…can they actually be a conspiracy?
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/jan/20/flat-earth-believers-youtube-videos-conspiracy-theorists

A New York magazine piece on flat-Earthdom is skeptical of some who claim the mantle: “The line between actually believing the theory and enthusiastically entertaining is unclear. Being a Flat Earther exists in the same online space as chemtrails and the notion that 9/11 was an inside job: there are some who believe it sincerely, and magnitudes more who entertain the notion ironically.”

Some conspiracy theorists take it farther. What if all the flat-Earth talk is a big psychological experiment to see what we humans will believe in an era in which sizable groups already go against scientific consensus on vaccines, evolution and climate change?

“Maybe they wan’t to create the perfect concoction of pseudo-science bullshit and fabricated statistics to see who will blindly follow,” reads the opening comment of a thread in Reddit’s conspiracy theory subreddit. “They can then set up or use the same tactics to further lead the conspiracy community astray. Who else thinks this is a psy-op?”

Just in time for the X-Files revival: trust no one.
Makes you think, eh? 😉

I’ve been saying for years that there’s a secret government conspiracy to make us think the government is really competent enough to cover up visits by aliens.

I’ve spent time watch Flat Earth videos and even engaged them in lengthy conversations (Brian Cox’s Facebook page is a rich source of them).

They completely believe it. Most are very passionate about it. The earth is flat and doesn’t spin, the sun is really close, space doesn’t exist, massive global cover up…

And yes, if you look at their Facebook pages they are often also filled with stuff about chemtrails, NWO, MKUltra etc etc

It is an effective distraction. People waste taste and effort arguing about nonsense, instead of issues that actually make a difference.

Interesting article by George Monbiot about contrail conspiracies. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/georgemonbiot/2015/dec/04/the-contrails-conspiracy-is-not-just-garbage-its-letting-aviation-off-the-hook

I’ve been saying for years that there’s a secret government conspiracy to make us think the government is really competent enough to cover up visits by aliens.

I’ve been saying for years that there’s a secret government conspiracy to make us think the government is really competent.

They’re not doing a very good job.

They’re not doing a very good job.

That’s what *they* want you to think!

I’ve been saying it for years, every two months on here a new thread is started about conspiracy theories.

Makes you think huh.

Poe’s Law?

Thing is there are actually plenty of genuine government conspiracies, faliures and cover ups but they tend to be a bit more mundane than aliens, chemtrails and flat earth.

Poe’s Law?

I don’t think so. When I started looking at the flat earth stuff I assumed that and went in thinking: “Surely this is all just big satirical troll. These people can’t actually believe this can they?”

But most of them seem to sincerely believe and they are very serious about it. Many of them have months worth of YouTube videos “proving” it all.

It’s fascinating.

It’s probably a few chaps in a government building somewhere whose job it is to spread misinformation and outlandish BS in an effort to discredit conspiracy theories are true.

Of course nobody in their right mind believes the Earth is flat!

One thing I’ve always wondered about this flat earth. How thick is it?

Thick enough to support itself when balanced on the turtle’s shell?

But there’s nothing boring about conspiracy theories. They make sense of what can sometimes feel like a senseless world. They tell you that you are among the elect: aware of a grand scheme that other people (or sheeple or sleeple as the conspiracy sites often like to call them) are unable or unwilling to see. It tells you that you are a lonely crusader fighting evil of the kind that’s otherwise encountered only in films about superheroes.

From that Monbiot article. Of all the conspiracy believers I know, this is the major benefit to them. they “make sense” in a world that is troubling and confusing, and some of the political ones (9/11 and so on) fit a convenient narrative of propaganda and control driven mega-governments.

GrahamS – Member

Thick enough to support itself when balanced on the turtle’s shell?

As long as the elephants don’t shuffle around too much.

Don’t forget the one where the entire bike industry got together and decided to kill off 26″ bikes just so they could have something to read on STW when they needed a laugh.

Elephants?? This isn’t Discworld y’know.

Everyone knows in the real world it’s turtles all the way down.

It’s probably a few chaps in a government building somewhere whose job it is to spread misinformation and outlandish BS in an effort to discredit conspiracy theories are true.

Amusingly if you get into this stuff you regularly see conspiracy nuts accusing other conspiracy nuts of being government plants or “shills”.

They make sense of what can sometimes feel like a senseless world.

A lot of people have drawn comparisons to religion for that reason. The belief that there is A Plan is somehow comforting, even if you think the plan is formulated by evil space lizards.

Turtles float, so presumably it’s swimming in something pretty dense.

Where’s that jar full of mercury? I want to have a look inside.

That’s what *they* want you to think!

That’s a paradigm shift in my thinking! 😯

Some of them genuinely believe it – but others are in it purely for the Youtube clickthrough advertising revenue.

Turtles float, so presumably it’s swimming in something pretty dense.

Those are ‘merkan turtles aka tortoises. They want you to think they’re turtles.

