Researchers believe they have identified the prime driver for a startling rise in the number of people who think the Earth is flat: Google’s video-sharing site, YouTube.
Their suspicion was raised when they attended the world’s largest gatherings of Flat Earthers at the movement’s annual conference in Rayleigh, North Carolina, in 2017, and then in Denver, Colorado, last year.
Interviews with 30 attendees revealed a pattern in the stories people told about how they came to be convinced that the Earth was not a large round rock spinning through space but a large flat disc doing much the same thing.
Of the 30, all but one said they had not considered the Earth to be flat two years ago but changed their minds after watching videos promoting conspiracy theories on YouTube. “The only person who didn’t say this was there with his daughter and his son-in-law and they had seen it on YouTube and told him about it,” said Asheley Landrum, who led the research at Texas Tech University.
[...] Some said they watched the videos only in order to debunk them but soon found themselves won over by the material.
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In light of a potential second coming of the Adpocalypse, in which a number of major marketers have pulled YouTube ads after discovering that campaigns had run against ostensibly innocent videos of young children where pedophiles were exchanging fetishizing remarks in the comments, YouTube is taking severe pains to stamp out the behavior — but not all creators are thrilled with its sweeping response.
On Twitter, Christian family vlogger Jessica Ballinger — who shares videos with her husband, Christopher, and their four children (pictured above), including Parker, a five-year-old gymnast — expressed dismay that a handful of recent vlogs had been demonetized. YouTube acknowledged that while the clips themselves were ad-friendly, in light of the recent controversy, "even if your video is suitable for advertisers, inappropriate comments could result in your video receiving limited or no ads (yellow icon)." (According to YouTube's monetization icon guide, a yellow icon means that videos are not suitable for most advertisers).
Ballinger, whose channel counts 1.2 million subscribers, countered that she monitors her comment section stringently, and suggested that rather than punishing channels like hers, YouTube remove the offending comments and ban the users. However, the company said its "recent actions are due to an abundance of caution related to content that may endanger minors." It continued, "Not all channels do moderate, and we've had to take an aggressive approach and more broad action at this time. We're also investing in improving our tools to detect/remove this content, so we rely on your moderation less."
YouTube has backtracked, with a representative saying that videos that seem likely to attract predatory comments could have advertising restricted. But the damage is probably done, and YouTube creators may start disabling comment sections and doing outreach off-site in order to avoid the "someone sneezes and the video is demonetized" problem. That or they will write off monetization entirely, turning to Patreon and other platforms to supplement their income.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by khallow on Monday February 18 2019, @11:47PM (18 children)
We're speaking of a population that already believes some crazy stuff. Getting them to believe a little more crazy stuff that happens to be marketed well isn't that hard.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 18 2019, @11:59PM
Well, I think it's mostly a conversation starter; Hi, I am a flat-earther. Have you got questions? I have loads of funny answers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @12:17AM
The bigger question is who cares enough to devote a noticeable portion of their lives to the evangelization of either side. Flat Earth or spherical, it has never directly affected my life, in the sense that I don't care how planes or satellites work as long as they get done want I want them to do, which they do. Yes, it's a matter of concern to designers of such things inasmuch as it correctly predicts how their designs will work, but I don't deal with such things.
And no, I am not a flat Earth.
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @12:58AM (3 children)
For this reason, God sends them a powerful delusion(operation of wandering)(planet) so that they will believe the lie.
Mystery Red of the Great American Eclipse [siderus.io]
It has blood on it! [siderus.io]
ABCNews: Eclipse makes pendulum wander [archive.org]
Losing my religion [siderus.io]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by khallow on Tuesday February 19 2019, @04:55AM (2 children)
And you still have yet to explain why God is lying to us. As you might recall, he's supposed to be the straight-talker. Satan is supposed to be the liar.
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Tuesday February 19 2019, @05:44AM (1 child)
To test your faith, same reason he made dinosaur fossils.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @07:22AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9Wx6-c8VSo [youtube.com]
(Score: 4, Funny) by TheGratefulNet on Tuesday February 19 2019, @03:14AM
its not a flat earth.
but maybe they are confused with the 4 simultaneous days in one rotation of the earth.
