[Closed] Flat Earth Update: Only 66% of 18-24 year olds think the Earth is round

Flatty Mcflatface.

its not round - thats 2 dimensional.  Its spherical - or actually an oblate spheroid

US adults though so not a great baseline of intelligence!

When did propaganda start being called fake news? That was obviously the beginning of the end.

To be fair, "fake news" was actually an accurate description for websites and social media posts that were designed to look like genuine trusted news sources, but were actually fake.

The Trumpton got his grubby hands on the term and redefined it to mean "Anything I don't like"

The World is just a great big onion.

Theres a song about it n evryfink..

its not round – thats 2 dimensional.

I have this debate often. Ask a child what shape a ball is. They will tell you it is round.

When talking to flat earthers I find it is best to stick to terms a child would easily comprehend.

I’m going for a third option.

They fancied a bit of a laugh and put flat as it’s such a stupid survey.

Yeah, it's pretty common for people to dismiss the flat earthers as just trolls and having a laugh.

But they're not.

Well... some are but they are usually easy to spot... however there is a growing number that take it very very seriously who are producing YouTube content, making donations to FE sites, going to international FE conferences, appearing on telly, preaching in the street etc.

(And it's not just a US thing - there are quite a few in the UK too!)

They fancied a bit of a laugh and put flat as it’s such a stupid survey.

I would be tempted by that option. Its not like answers to some other questions which would allow a special interest group to claim greater support than actually exists.

would allow a special interest group to claim greater support

Some of them are now pushing for Flat Earth to be taught in schools in the same way that Creationism did!

They just can't comprehend the potato radius.

They fancied a bit of a laugh and put flat as it’s such a stupid survey

Good call - they were 18-24 year olds, not [i]exactly[/i] adults 🙂

Hmm Stats/Polling geek time

8215 US adults were questioned on Feb 6, 2018.
Results are weighted to be representative of the US population.

Tiny sample and then adjusted based on what? Is there a correlation with other beliefs that lead them to correct their sample?

Next up 16-24 had the highest and 25-34 next for Other/Not Sure which could have included WTF - People ask that?Hold on I'll get my MOM! No I ordered Pepperoni,

I'm calling bad stats there 😉

Why can't we all just agree it is round and flat. Like a disc.

Of course it's flat, have you never been across the A9? 😛

Depends how pedantic you want to be

“I have always believed the world is round”

As a child I expect many of us didn't.

I read somewhere that there is a new school of thought, which is the Earth is concave like a bowl. They even had maths for it and everything!

how many of those surveyed now agree that the Earth is an oblate spheroid/ geoid? Does this move the % up from 66?

The Flat Earth Society recently announced that, "We have supporters all over the globe"!

It's not flat or spherical because the chances are it's not even real

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/oct/11/simulated-world-elon-musk-the-matrix

Yeah, it’s pretty common for people to dismiss the flat earthers as just trolls and having a laugh.

But they’re not.

They're not flat earthers they people having a laugh in this case.

How do the flat earth buffoons explain the fact that it can be night in one part of the world whilst broad daylight in another? Surely we’d all have part of the night at the same time as we turn and the sun goes underneath. I’m going to start the dodecahedron earth group just because it’s a great word. Dodecahedron,

If the world is flat, why are rockets used to launch into space. Wouldn’t NASA et al just glide the shuttle off the end. Have the flat Earth society answered that?

Are all the planets flat or just Earth.

As a child I never doubted the earth was a sphere, and still don’t!

Mind you, as many of our colonial cousins believe in an impending zombie apocalypse and creationism I don’t give them a lot of my time...

How do the flat earth buffoons explain the fact that it can be night in one part of the world whilst broad daylight in another? Surely we’d all have part of the night at the same time as we turn and the sun goes underneath.

Is the sun really small and like a torch shining down?!

@superfli - true, but a pedant would check the other options too:

- I always thought the world is round, but more recently I am skeptical/have doubts

- I always thought the world is flat, but more recently I am skeptical/have doubts

- I have always believed the world is flat.

@funkmasterp: they think the sun is small, very close (like 3000 miles away) and acts like a spotlight.

@bsims: they typically don’t believe in space at all. The planets are just “wandering stars” on the firmament. All rocket launches are faked. Satellites don’t exist. Gravity is also fake.

They surveyed 8215 US adults

I'd wager that 75-80% of those don't even know what the capital city of the US is.

Some people think the Sun is only 3000 miles away.

Some people think the earth is only 6000 years old. . . .

The planets are just “wandering stars” on the firmament.

How convenient, do they think the stars are just little lights to look nice.

They fancied a bit of a laugh and put flat as it’s such a stupid survey.

