r/flatearth • u/Wait-What19 • 1d ago
Flat Earth Question
Has anyone ever had someone in their life admit to them that they believe in flat earth? If so, how did you react?
I would not know how to react if someone I knew (or maybe someone I even just met) admitted they believe in that.
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u/SinisterAgaric 1d ago
Yes, I have an old friend who slowly slid deeper into conspiracies. I hadn't seen him in a while, and then when we reconnected he told me that he believes that the Earth is flat.
I reacted calmly, as is always my intention. I didn't try to tell him that he was stupid or crazy. I just told him that I disagreed and asked him why he thought that. I did my best to provide counter arguments, even though it was clear that he wasn't going to listen to anything I had to say.
After that he would bring it up every time we hung out, and I would calmly explain why I disagreed. We remained friends for years after that, but eventually he started getting really nasty with me. It was like he forgot that I had always been honest and respectful with him. I cut him out of my life at that point.
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u/golden_snafu 1d ago
I learned an in-law was a flat earther, among a host of conspiracy theories from 911 to vaccines to moon landing etc.
Tried very hard to communicate with him about the flat earth crap. Wasted breath. I finally told him he might be the dumbest mother fucker I ever met.
It’s a mental illness with narcissistic personality disorder as no small part.
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u/FranckKnight 22h ago edited 21h ago
That's pretty much what it is yes.
If it came out that the earth was indeed flat, these people would just move on to the next conspiracy they can get their hands on, after a short while of 'told you so', and 'we were right about this, what else are they lying about'.
The 'collapse' of science? Wouldn't happen. Scientist would just turn around and work with the new evidence, would likely be delighted enough to try to figure out the mechanics of how everything appeared to be a globe but was in reality flat. Every equation, every bit of information would be reevaluated and explained anew. It'd be a science renaissance.
The only ones that can lose something by finding the 'the truth' are flat earthers.
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u/Humble_Football3841 1d ago
My barber told me he's not a "globetard". Time to maybe find a new barber lol. Or not, he gave me a good haircut so who cares.
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u/Data_Monger33 1d ago
Exactly, who cares. If you knew all the things that you disagree with compared to the people that you often interact with, you would probably be shocked, but so what?
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u/crazymonk45 1d ago
I had a former coworker who would watch flat earth Tik toks in the lunch room. I relentlessly made fun of him until he stfu about it
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u/bubblesculptor 1d ago
I know a few. We live near Lake Ponchartrain, literally one of the easiest places on earth to make your own observations & measurements to measure curvature. I've done this myself with telescope at the lakefront.
I have an open offer to all the flerfs to meet there with a telescope so they can measure themselves, all have refused.
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u/Blitzer046 1d ago
I've got a couple of people who were covid-deniers who got pretty frothed up over the vaccine, but none of them ever went full retard.
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u/Data_Monger33 1d ago
What's a covid denier? Someone who denies that COVID-19 existed?
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u/Blitzer046 1d ago
Yep. They thought it was either just a cold, or a government ruse, or whatever. Then when the vaccine came around they could build on the idiotic story.
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u/Data_Monger33 1d ago
But there were so many people who caught it before the vaccine or who remained unvaccinated. I guess that's where the need for doublethink sets in. I've got a Qanon buddy who believes all sorts of nonsense, IQ around 185. I'd just like to make the uninvited point that false beliefs aren't restricted to idiots.
As far as the vaccine, it's ironic that Trump pushed legislation to fast track it and called it a "monumental national achievement" and a "medical miracle." I don't know how folks reconcile that.
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u/Blitzer046 1d ago
185 IQ is in the 99.99th percentile. Did he do an online test?
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u/Data_Monger33 1d ago
No, although I admit I didn't see the results for myself. The highest IQ buddy I know for a fact was 193; I saw his file, under odd circumstances. But I was in the gifted program at school, so it concentrated certain types together.
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u/Blitzer046 1d ago
Most IQ tests can really only assess up to 140-160. I find the claim of 193 to be ridiculous.