(it helps if you are educated brilliant and not boring)
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @06:20AM (9 children)
Believing in Flat Earth has not so much to do with the belief that Earth does not curve, as it has to do with rejection of Technocracy. Once you realize this, it makes rational sense. Public Education has too long focused on metrics due to political pressure, which results in curriculumn where you are tought "2+2 = 4 because someone smarter than you figured it out, and you are going to take our word for it, and pass this fucking test." Facing that kind of moronic browbeating for 12+ years will instill in people a subtle desire to "fuck you" to the system.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by khallow on Tuesday February 19 2019, @01:43PM
I sure it's something like that. But what's the point of rejecting Technocracy by embracing outright ignorance? Knowing things wasn't the problem in the first place, after all.
(Score: 3, Funny) by urza9814 on Tuesday February 19 2019, @03:42PM
I first heard of the whole flat earth theory in my highschool physics class. The teacher would pick arguments from various flat earth websites and throw those at us instead of regular lessons, and we'd try to figure out why it was bullshit. :)
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday February 19 2019, @06:42PM (1 child)
2+2 = 4 because someone smarter than you figured it out
Placing two couples of oranges next to each other and counting them and looking at pictures of the earth are "browbeating" now.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @07:21PM
Right, 2 + 2 is 4 is simple to demonstrate.
That said, the words 2 and 4 are arbitrary (as is the basis of 10), but addition is simple to demonstrate, once you have figured out counting (which is just adding 1 repeatedly).
(Score: 2) by cmdrklarg on Tuesday February 19 2019, @07:01PM
Ah yes, "fuck you" because "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge!"
The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday February 19 2019, @07:13PM (2 children)
"Because public ed wasn't sufficiently sensitive to our feelings when teaching us obvious truths, we're going to believe something dumb." I suspect the Flat Earthers would have better luck with critical thinking. That way they could both criticize the Technocracy and get some respect from the rest of us.
(Score: 2) by edIII on Tuesday February 19 2019, @10:38PM (1 child)
It's not feelings, it's the lack of critical thinking skills. That I do believe has been engendered by public/private education for decades now. Standardized testing and politics made test scores more important than anything else, and what did we get? A bunch of multiple choice bullshit which I railed against in high school. Part of the reasons I had such trouble in school was I hated the boring shit of having some knowledge shoved down my throat in the form of doing it over and over again, without having any conversation as to the "why". Perform several hundred calculations and write out the answers, but let's never talk about WHY the math acts the way it does. Same with history. I could ace a test as fast as my pencil could move, but remembered nothing about that course even 2 or 3 years later. That was because nothing was discussed, there was no critical thinking exercises to figure out why the events in history happened the way they did. All that mattered was getting the right pencil mark in A, B, C, or D. Even that was beyond stupid, because anybody with a brain capable of critical thinking would see that A & B were wildly off the mark, C was plausible in a way, and that left the right answer D. So it wasn't even that hard. The tests I appreciated the most were the question and answer type tests that actually asked me to explain my answer and why it was correct, and not just that it was correct. Those tests were rare.
I think the lack of critical thinking skills in public schools, and the emphasis on the correct answer in multiple choice is the cause for some of this. So removing the egotistical part of the GPs argument, it has some merit. Shit you learned just by multiple choice has far less lasting effect than a discussion with an intelligent teacher that walks you through the arguments, uses the words "critical thinking", and attempts to actually teach you something. Otherwise, I can kind of see their attitude, "They never explained anything, they just told me what was correct, and I had to pass tests that asked for that correct answer. Why is the Earth not flat? They were obviously afraid and controlled and couldn't talk about it".
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday February 20 2019, @03:05AM
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Wednesday February 20 2019, @06:08AM
Interesting theory, but judging from the flat-earthers with whom I've had ...um, debates of faith... not really the case. The ones I've encountered come in two types:
1) Outright trolls who are good enough at it to be convincing, and perhaps enjoy the challenge.
2) Schizophrenics using yet another conspiracy theory ("they" are lying to you to hide the truth about the Earth) as their way of understanding an apparently-chaotic world. They invariably espouse a variety of other conspiracy theories, and are not at all bothered by apparent contradictions, because you're just gullible and wrong.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Freeman on Tuesday February 19 2019, @05:05PM
The bible doesn't teach that the earth is flat. In fact there's a passage that refers to the earth as a circle, but which would likely better be translated as a sphere. Given the other uses of the term. https://creation.com/isaiah-40-22-circle-sphere [creation.com]
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Kilo110 on Monday February 18 2019, @11:48PM (1 child)
Facebook private groups are ripe for the crazies to build out their echo chambers.