This. I see it all the time with pupils. It's just to get a reaction or look different.

The fact that they've misspelled earth on one of the signs on the A9 tells you all you need to know about these idiots.

I , However  am not at all surprised because .-

I have been to America

I had a friend who believed  that  the moon and sun were interconnected and as  the sun set the moon rose

If you go parts  of  the world its so open it appears  flat , whilst out of my flat I can see  masts of boats where  the hull is over  the  horizon and invisible whilst the  superstructure is clearly visable

You have to question the motive behind the survey, there is always a motive.. Whats the back story, what is the survey trying to capture and what information can be gained from it.. and how do the users of the data intend to target that audience..

All reasoned arguments, no doubt.

However I question the motive being just a statement “do you believe the world is round or flat?”

For reporting a segment of society whose beliefs are not the norm isn’t enough motivation to go to the trouble of setting the survey up.

Its not a Survey Monkey survey, it’s a YouGov (Government) run survey..

I was educated in the US, not all US citizens think the earth is flat.

It’s not just a US thing. Distressingly several of the most vocal cult leaders are from the UK.

just to get a reaction or look different

Yeah that is certainly a part of it. All conspiracy theorists thrive on the notion that they posses “special knowledge” that sets them apart from the ordinary sheeple. 🐑

But religion is also a big motivation for this particular one too. Many of them are Bible Literalists who cite Genesis as evidence and think the globe Earth is a plot by the Satanists/Atheists/Jesuits/Catholics/Protestants/Muslims/Jews to hide the truth of God’s Creation. 🙄

I was educated in the US,

Didn't know that was thing. 😉

Only funning Bikebouy!

I'm glad you posted this Graham, as there was a Flat Earth question I've been wanting to ask you about for weeks (on the back of the previous thread).

However, I'm now also vexed as I'm ****ed if I can remember what it was.

Always happy to help Cougar. I think I know most of their basic arguments by now, though they often surprise me with their “creativity” and ability to deny basic observable fact.

Is the sun really small and like a torch shining down?!

Have you not not seen that AO.com advert ?

dont tell me it's not real 🙄

Are you able to share a link to the forum, Graham? I have adequate beer and time to pass. 🙂 (No worries if you'd rather not 🙂 )

Are we somehow sliding into a new dark age of stupidity?

It depends on what other things people who answer the question (one way or the other) believe and know. Its a question to which, for a lot of people, the answer doesn't really matter. Theres no consequence to getting the answer right or wrong. People have to answer much more pressing questions everyday where the right and wrong answers do matter - 'will this pate still be ok to eat?' 'should I cut the red wire of the blue wire?' 'is it safe to poke my dick through the bars of the baboon enclosure?'

Theres nothing I've tried to do with my life today where my answer to a question about the shape of the earth  would have changed the outcome. If I change my mind about whether the earth is round or flat nothing about the earth changes. Who cares what I think about things I can't change?

If everyone decides that the earth is flat it won't suddenly become flat. Its not a democracy.*

*(the only exception to this is if is 51.9% of people decide the earth is flat then 'flat' would of course mean 'flat'. Because the people will have spoken.)

@funkmasterp: they think the sun is small, very close (like 3000 miles away) and acts like a spotlight.

Toying with them sounds like fun. Any forums worth joining? We should all have a trip out to flat earthville, it'll be a great laugh.

@pondo

I don’t like to share links to Flat Earth videos as it just gives them more views, increases their ad revenue and moves them up the ranks on YouTube.

So instead here are some channels that fight the good fight and try to explain why they are wrong and how they are being conned. If you read the comments on any of the debunking videos they have you’ll find plenty of flerfers prattling on:

Wolfie (a commercial airline pilot): https://www.youtube.com/user/Wolfie6020

VoysovReason (calm logic): https://www.youtube.com/user/JonasGrumby71

CoolHardLogic (takes the piss but makes excellent points too): https://www.youtube.com/user/CoolHardLogic

SciManDan (exasperated scientist): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRtsZ5Iak9wSLsQLQ3XOAeA

If you want to experience some hilarious highlights of flat earth videos without sitting through endless hours of dross (for some reason they like to make two hour long videos) then I highly recommend the “Flat Earthers: Full Retard Mode” series of videos by this Tau Ceti Alpha:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCazPghzAJjtAfjkUnAKx3kA

If you really must hear the arguments first hand, despite my warnings about giving them views, then search YouTube for Eric Dubay, Mark Sargent, Jeranism, Phuket Word, Globebusters, Beyond The Imaginary Curve, Rob Skiba, aplanetruth, Celebrate Truth, p-brane and watch till your brains dribble out your ears.