I know a guy who was involved in some of those "experiments" and spent a considerable amount of time and money on them. He still is very adamant that it just proves that there is some other unknown confounding variable that just proves that the experiment was valid and that the designers of the flat earth already expected the experiments. It's really depressing. I used to really respect him when I was younger.
this post was submitted on 11 Nov 2023
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Hold the fuck up. Now theres DESIGNERS of the flat earth? Jesus Christ
Actually, it's his father
Its his father, him
Hi Dad. It's me, you.
The Time Traveling adventures of Yahweh and his selfson, Jesus.
God
I think they’re voting for Trump.
They illuminati killed them for their insolence
Did you watch the movie? Because the experiments showed that the earth was round, they decided that there must have been something wrong with the experiments.
Flat Earth Follower: "So what was the result of that laser gyroscope experiment we all gave you money for?"
Flat Earth Leader: "Well it showed a 15 degree an hour rotation... So we think 'heaven energies' are affecting it."
Flat Earth Follower: Nods happily, knowing he doesn't have to change his beliefs.
Very important question! Did they do the mind acrobat tango and still believe it's flat or did they just go to the next conspiracy theory?
No idea, but the greatest predictor of whether someone will believe a conspiracy theory is if they already believe another conspiracy theory.
Going to suggest the folding ideas YouTube channel on the same topic.
https://youtu.be/JTfhYyTuT44?si=m2b1gAkCOlDOnCle
Spoiler: his hypothesis, well supported in my opinion, is that a large proportion of those formerly in flat earth are now neck deep in qanon, and since the film was made many are now into other conspiracy stuff. The election was fake etc.
Also, his video of minnewanka lake is just perfect flat earth debunking.
The documentary was called "Behind the Curve" and featured Bob Knodel. Unfortunately he passed away this year. https://www.robertsfhsc.com/obituary/RobertBob-Knodel
It looks like you still believed in the theory though. He had a YouTube channel that was devoted to flat Earth conspiracy.
The experiment he was involved in was the gyroscope one. The documentary showed what happened after his experiment "failed": he decided the experiment was flawed and needed to be refined.
The aftermath of the wood slats with holes experiment at the end wasn't shown, but based on the rest of the documentary (and the history of people with conspiratorial beliefs) it's almost certain they did the same.
RIP to Bob, though. I hope his friends & family are coping well.
he decided the experiment was flawed and needed to be refined.
Ah yes, the scientific method:
- Make an observation or ask a question
- Gather background information
- Create a hypothesis
- Create a prediction and perform a test
- Analyze the results and draw a conclusion
- ~~Share the conclusion or decide what question to ask next~~ Discard the experiment if it doesn't support your preconceptions
You are correct, I had forgotten about the last experiment with the light shining across a distance. For some reason I thought that the gyroscope was the one that they ended on.
Bob may have been confused about the shape of the Earth, but he was still a person with family and friends. A good thing to remember about all of these people.
I'm sure they changed their minds... /s
There is not a lot to laugh about with flat earthers. The theory stems from Christian fundamentalism, and it is tightly connected to the christofascist movements trying to coup the USA at the moment.
And no, they are not going to give up their beliefs, because they didn't come by them through rational thought, so rational thought isn't going to disprove it for them.
Just to piggyback off this for the uninitiated:
If the Earth is round, then that means Earth is just like any other planet; one in a trillion.
Flat Earthers are convinced "space" is an illusion, all the celestial bodies are there to trick us into feeling insignificant.
If the Earth is flat, then we are special.
Truth is: we aren't, not in any cosmic sense.
It's not specifically about those same individuals, but I want to mention Dan Olsen's documentary In Search of a Flat Earth, which touches more on the ideology of the flat earth movement, and how it's developed in recent years. No spoilers, peeps!
It might asbwell be: when his experiment failed, he got told to "pray about it and try again"
I saw some of them in the zoo last sunday.
Apparently their theory fell flat in a round-a-bout way.
I dont know, I think they came around.
They did not.
Well, the only thing they have to fear is sphere itself.
They persisted in their flat disagreement with the earth being a sphere
It's been a while since I saw it, but I remember most people thought something was wrong with the experiment setup or equipment.
The movie is called Behind the Curve, and imo is a great move.
It doesn't try to ridicule the people in it. Instead it tries to make a point that if a group like the flat earth society is being made fun of rather than engaged in discussions, then the gap just gets larger and the problem worse. (If everyone else makes fun of you, you avoid them and stay in the community that supports you.)
As far as I can tell, Mark Sargent is still believing in those theories and continues doing his part in it. This doesn't surprise me, he's quite prominent in that community and I guess if he stopped, he'd lose quite a lot of his personal achievements, friends, hobbies, etc.
I don't know about the others who were in the movie, it would be interesting to know. Especially about those who were directly doing the experiments, yeah.
The documentary details ideas of the flat Earth from different perspectives, including prominent flat-Earthers Mark Sargent and Patricia Steere...
After the release of the film, Sargent and Steere both claimed their fanbase has grown considerably.
That's unfortunate, but understandable, I guess. As for the others, I see one has a following that use his last name as sort of a religious title, and didn't feel like clicking on the flat earth website to add to their ad revenues...
Appreciate the spoiler alert
It came out in 2018...