This happened to me, except it was an antivaxxer coworker, and he gave me his preventable disease right before I was supposed to be going on an international ski trip with friends for my birthday. I wanted to murder him :)
I can totally understand not really wanting to engage with these stupid people but to suggest that it doesn't matter that he believes that is disingenuous.
If he's stupid enough to think the Earth is flat then he is stupid enough to do other things in his actual job wrong or in a dangerous manner.
Yeah, this is one of those stupidity litmus tests. Believing that the Earth is flat vs. round does appear at face value to be consequential, as the average person never actually has to care about the curvature of the earth. However, it's not really about the curvature of the earth, it's about critical thinking, listening to evidence, and having a sane and rational worldview.
There is physical evidence that the earth is round, and you can even test it yourself. Flat earthers will run these tests themselves (watch "Behind the Curve") and will still convince themselves that the tests are flawed and the Earth is flat.
And being a flat-earther isn't just a simple difference in belief about the natural world. It comes with the belief that most of society is brainwashed into believing in a round earth, that the governments of the world are all colluding to keep the truth a secret, and that there exists some great truth about the "Firmament" (the dome above the flat earth) that those in power benefit from denying society.
So it's not just some simple difference in belief. Flat earthers think you're a stupid brainwashed rube controlled by a global cartel of godless governments colluding to blind the world to the existence of God by denying the existence of the Firmament and and spreading the Satanic evil of scientific knowledge that suggests that all things in the solar system trend spherical and orbit one another.
Flat earthers hold roughly the same beliefs that the people who imprisoned Galileo, and they would do it again if given the chance because they are overwhelmingly MAGA-types, at least in the USA, where lunatic conspiratorial beliefs are quite common.
It doesn't matter in the context of effort/reward. He's not gonna listen, you lose cohesiveness, and there's just added stress overall.
And the job isn't exactly rocket science you can literally have downes and still stock shelves. Flat earthers are more about desperately wanting to believe in something that places you in an exclusive ingroup, not about legitimately proving something.
I believe in truth and that facts do matter. I also teach young people. Being a wage earner was not a bad thing, but I yearn for the freedom to live an easier life, eventually. I want that for everyone.
False beliefs are traps that hold people back from being their best selves. Carry flat-earth beliefs as a core foundation and look at what differences it would make. Geostationary satellites, and all the tech jobs that go with servicing that sector, just disappeared. Ditto solar. Travel to distant places, and time zones, becomes an insolvable problem. Your co-worker is holding his life back by believing in medieval superstitions.
It is a kindness to challenge people to find what is true.
I agree with all this but want to gripe about the misconception that flat Earth is medieval.
People have known Earth is round since at least 350 BC when Aristotle wrote On the Heavens. And he didn't come up with it there, he was explaining how others knew it.
In medieval times they had not lost this knowledge and it was still widely understood that Earth is round. Flat Earth has been a fringe lunacy for thousands of years. In the 1800s it became popular for religious reasons and most flat Earthers today are actually creationists trying to dress up their beliefs as science.
Given that stupid and uninformed (or misinformed) people get a vote on topics that affect me, no. I'm not gonna let slide that people believe outright provably wrong bullshit. It's still a problem.
Man, a lot of comments on here are giving me reddit debate lord vibes. People talking about "the truth matters", but the way a lot of them are saying, it sounds like they just want to ego boost and dunk on/bully someone that they perceive as inferior; which I suppose could also be called "asserting intellectual superiority".
Chances are that any argument you use on them is something they've already heard, and the more you push and demean them the more defensive they will probably get, and the harder it will be to convince them. And even if you did manage to pressure and shame them into believing the earth is round, that won't suddenly make them good critical thinkers.
The best way to convince these people of reality is to just say "You really believe that?" and "That sounds complicated" when they talk about it. Or you can laugh in a friendly way and say "Who told you that? They're trying to trick you."
These people respond to emotions, not facts. Just tell them someone is tricking them. They want to have friends and special knowledge.
They think they have this secret piece of information, and everyone else is stupid for not knowing or understanding it.
But it is kind of narcissistic to think you found this extra information, which the people who have spend their entire lives researching the topic somehow have missed.
