Just realized the whole 'flat earth' thing is way more about community than belief

I used to think people actually believed the earth was flat, but after watching a bunch of videos from the 2018 conference in Denver, I saw something else. People kept getting the facts wrong on purpose, not because they were dumb, but because arguing about it made them feel like they belonged to a group. It matters because it shows how these ideas spread, not from proof, but from people wanting to be part of something. Has anyone else noticed that the arguments never really change, no matter what evidence you show them?

4 comments

4 Comments

juliarodriguez4mo ago

Totally get that. Saw the same thing with the moon landing stuff. Watched a whole debate where a guy kept saying the flag was waving. Someone showed him the clip frame by frame, flag was still. He just shrugged and said "looks fake to me." Wasn't about the flag at all. It was about his buddies in the chat all backing him up. They're not there for facts, they're there for the high fives. The argument is just the ticket to get in the door.

smith.parker4mo ago

That Denver conference... was it mostly just the same people talking to each other, or did they bring in any outside experts to try and prove their point?

park.miles1mo ago

Have you ever just tried asking them "ok, so what would it take to change your mind?" The silence is usually deafening. That's the tell right there. When someone's belief is actually about facts, they can tell you what evidence would disprove it. When it's about community, they can't answer that question at all. Best thing you can do is stop arguing and just point out the patterns you're seeing. Let them sit with that.

annajenkins4mo ago

Yeah, that's the whole thing right there... it's like the facts are just props. I saw a clip where a guy was talking about how ships don't disappear bottom-first over the horizon. Someone live-streamed a telescope view of a boat slowly dipping hull-first into the distance. The flat earth guy just said the video was edited by NASA. The proof didn't matter at all. Winning the argument was losing, because if he admitted he was wrong, he'd lose his whole friend group. The belief is just the glue.