I'd say it's a bigger issue as there's no feedback loop via youtube alone.
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @12:13AM
Facebook has private groups for Muslims?
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 18 2019, @11:50PM (2 children)
Flat Earthers are almost as stupid as people who believe that biological sex is malleable.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @12:46AM
Don't blame millennials. Their mothers had them vaccinated and it affected their brains.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by meustrus on Tuesday February 19 2019, @08:47PM
I assume you are talking about trans and non-binary people. But any one of them will tell you that their gender is not malleable. Their gender is what is it, and it doesn't always match their genitalia.
Let's talk biology for a minute. 99% of the time, the human body forms one cohesive gender. But sometimes you get both sets of junk. Sometimes you get the outer part of a vagina that transforms into a penis at puberty. And sometimes, you get junk that works normally for one gender, but a brain that is set up for another.
The brain is gendered, and it does not always match the rest of the body.
It's not like biology itself isn't malleable either. You can dramatically change the shape of your body by diet and exercise alone.
You can even change your body with tattoos and piercings, including the "gauge" earrings that permanently stretch out your ear lobes.
This kind of body modification is "transhumanism", or the idea that we can be more than our natural biology. Typically the word is applied to cyberpunk, where fictional people modify their bodies with technology. But it applies pretty well here. The goal in either case is to assert direct control over one's own biology.
Trans and non-binary people assert three pretty basic things:
Beyond that, I suspect your problem is really with a political idea that has taken hold among LGBTQ advocates: that every person has a right to define how the rest of society relates to them.
This statement should be more controversial than it is. But because of how similar it is to thing #3 above, it tends to be lumped in with "rights of self-determination" instead of the category where it really belongs: "socially-compelled behavior".
I personally don't agree that we have a right to unilaterally compel others to treat us a certain way. But that's not even the most common way that trans and non-binary people get the pronouns that they want.
One common way is by adjusting other people's expectations through appearance and behavior. This dovetails nicely with many trans people's goals for personal expression.
But another common way to get people to treat you the way you want is by being worthy of respect and asking for it based on that respect. In this sense it's similar to insisting on being addressed as "Sir" or "Mr Lastname", with one important difference: the desired title is a lateral move instead of a promotion.
--
This has gone way off the rails (the rails being "let's feed the trolls"). Given my apparent failure to reach a satisfying conclusion, I'll end with a discussion prompt: who else believes that every person has a right to define how the rest of society relates to them? How similar is it to the right to not be offended in public spaces? And among those who reject transgenderism on the grounds that "biology is not malleable", is that because you believe biology is 100% consistent when it comes to gender, or because you reject transhumanism as a whole? Does that belief come from faith in the traditional gender binary, or something else?
If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 18 2019, @11:50PM (1 child)
Or at least the Flat Earthers. It must be an IQ thing that's less than a rocks IQ. At least a rock knows when to roll down a hill.
(Score: 2) by black6host on Tuesday February 19 2019, @12:49AM
Indeed. I struggle all day long to keep from rolling down from New England to Florida! Damned round earth...
(Score: 5, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 18 2019, @11:52PM (19 children)
I note that the popular rise in the belief in a flat Earth is correlated with the fraction of flat TVs and computer monitors on the market.
I claim that had we stuck with CRTs, which are almost always curved, the bizarre belief in a flat Earth would be less popular today.
Go ahead, prove me wrong.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 18 2019, @11:59PM (17 children)
As I've been explaining. The earth looks curved because it is seen only through curved lenses and eyeballs. If you look at the earth without any curvature interfering it would be seen as it really is.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @12:04AM (14 children)
Wouldn't the bending of space-time make up for that?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @12:10AM (13 children)
No, the bending of space-time makes no sense. What is the force doing the bending? No one knows. They just show a picture of a heavy thing on a sheet and say look at how it gets pulled down, now imagine that in 3D. Well, it gets pulled down due to gravity.
If gravity is caused by the bending, it can't also cause the bending.That would be circular.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @12:28AM (12 children)
No, the bending of space-time makes no sense. What is the force doing the bending? No one knows. They just show a picture of a heavy thing on a sheet and say look at how it gets pulled down, now imagine that in 3D. Well, it gets pulled down due to gravity.