Like, I know people who claim the sea levels aren't going to rise because ice melting doesn't increase the water level. And claim all the scientists are wrong about climate change. When in reality the sea levels will rise because warm water expands.
When in reality the sea levels will rise because warm water expands.
Just FYI, sea levels are going to rise primarily because much of the melting ice is not floating in the water, but land based. Thermal expansion is definitely part of it, but secondary.
Pointing out stupidity online is a crazy experience. Most of the time you get answers like "who cares?", " you must be fun at parties.", "this isn't a (relevant topic) test, I'll make all the errors I want" etc. Not once in my life have I felt or thought like that, and I just can't imagine how those proples minds work.
The problem is that flat-earthers aren't just that. They usually believe in all kinds of other kooky stuff as well, and some of those beliefs pose an active danger to society.
Exactly, the same mindset that takes you to “The entire geophysical establishment is wrong/lying about the shape of the Earth, so I’ll listen to this Youtube crank who says it’s a disc instead” will also lead you to things like “The entire medical establishment is wrong/lying about the effectiveness of masks & vaccines, so I’ll listen to this podcast crank hawking horse dewormer instead.”
To be fair, the medical establishment did lie about it, but not because of some weird "big mask" or "big pharma" conspiracy, but because they have a tangible impact when used by large groups and overselling them would have better outcomes than underselling them.
It's a classic problem those in power have to deal with: tell the truth and get an underwhelming response, or oversell and get a better response.
Don't take horse dewormers though, that's just dumb.
Yup, the root of flat earth conspiracy y theories is that some group is fooling everyone to enrich themselves. If you keep scratching through the layers it's always jews that are behind it.
It's just antisemitism cloaked in a ridiculous conspiracy.
On the one hand, yeah. Worrying about stuff that you have barely any control over won't get you far. But on the other hand, that guy's vote counts as much as yours. And if he already believes such silly conspiracy theories as the flat earth theory, he will be easily swayed by whoever is the loudest contrarian.
the challenge isn't to let him enjoy life with his stupid ass conspiracy, it's to get him to realize for himself that he's been duped by both strangers on the internet and Conservative conspiracies. Deradicalizing and then radicalizing is hard as fuck
Yah, it's not so much what he believes, but that he displays a lack of critical thinking skills or even common sense. That's just how it came to the surface.
Depends on where you live.
California, Texas? Yeah close to nothing in comparison with someone from Wisconsin.
For some reason that I keep getting told isn't political favoritism.
See here's the thing, if you believe silly stuff and keep it to yourself, that's fine. People who believe in silly stuff never keep it to themselves though.
If you put information out there, don't be mad when people put counter information back at you. I know far too many people who believe in alt medicine and talk freely about it, that it's getting harder and harder to bite my tongue. I don't care if you think Acupuncture works for you. The fruit diet worked for Steve Jobs until it didn't.
Acupuncture is a bit of a different animal though, there's been some research coming out that it triggers a different layer (connective tissue iirc) in ways that we don't really understand but seem to promote beneficial responses through triggering various receptors and nerve responses.
I would still group it closer to alt med but it's one of the ones I think might have a grain of usefulness underlying a bunch of less helpful ritualism.
The truth is darker: For everybody who talks about the silly stuff there are two who don't, you just don't hear them cuz they ain't talking.
Source: Closeted Quacko
I love how it is considered to be intellectually superior even though you’re stating easily verifiable facts that we also should have learned while being kids.
Yeah, the whole "live and let live" movement has removed the social barriers to being a fucking moron. Ignorant people holding onto stupid beliefs should be made to feel bad by the people around them.
The whole “live and let live” movement normalized far-right talking points in my country, then the "live and let live" movement suddenly disappeared...
Anon wouldn't have gotten anywhere with that argument anyways. If your goal is to make them stop believing then you have to ask questions without seeming like you're leading him to a certain conclusion in any way.
This! I've had by far the most success by asking simple questions and having them come to the realization themselves. Forcing your view down their throat never goes anywhere. Their guard goes up and it becomes a matter of pride.
Haha, it’s so funny that this guy believes in ridiculous “science” like flat-earthism. Anyway, I’m going to wander crowded indoor areas without a mask during a pandemic, see ya!