Turtles float, so presumably it’s swimming in something pretty dense.
Those are ‘merkan turtles aka tortoises. They want you to think they’re turtles.

They want you to think that they want you to think that they’re turtles; is a conspiracy, see…

The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists uses “turtle” to describe all species of the order Testudines, regardless of whether they are land-dwelling or sea-dwelling, and uses “tortoise” as a more specific term for slow-moving terrestrial species.[1] General American usage agrees; turtle is often a general term (although some restrict it to aquatic turtles); tortoise is used only in reference to terrestrial turtles or, more narrowly, only those members of Testudinidae, the family of modern land tortoises; and terrapin may refer to turtles that are small and live in fresh and brackish water, in particular the diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin).[3][4][5][6] In America, for example, the members of the genus Terrapene dwell on land, yet are referred to as box turtles rather than tortoises.[2]

British usage, by contrast, tends not to use “turtle” as a generic term for all members of the order, and also applies the term “tortoises” broadly to all land-dwelling members of the order Testudines, regardless of whether they are actually members of the family Testudinidae.[6] In Britain, terrapin is used to refer to a larger group of semiaquatic turtles than the restricted meaning in America.[4][7]

Oh good it looks like some popular rapper (“B.o.B.” ?) has picked up on the Flat Earth stuff and is currently convincing all his fans.

http://gawker.com/why-the-earth-is-flat-straight-from-the-mouth-of-a-ver-1754933801

Yeah like the conspiracy of another undiscovered planet in our solar system that ancient semerians told us about in stone texts haha I mean what a joke, do people really believe all this nonsense :lol:……….oh wait, hang on, what’s this coming our way??? Surely not! 🙄

Errrr… except the proposed orbit of the conjectured Planet Nine never gets any closer to the sun than 200AU, whereas the Sumerian Planet X or Nibiru was/is supposed to collide with Earth some time in the 21st century (originally in 2003).

So actually the only real similarity is the “undiscovered” bit.

Where do you get the bit where the Sumerian’s put an undiscovered planet in stone texts from?

Where do you get the bit where the Sumerian’s put an undiscovered planet in stone texts from?

I’m guessing he has read Sitchin

http://www.sitchin.com/

Ideally while quite high.

By the way, chris85, here is a direct quote from the front page of the sitchin.com site:

With an elliptical orbit of 10,000 or 20,000 of our years, this planet may not be Nibiru, which has an orbit of about 3600 of our years. However, this prediction of a likely additional planet in our solar system is exciting news. Perhaps the search will lead us to either finding Nibiru, or perhaps we’ll find that something has changed and impacted Nibiru’s orbit since the last time it orbited Earth. I have my doubts, but since I’m not an astronomer, I’ll keep an open mind. I don’t think this is Nibiru.

J.Sitchin – January 20, 2016

But yeah, it’s definitely Nibiru. 🙄

crankboy – Member 

Where do you get the bit where the Sumerian’s put an undiscovered planet in stone texts from?

POSTED 6 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

Loads of sources, archeologist, geologists.. it’s all out there, it’s just mainstream scientists darent touch the stuff.

Ideally while quite high

Graham, you seem a very judge mental person.. Keep lurking on your flat earth sites and stop judging me.

Is that bloke the current Erich von Daniken?

Graham, you seem a very judge mental person..

I am, but I’m not judging you. I don’t know you.

It was just a serving suggestion, that’s all. 😀

Name a couple as most people are quite happy the Sumerians knew of 5 planets or 7 if you like they count the sun and moon .
What relevance has geology to ancient astronomy.
Why would mainstream sources be troubled by any of this ?

Is that bloke the current Erich von Daniken?

Other way around I think, von Daniken published first and is still alive.

Similar fields though: ancient astronaut theory, chariots of the gods etc

Hello I’m a geologist and you are mistaken. That’s science that is.

I never said it was nibiru Graham, but it’s a good example of how little humanity still knows, just like when Galileo proved the universe didn’t circle around us..people couldn’t believe it. We are still very primitive that’s all I’m saying and this is my opinion.

thestabiliser – Member 

Hello I’m a geologist and you are mistaken. That’s science that is.

Very good.. 🙂

I never said it was nibiru Graham

You’re right. You said an “undiscovered planet in our solar system that ancient semerians told us about in stone texts”

And I just assumed from that you meant Nibiru. Sorry.

Where can I read the Sumerian stone texts that predict Planet Nine and what did they call it?

it’s a good example of how little humanity still knows

That I completely agree with. It is.

Though to be honest, not knowing about a theoretical planet that is 30-odd times further away than Neptune is pretty small fry compared to not knowing what’s at the bottom of our oceans or not being entirely sure how paracetamol works.

We undoubtedly still have a lot to learn. There is no argument there.

Galileo was far from the first to prove that the universe didn’t circle the earth in fact it was very much ancient knowledge when he was punished for disseminating that which was scholastically accepted fact to a wider audience.

I bet JHJ has a photograph of Jimmy Saville shaking hands with Robin Knox Johnson for just this occasion.