If gravity is caused by the bending, it can't also cause the bending.That would be circular.
it's understandable that you're confused about this. It's really complicated stuff that only egghead incels care about. Wherever matter exists, it bends the geometry of spacetime. This results in a curved shape of space-time which can be understood as gravity. [kiddle.co]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @12:43AM (11 children)
The images on that page are exactly what I am talking about. They don't explain anything.
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Tuesday February 19 2019, @04:56AM (10 children)
Ignore the images:
Wherever matter exists, it bends the geometry of spacetime. This results in a curved shape of space-time which can be understood as gravity.
That's it. The whole of it.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @05:09AM (9 children)
No better than spooky action at a difference then. Nothing is explained here. And aren't people still looking for gravitons? How do those play into this "bending"?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @05:23AM (8 children)
So. Now that you've shown how moronic you and what passes for your sense of humor are, perhaps you'll educate yourself.
Or not.
Here are a few suggestions:
https://www.google.com/search?q=general%20relativity%20for%20dummies [google.com]
http://ocw.uci.edu/courses/einsteins_general_relativity_and_gravitation.html [uci.edu]
https://www.class-central.com/course/coursera-introduction-into-general-theory-of-relativity-6543 [class-central.com]
http://www.physics.mcgill.ca/~maloney/514/ [mcgill.ca]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @05:51AM (7 children)
What is the name for the force that allows matter to bend spacetime?
It should be a one line answer. I bet you really want to say "gravity", but that would mean gravity is causing itself according to your earlier post:
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @06:04PM (3 children)
It's not a "force" per se. It is a *property* of mass/energy that distorts space-time and creates the effect we experience as gravity.
Hows that's for a one-liner?
Here's another one-liner for you:
https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/media/math/render/svg/7955e0baf931b6d6f9c2e9d37dd9bb88d0a1eba8 [wikimedia.org]
(source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_relativity#Einstein's_equations) [wikipedia.org]
You can go ahead and continue trolling if you like. Or, on the off chance that you're just horribly uninformed, go ahead and learn the science/math behind Einstein's theory of General Relativity.
Or don't. It's no skin off my nose either way.
It really pains me to realize that you are almost certainly from the U.S. I am as well, and folks like you denigrate the rest of us in the eyes of the rest of the world. Sigh.
https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/3009/how-exactly-does-curved-space-time-describe-the-force-of-gravity [stackexchange.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 20 2019, @12:50AM (2 children)
https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/3009/how-exactly-does-curved-space-time-describe-the-force-of-gravity [stackexchange.com]
So what looks obviously like curved paths to anyone who isn't crazy are actually straight lines? Hmm, this reminds me of another belief.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday February 20 2019, @04:55AM (1 child)
What does "curved" and "straight" mean here? Straightness is with respect to the geometry of the space. If the space is nice and flat (or "Euclidean" as it is called), then the straight line is what we expect. But what if the space is not nice and flat? For example, on a sphere, straight curves are all great circles. In the three dimensional space that the sphere is embedded in, those are circles which are not straight.
On the sphere however, a traditional straight line won't stay on the sphere even a little bit. At best, you can get it to intersect the sphere twice. So that version of straightness is useless for describing curves on the sphere.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 20 2019, @10:28AM
Sounds like the earth is flat but the local geometry is curved then.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday February 20 2019, @05:28AM (2 children)
It feels great when you answer your own questions, isn't it? "Gravity" is indeed the answer. What's going on here is that the general relativity model attempts, with a great deal of success, to describe mass and gravity both in terms of the geometry of the space. It's not pure geometry. The mass-energy flow curves space-time, thus warping the geometry, and that curvature is indeed gravity as advertised.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 20 2019, @10:18AM (1 child)
Right, this is not gravity. This is:
The first thing is just an assumption, a postulate. No one has any explanation for it. I can just as well assume the earth is flat and derive all sorts of complicated math to make it fit what is observed.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday February 21 2019, @12:17AM
A model which happens to work very well at the non-quantum level.
The only thing we can explain is what we observe.
That's already been done. For example, NASA uses flat map representations of Earth while tracking satellites (example in this photo [enterpriseirregulars.com] (see right side of wall display). But it doesn't make sense to use that for modeling gravity, and not just for the complex math.