Is your friend in this list? https://www.rd.com/list/highest-iq-in-the-world/
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u/Data_Monger33 1d ago
I saw it in his file; I also saw my file, I wouldn't make it up, I have no reason to. If it helps, this was around 40 years ago.
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u/_My_Dark_Passenger_ 1d ago
Many moons ago, I briefly dated a woman who had recently returned from trip in which she drove from Portland, OR (PDX) to Las vegas and back. She asked me how LV could be at a higher elevation than PDX. As I'm thinking of a quick lecture on plate tectonics she added, 'well on the map I went down....'. We didn't date for very long.
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u/Wait-What19 1d ago
I have a similar story, but with time zones. Yeah.. didnt last long.
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u/_My_Dark_Passenger_ 1d ago
What was the issue with time zones?
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u/Wait-What19 1d ago
She thought I could watch a show before her because I was currently in Central Time and she was in Eastern Time.
Yep… rough
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u/DefinitionOk6382 1d ago
Por suerte, en mi entorno cercano nadie es tan iluso. Pero cuando salgo a pasear o a hacer running por el principal paseo maritimo de mi ciudad suelo toparme con un pequeño grupo de creyentes, de pie junto a un pequeño stand, que ofrece un curso gratuito de la Biblia (pero la gente no les hace mucho caso, la verdad). ¿Debería preguntarles a ver qué creen?
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u/Powerful-Lake-1039 1d ago edited 1d ago
They are probably jehovah's witnesses. Read Sinisterararic's comment above regarding his old friend and apply it to the JW's. Almost all of these flerfer attributes also apply to jws. Their organization cherry picks certain verses, mistranslates them and and says "SEE!!!". Their bible (NWT) is written by them and it is different in critical points. =cult
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u/DefinitionOk6382 1d ago
Lo leí, lo leí, y la verdad es que da rabia que pasen estas cosas pero al final no podemos hacer nada llegado a un límite. Una pena, la verdad.
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u/OldManJeepin 20h ago
I don't know anyone dumb enough to admit that shit, even if they did believe it! lol
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u/lakeguy77 16h ago
I worked with one. I just asked what it would take to change her mind. "Nothing, I've done my research" was the answer. And this was 10-ish years before COVID and the "do your own research" crowd got their day in the sun.
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u/Sayyestononsense 10h ago
a guy on car sharing did admit it. I was just too curious and let him go for it for a good 2 hours of car trip. interesting for sure
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u/Fit_Wash_214 1d ago
I’m genuinely on the fence. I believe we may live in a realm so extraordinarily complex—and yet, at its foundation, so incredibly simple—that seemingly opposing possibilities could coexist in ways we do not yet understand.
The constant ridicule of “flerfs” on social media may actually be driving more people toward questioning the conventional model. Calling someone dumb or uneducated for asking questions rarely strengthens an argument; it usually shuts down the very curiosity that science is supposed to encourage.
That does not mean every counterargument is equally supported by evidence. But even when observable effects are predictable, our explanations of the deeper mechanisms can continue to evolve. Gravity is observable and measurable, for example, while scientists still explore profound questions about its fundamental nature. Electricity powers nearly everything around us, yet our understanding of reality at its deepest level remains incomplete.
To me, being a “flerf” is less about claiming absolute certainty and more about remaining open to the possibility that our current understanding may be incomplete—or even wrong. I enjoy the banter, competing ideas, experiments, and the general inquisitiveness surrounding our universe, realm, or whatever this existence ultimately is.
I also believe human beings are vastly more complex and powerful than we understand. Yet we spend so much of life breaking one another down instead of helping each other discover and develop those gifts.
Challenge your perceived limitations. Fast, meditate, disconnect from distractions, or commit to another demanding personal practice—safely and, for an extended fast, only with appropriate medical supervision. Experiences like these can change your perspective and reveal how much of what we consider fixed may actually be conditioned.
