratized’ knowledge that allows anyone with social media to put out their theories is also to blame

Another reason why people believe in such a crazy idea is having naive relationships to our experiences. “In a lot of instances you have people looking out at the world, and they go: ‘kinda looks pretty flat to me.’ That kind of approach to the world is pretty effective on some levels, like seeing if you’ve got milk and you open a fridge and have a look.”

However, for assessing the curvature of the Earth, it’s not such a good strategy. “This is partly the effect of things like democratization of knowledge, since anyone with a social media account can put out their own theories, and stack it with their dubious footnotes and make it look serious,” Fleming concluded.

And this is what people had to comment on the illuminating thread that has gone viral

Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To "Convert" Them

Image credits: expoztruth

Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To "Convert" Them

Image credits: ehillenbrand1

Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To "Convert" Them

Image credits: StPeterGates

Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To "Convert" Them

Image credits: OkieSpaceQueen

Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To "Convert" Them

Image credits: Palitato

Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To "Convert" Them

Image credits: goforthfilm

Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To "Convert" Them

Image credits: manekeniko

Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To "Convert" Them

Image credits: aidan8et

Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To "Convert" Them

Image credits: TTofferb

Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To "Convert" Them

Image credits: IanPenn46103682

Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To "Convert" Them

Image credits: airyt

Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To "Convert" Them

Image credits: Mazhamthadame

Person Who Deals With A Lot Of Flat Earthers Shares Their Tactic To "Convert" Them

Image credits: Kevin_Hainline

I'm the Visual Editor at Bored Panda, responsible for ensuring that everything our audience sees is top-notch and well-researched. What I love most about my job? Discovering new things about the world and immersing myself in exceptional photography and art.

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Liucija Adomaite is a creative mind with years of experience in copywriting. She has a dynamic set of experiences from advertising, academia, and journalism. This time, she has set out on a journey to investigate the ways in which we communicate ideas on a large scale. Her current mission is to find a magic formula for how to make ideas, news, and other such things spread like a virus.

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What do you think ?

POST

Chewie Baron 3 years ago

I've said it before and I'll say it again: if the Earth was flat, cats would have pushed everything off the side by now.

37points

Marcellus the Third 3 years ago

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Bruce Mills 3 years ago

Unless you HAVE to, for your job(ie running a planetarium), would anyone seriously want to try and educate someone that the earth isnt flat? I cant imagine a harder or more pointless endeavour - they're adults, and they still believe it enough to try and argue with people about it.

6points

Justin Patel 3 years ago

Exactly. I even made a video supporting those silly theories using a globe and a flat surface. Nothing was able to stay on the globe because it was round. But it would stay firmly planted on a flat surface. Thus, the earth is flat. Let them live in their own heads.

2points

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M O'Connell 3 years ago

I think a time-lapse video out the left side of an airplane on an overnight flight from Miami Florida to Reykjavik Iceland would be a useful teaching tool. It's a 13 hour flight, but sped up into a few minutes it would be easy to perceive the curvature of the earth by the change in azimuth of the northern constellations, and being able to observe the sunset at one latitude and the sunrise at another.

5points

ivan bolitekurac 3 years ago

I don't agree with flat earthers but i also don't like people who brag about reading 600 books a year

2points

Truth Monster 3 years ago

I just really struggle to accept that Flat Earthers are sincere and believe the earth is truly flat. Its not like these people were raised in an educational backwater where they are several centuries behind academically. If they hold this belief true. that means that for some reason they are rejecting the observable and corroborated truth and choosing one of the most ridiculous theories in midst of the Information Age. Its like they are the cavemen who grew up with fire, but for some reason are rejecting it (denying its existence!) and are fumbling around in the dark without it. I find the regression troubling.

2points

ChickyChicky 3 years ago

"I don't know how to deal with Q Anon, they refuse to read." Yes. I have encountered that.

2points

John Baker 3 years ago

And right on cue, we have two complete and utter morons chiming in. How ya doin', Millar and ojcuts?

2points

Cassie 3 years ago

I find it interesting that he mentioned this doesn't work on the Qanons. They don't seem to understand what "facts" means and regularly demonize "fact checkers" as if people who check the facts are doing something evil instead of trying to find the truth on a given topic. I'd love to see several psychologists' take on the phenomenon that is the Qanons.

2points

Bacony Cakes 3 years ago

They only like "Facts" if said "Facts" support that they should keep their Adolf Hitler Bodypillow.

1point

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Bacony Cakes 3 years ago

Of course it's flat. It's still a bit fizzy at the bottom areas (e.g. the pacific ring of fire), but other than that, no carbonation at all.

1point

John Topper 3 years ago

Can't we just neuter them? If someone can make it all the way to adulthood and not figure out Earth = round than we really don't need them in the gene pool.

1point

Dinogirlvt 3 years ago

At this point, I'd have to say flat earthers are just ignorant, wrongly educated, attention seeking, stubborn beings.

1point

Lucas. Kotomski. 3 years ago

It's so weird that flat earthers always say that NASA is one of the only ones that can provide proof for round earth when people in ancient times knew the Earth was round.

0points

Levi Deaton 3 years ago

This comment has been deleted.

0points

Donna Crowe 3 years ago

Ask them what's on the other side....

0points

Paradise 3 years ago

Why do people even dispute this? What makes them think it is flat? Do we fly from somewhere, going West, and never return to that destination, or see the underside of the world? Like, what do think they is "under" the Earth, a replica? Or is only half the Earth on top, half on the bottom?

0points

Justin Patel 3 years ago

Maps are flat and their parents never bought them a globe.

0points

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Mark Gill 3 years ago

I'm not reading all that nonsense, I just want to know where to get a blow-up Igloo!?!?!

-2points

ojcuts 3 years ago

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Justin Patel 3 years ago

Tough crown downvoting you 29 times! Why?

0points

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POST

Chewie Baron 3 years ago

I've said it before and I'll say it again: if the Earth was flat, cats would have pushed everything off the side by now.

37points

Marcellus the Third 3 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

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Bruce Mills 3 years ago

6points

Justin Patel 3 years ago

2points

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M O'Connell 3 years ago

5points

ivan bolitekurac 3 years ago

I don't agree with flat earthers but i also don't like people who brag about reading 600 books a year

2points

Truth Monster 3 years ago

2points

ChickyChicky 3 years ago

"I don't know how to deal with Q Anon, they refuse to read." Yes. I have encountered that.

2points

John Baker 3 years ago

And right on cue, we have two complete and utter morons chiming in. How ya doin', Millar and ojcuts?

2points

Cassie 3 years ago

2points

Bacony Cakes 3 years ago

They only like "Facts" if said "Facts" support that they should keep their Adolf Hitler Bodypillow.

1point

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Bacony Cakes 3 years ago

Of course it's flat. It's still a bit fizzy at the bottom areas (e.g. the pacific ring of fire), but other than that, no carbonation at all.

1point

John Topper 3 years ago

Can't we just neuter them? If someone can make it all the way to adulthood and not figure out Earth = round than we really don't need them in the gene pool.

1point

Dinogirlvt 3 years ago

At this point, I'd have to say flat earthers are just ignorant, wrongly educated, attention seeking, stubborn beings.

1point

Lucas. Kotomski. 3 years ago

It's so weird that flat earthers always say that NASA is one of the only ones that can provide proof for round earth when people in ancient times knew the Earth was round.

0points