(Score: 3, Funny) by khallow on Tuesday February 19 2019, @12:06AM (1 child)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 20 2019, @02:10AM
Exactly: https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=30167&page=1&cid=803791#commentwrap [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 4, Informative) by Grishnakh on Tuesday February 19 2019, @01:00AM
This reminds me of those graphs that show an inverse correlation between the number of pirates and global warming.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by fustakrakich on Monday February 18 2019, @11:57PM (5 children)
Of course they will blame the thing that made them stupid. Censorship will make them smart again. Better yet, poke their eyes out, and fill their ears with molten lead. That way they won't be tempted to think dumb thoughts.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 3, Insightful) by crafoo on Tuesday February 19 2019, @03:00AM (4 children)
Brilliant solution! Our masters need more control. Finally, this is becoming obvious to everyone. But! Whatever we do, do not teach critical reasoning skills through school, every class. Do not weave rational decision making skills, personal bullshit verification, and self-reflection into class lessons. Better to stick with the current dogmas of in-group out-group battle strategies and finding-your-inner-victim.
Just like this article. We are the victims. Youtube is to blame. We accept no consequences for our actions or the state of our civilization. Good news though. We found someone to blame.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @07:27AM (3 children)
I blame crafoo and his radical free speech ideology. Don't you realize that mocking Flat Earthers for being stupid, and not allowing them to blame Flatbook, will only make them double down and go fully 2D?
(Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Tuesday February 19 2019, @04:48PM (2 children)
That's okay. We'll just nuke them from orbit.
--
Co-worker: "Good morning!"
Me: "You need to seriously calm down."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @08:06PM (1 child)
Pff.. If you can hit their line segment.
(Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Tuesday February 19 2019, @08:28PM
It's anti-plane technology. We're good.
--
Always stop and look both ways at a train crossing.
You can't trust a train.
They have loco motives.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @12:01AM
I can't decide which new idea Facebook apparently spawned is dumbest:
1. The earth is flat.
2. Walls are not an impediment to movement.
3. Wheels are not a facilitator of movement.
I am pretty sure it is more reasonable to believe in a flat earth than the other two.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @12:06AM (5 children)
If I take my ruler, or even my yardstick, out to a nice level lot, guess what: it's FLAT. Perfectly even and level.
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Tuesday February 19 2019, @12:10AM (1 child)
I live at the top of a hill. Checkmate.
(Score: 2) by RamiK on Tuesday February 19 2019, @12:18AM
I'd enjoy the Napa valley winery tour. Crown me!
compiling...
(Score: 3, Funny) by krishnoid on Tuesday February 19 2019, @07:34AM
That's because your yardstick is curved. It looks like it's straight ... at least that's what Big Yardstick has been telling us for decades.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday February 19 2019, @06:46PM (1 child)
If I take my ruler, or even my yardstick, out to a nice level lot, guess what: it's FLAT. Perfectly even and level.
Yeah, a lot that humans MADE flat. If I look out my window I see mountains. Definitely not flat.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday February 21 2019, @12:19AM
(Score: 3, Funny) by RamiK on Tuesday February 19 2019, @12:20AM
From 30 crackpots to 58 wackadoos.
compiling...
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Snotnose on Tuesday February 19 2019, @12:21AM (8 children)
It just makes the stupid people more obvious.
I've got a good friend, she's into essential oils, feng shui, vegetarian, yadda yadda yadda. Told her last October I was getting a flu shot, found out she doesn't do vaccines and her son never got one. Kicker was she told me 2 of her Scientific heroes, google says they're both cranks.
She's a wonderful person, a much better human being than I am. But damn, I don't understand how someone as smart as her can believe the crap she does.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @12:25AM (3 children)
Google gives you results that say what you want hear so you are more valuable to advertisers.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Tuesday February 19 2019, @01:05AM (1 child)
Google Bruce Lipton and/or Joe Dispenza and tell me what you think. Joe at least has half a leg to stand on, his claims can't be easily refuted although they're in the "give me an effin break" territory. Bruce? Yeah, total crank.
I'm really glad my friend doesn't read Soylent (Jo? You there?) She still talks to me, and may actually still like me. But damn, I know she's smart but how the hell?