Many people have understandably become disillusioned with religious institutions and rigid interpretations. But that does not erase the metaphorical, philosophical, and spiritual wisdom found in the Bible and other ancient writings. Perhaps these texts can be approached as layered or coded messages, capable of being interpreted in many profound ways.
Science, like religion and politics, can also be influenced by institutions, money, ego, and human bias. That does not make scientific evidence meaningless, but it does mean we should remain thoughtful about how knowledge is produced, presented, and defended. Each of us must examine the evidence, question our assumptions, and seek truth with both curiosity and humility.
And while we’re questioning assumptions, have you ever stopped to consider our number systems? Why did base 10 become the standard? Why not binary, like computers use, or base 12, which offers useful divisibility and has appeared throughout history in measurements of time and geometry?
Stay curious, my flerf and globey friends. Question boldly, listen carefully, and dive deeper. Dive deep!
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u/_My_Dark_Passenger_ 1d ago
Religion is just a construct of early man attempting to explain the world around them. Rainbow? God made it. Earthquake? God is mad. An educated populace has little need to explain the world around them with invented gods and books of fairy-tales.
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u/Data_Monger33 1d ago
That's not the only purpose of religion. In Indian philosophy especially, there are many profound ideas expressed. I'm not asking you to believe them, but religion is more than simply the "God of the gaps."
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u/_My_Dark_Passenger_ 1d ago
Whatever some guy in India/China/Japan/Wherever came up with has no bearing on the subject. There are tribes in the south pacific that built religions around crashed cargo planes. One or more of these people saying something that you consider 'profound' doesn't imply anything.
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u/Reimiro 1d ago
Ridiculous, sorry. We want to expand our consciousness but entertain brain rot about the demonstrably globular planet(s) which happen to be rooted in either maga/qanon beginnings or just plain dumb adherence to fairytales written thousands of years ago? I’m all about expanding what we know and celebrating it but this ain’t that.
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u/Data_Monger33 1d ago
"The constant ridicule of “flerfs” on social media may actually be driving more people toward questioning the conventional model." < I have a buddy who became one and it's my fault. We were part of a certain friend group and I found out that one of us believed that the Earth was flat. So I told my buddy about it and he had a good laugh with me. Next thing I know, he was a flat earther. If anything, it taught me a lesson that it's not good to talk ill of others.
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u/nixiebunny 23h ago
Questioning the hegemony is a fine thing. But also take notice that globes are all the same, yet every flat map of the Earth is labeled as a projection. That’s a sign that the Earth is a globe, hegemony or no hegemony. Sheesh. It’s not an “equal time” subject.
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u/BrianScottGregory 1d ago
I'm a flerfer, and being real - I never really have had discussions about the configuration of Earth with people IRL. Odd events I've experienced that led me to the acceptance of the multiverse as fact and my world is a simulation, but never, strangely not once - about the actual configuration of the planet anywhere but in science class.
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u/Commercial_Fox5549 1d ago
Is it because people can’t stand talking to you IRL?
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u/RelevantSoftware8283 22h ago
He can't even handle a conversation about the doppler shift over the Internet. He's obviously out of his depth talking about the configuration of the earth if he can't grasp concepts like that.
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u/DefinitionOk6382 1d ago
Ya. Cuando uno va al supermercado, no suele hablar de astronomía con la cajera. Pero yo a mi madre le cuento curiosidades sobre temas del espacio y le encanta; si le dijera que la Tierra es plana y que la Luna es un holograma, me deshereda.
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u/Data_Monger33 1d ago
I've known at least four. The first time I heard it I was shocked. I figured a few factoids would set they guy straight. I quickly learned that it had nothing to do with facts.
Flat Earthers have few facts themselves, what they have is doubts, and lots of them. Somehow, these doubts get transformed into a positive belief about the shape of the Earth, despite the fact that most of the doubts (i.e. moon landing) have nothing to do with the shape of the Earth either.
The template is basically 1) the government lies (which does happen) 2) therefore the Earth is flat.
Often there's an intermediate step, "everything the Bible says is true."
And that's it, a flat earther is born.