In Search Of A Flat Earth

What Hacker News said

Strong rec listennexttime · 2020-09 · on “Remembering my father”

It's pretty easy to find other sources that cover the same survey that is shown in the graphic of the grandparent's comment. (Business Insider, for example: [LINK] ) Keep in mind this survey was in May and I'd be willing to bet the numbers have grown, as I've watched QAnon grow, multiple mainstream Republicans have embraced them (and won primaries ) and the Vice President was slated to attend a fundraiser put on by a QAnon group until days of pressure forced him to cancel just days ago. I've watched HN downplay gamergate. I've watched it downplay climate change (until recently, finally). I've watched it downplay anti-intellectualism at every turn, whether it be flat-eartherism, anti-vaxxers,

Strong rec jesseryoung · 2021-02 · on “Letters from House members to cable providers [pdf]”

Perhaps a better example: Jewish people are telling you the earth is round so that way they can distract you from the fact they're kidnapping children and drinking their blood. A fantastic video on the topic of difficult to debunk, but easy to produce content [this video] .

Strong rec th0ma5 · 2021-05 · on “There’s no such thing as a tree, phylogenetically”

And if you want a chaser for any flat Earth material check out [this video] "In Search of a Flat Earth" probably the best documentary I have seen on conspiracy theories.

Strong rec MrAwesome · 2022-04 · on “Study conspiracy theories with compassion”

Folding Ideas on YouTube put out a documentary on YouTube which I think is a great example of this approach (complete with a nifty and thorough visual experiment on the roundness of the Earth, and a still-topical plot twist halfway through): [this video]

Strong rec cyborgx7 · 2022-04 · on “Umberto Eco on common features of fascism (2016)”

Belief in Flat Earth is most definitely not a joke for a very large group of people (though it is absolutely a joke for a much larger group of people). It is part of a wider movement of biblical literalism and conspiracy theories describing an international anti-christian plot. The fact that it is easily disproved isn't really a problem for these kinds of conspiracy theories. It actually kind of acts as a purity test for members. Kind of like how scams still use the "nigerian prince" trope, because it ensures only the most promising marks fall for it. A great documentary on the topic by Dan Olson aka Folding ideas: [this video]

Strong rec jiggawatts · 2023-01 · on “Interesting”

One of the best analyses of this whole thing I've seen is "In Search Of A Flat Earth" by Folding Ideas: [this video] Essentially, professing absurd beliefs is a sort of shibboleth to demonstrate in-group membership. The absurdity is the point , because it differentiates them from outsiders. Normal people make true or factual statements all the time, that's not a good differentiator! The statements need to be false and/or absurd to function for their intended purpose. The Flat Earth mythos isn't even that outlandish compared to mainstream religions, and well within the same wheelhouse as the type of beliefs used to identify the in-group in cults. Scientology comes to mind, but there are many other

Strong rec fallingfrog · 2023-06 · on “Dunning–Kruger effect and flat-earthers: An exploratory analysis”

There’s a great YouTube essay called “in search of a flat earth” that explores this phenomenon. It’s definitely worth a watch- it sort of lays bare the mindset of a group of people who want the world to be a simple, familiar place where there is certainty about everything. And, the host actually goes to a really long, calm lake and using a camera, shows the curvature of the earth in a visceral, visual way that is way more moving than I thought it would be. [this video]

Strong rec tenacious_tuna · 2023-08 · on “Ask HN: Who's Seeking New Friends?”

> It's not the FE that's attractive, it's that they're people who put very little value on social conformity and thus can be honest in a way that "fit ins" can't. There's a marvelous video [1] that Dan Olsen of Folding Ideas did as a deep dive into the community of Flat Earth and how it manages to survive. The TL;DW (though it really is worth the watch) is that people both want and need community, and all communities have ways of signaling that you belong to them. Sometimes it's language, sometimes it's clothes, sometimes it's behaviors--the "qualifications" vary wildly by group, but in many cases from the outside the exhibited behaviors of a group (e.g., believing in flat earth) don't jive