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @03:11AM
Okay, Bruce Lipton seems to be extending epigenetics a bit further than is reasonable, but Joe Dispenza is a chiropractor!!!!!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @08:45PM
It is not neccesarily what you want to hear, but it's what makes you react the best from their perspective. They can play you like a machine. Emotions can be correlated to AND, NOT, OR etc. on a computer.
It works best on people who forget to question previous input and new input with "Why?". It is easy for most to do the "How?", but people tend to forget the Why. Our brains are associative machines. It's like a storage room with boxes of stuff (input) in them. When we need to react to something; we search the boxes, store the input and react with the content of the box. Our minds are simple machines and we're so unbelieably fucking dumb that we think we're smart.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Tuesday February 19 2019, @12:37AM (1 child)
Point her to Pubmed [nih.gov] and see if she finds anything there that she likes. At least that way you can both read anything she finds interesting.
Repeatedly training the selective denial of reality 'muscle' can probably help a lot when you need/want to close your eyes to evil in the world, at least just long enough to suppress more objective observational skills from getting in the way of reaching goals and living by principles that you think are worthy. Shadow her for a little and see if you can steal that part of her soul that makes her awesome; can't hurt, right? Maybe you could figure out how to convince her that some scientists (or heck, just general practitioners, or even Peace Corps workers) who believe in vaccines aren't so bad after all.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @12:48AM
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30632885 [nih.gov]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @02:52AM (1 child)
Just stop. You should have known right there that she falls for every alternative reality, nonsense fad that comes along. We have a small town about 10 miles from here that laps that kind of shit up. It's a great place to go for pottery, artwork and tie dye or to read my aura, but I wouldn't go there to inquire about medical advice or actual scientific studies on the efficacy of essential oils and feng shui. I'm sure it would be a measles hotspot too but we have a strict vaccination requirement for public school in my state and LGBTs aren't well known for their prolific breeding. Although, I do have a friend who lives there that claims direct knowledge of a number of turkey baster babies.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday February 19 2019, @03:19AM
Some essential oils have their uses. Clove oil is antimicrobial due to extremely high eugenol and methyleugenol content, for example, and similar compounds are responsible for the effects of oregano and rosemary oils. Taking them internally, though, is a bad idea in any but the most dilute doses, in which case you may as well simply heavily spice and herb your food. Most of them are just good for smelling nice, really :)
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 3, Informative) by Thexalon on Tuesday February 19 2019, @01:02AM (3 children)
Anyone who looks at a turtle knows its back is rounded, not flat!
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @01:12AM
If you use a small enough ruler, say the size of a Flat Earthers penis... It's flat.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @03:45AM
I, the King of the Internet declare you winner. May Atuin carry you always.
(Score: 2) by Rivenaleem on Tuesday February 19 2019, @02:01PM
But it has elephants there to balance the load.
(Score: 2) by CZB on Tuesday February 19 2019, @02:38AM (2 children)
I haven't met a flat earther walking the earth yet, but online the only ones who seem to really believe were first convinced that most educational authority's are lieing. Once you are convinced nasa and all the governments are trying to hide a bunch of stuff, then all you can trust is your own eyes. And it turns out its really fun to take up a belief that its me against the world.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 19 2019, @08:51AM
Maybe they come from an alternate universe where the earth really is flat. Somehow their internet connected to ours...
(Score: 3, Funny) by The Archon V2.0 on Tuesday February 19 2019, @04:57PM
> I haven't met a flat earther walking the earth yet
Of course not, they're afraid of walking too far and falling off the edge.
(Score: 2) by engblom on Tuesday February 19 2019, @10:34PM (1 child)
At this moment the in many countries canyon separating the rich from the poor is just getting bigger and the queues for bread is growing. So many are feeling badly treated by their governments. This is a way for them to escape reality, by imaging that everything told by schools and authorities is just fake. They escape into the flat earth world, well knowing that it is not the real world, but it is still an alternative to their miserable life.
It is pretty much harmless to escape into an imagined world and for fun arguing with other about it and trying to find arguments for this world. A few truly easily tricked might follow by real belief. Still I believe most of the flat earthers know a flat earth does not exist. And better they escape into this world rather than escaping reality by getting high.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday February 21 2019, @02:31AM
Except in the most of the world where that isn't happening, of course. And people who watch videos on YouTube and attend conferences aren't waiting in bread lines.