Posted on 02/18/2019 7:41:42 AM PST by Simon Green
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 Raleigh, 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.
The interviews revealed that most had been watching videos about other conspiracies, with alternative takes on 9/11, the Sandy Hook school shooting and whether Nasa really went to the moon, when YouTube offered up Flat Earth videos for them to watch next.
Some said they watched the videos only in order to debunk them but soon found themselves won over by the material.
Landrum said one of the most popular Flat Earth videos, “200 proofs Earth is not a spinning ball” appears to be effective because it offers arguments that appeal to so many mindsets, from biblical literalists and conspiracy theorists to those of a more scientific bent.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
99% of flat Earthers are trolling.
Kinda like Democrats and "global warming". :)
I blame the Flat earth. /s
Are these people for real, because the whole thing sounds tongue-in-cheek.
How incredibly stupid.
It’s about censorship. It sounds funny to say “First they came for the flat-earthers” but this (and the effort to de-monetize ‘we’re all going to die’ asteroid channels) is just the camel’s nose in the tent
The funniest flat earth proof was a picture of the recent lunar eclipse showing a shadow flat disc Earth resting on some elephants which were standing on a giant turtle.
In the 70s there was a book out, I can’t remember the book but it started a fad of people then that totally believed the earth was flat. My boss at the time fell for it hook, line, and sinker. Loaned me the book, I read it but to me it was nonsense. That book convinced a lot of people, I have no idea if they stayed convinced.
I know a lady who is a Flat Earther. She’s a very nice lady but very odd.
Recent postings:
https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3712014/posts?page=357#357
https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3724535/posts?page=53#53
“Nobody really believes the earth is flat.”
Out of billions of people, some will believe anything.
The amazingly scary thing is, the believers don’t come from third world hell holes or Islamics or lost indian tribes...they come from your neighbors dope smoking snowflakes and green movement liberals with too much guilt on their conscience to feel people have a place on this planet.
Like a compressed egg?
Thank you for mentioning that.
YouTube has become one of the more tolerant mainstream sites for alternate content. Recently, YouTube has said they would crack down on such videos.
The whole point of the article is to crack down on anything but liberal-approved speech, largely by denying the posters monetization of their work but also to censor anti-liberal thought.
Seriously, it’s one thing to believe the earth is flat. It’s another thing to actually DO anything about it. Who cares?
But wait until there are people refuting Global Warming or claiming that microchipping citizens is a forerunner to the anti-Christ and now the New World Order types will have their takeover plans threatened and watch the intolerance from the Left kick into high gear. That’s why they want to denounce conspiracy groups today, so they can shut down similar groups tomorrow.
“The interviews revealed that most had been watching videos about other conspiracies, with alternative takes on 9/11, the Sandy Hook school shooting and whether Nasa really went to the moon, when YouTube offered up Flat Earth videos for them to watch next. “
PATREON.COM
Hey, there are people who believe in global warming, socialism being freedom and Trump is a racist. So, this fits right in.
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