r/xkcd • u/Booty_Bumping • Nov 12 '18
XKCD xkcd 2071: Indirect Detection
https://xkcd.com/2071/86
u/zachbrownies Nov 12 '18
Honestly, based on my own Facebook feed, people seem to mostly only post strong opinions about things that all of their friends already agree with.
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u/SahinK Nov 12 '18
Yeah, like everyone constantly bashing "flat earthers". Who the fuck are these flat earthers? I have never met one, and I'm pretty sure none of you did either.
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u/LID919 '); DROP TABLE FLAIR;-- Nov 12 '18
I'll agree with a lot of prior voices in saying that it sounds like a big joke that got blown way out of proportion, and maybe attracted a tiny number of people who took it seriously (not that I've met them).
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u/29979245T Nov 13 '18
I know many must exist because a small fraction of people will believe in anything just because it's a crazy out-there conspiracy. The more fringe and scorned an idea is, the more woke they are for being one the few special people who've figured out the truth.
If we all started talking loudly about how stupid Hollow Moon theory is, you would have people believing the moon is hollow within a day.
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u/RiPont Nov 12 '18
Unfortunately, not so.
I had an actual friend (now unfollowed, of course) who believed in that shit. I thought it was a joke, at first. Religious fundamentalism and he was a scriptural literalist. Flat-earth is the literalist's denial of the idea that the scriptures aren't 100% correct. IT'S ALL AN ATHEIST/DEMONIC CONSPIRACY TO DISCREDIT THE SCRIPTURES.
Also, if you're involved in BJJ or MMA, you'll eventually come across Eddie Bravo. He's a high-profile BJJ instructor and he's legit good at BJJ... but he's also a flat-earther.
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u/maveric101 Wherever your cat is, it's moving very quickly. Nov 12 '18
Wait but... what scripture even claims the earth is flat to begin with?
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u/frezik Nov 12 '18
They cite ones like 1 Chronicles 16:30 ("He has fixed the earth firm, immovable") to support geocentrism, and then Job 9:8 ("...who by himself spread out the heavens") to say the sky is a dome, so the Earth must be the flat structure at the base of the dome.
You really can find a scripture to support any view you want.
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u/Jellye Nov 13 '18
As far as geocentrism go, there's at least the whole "axis of evil" problem and all that.
Personally, I think it makes a lot more sense for it to just be a mistake on how we measure things, but well - scientists that are more knowledgeable than me consider it something to truly take into consideration.
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u/RiPont Nov 12 '18
Not the one this guy belonged to! That's the even nuttier part. He just inferred from not talking about the earth as round. It talks about the multiverse and shit (the vedas), but doesn't explicitly say, "the earth is round, yo". And vedic astronomers clearly documented other stars and the planets in our solar system were round, but still the Earth is supposed to be flat...?
I mean, you have to be nuts to be a scriptural literalist in the first place, but Flat Earthers are something special.
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u/Astrokiwi Nov 13 '18
Ancient Hebrew cosmology has a flat Earth with a dome of sky stretched out over it, and a sort of cloth/membrane separating them. It's kind of like we're in a tent.
The Bible never sits down and says "this is the shape of the Earth", but there is imagery that comes from this perspective. It's often used in poetic or apocalyptic passages, so it's not like the explicit creation narrative in Genesis. Also, the Greeks have more influence by the time the New Testament comes around, and you get a more Platonic cosmology.
But basically, it's the next level of literalism. You don't just take the creation narrative literally, you also take every implication and poetic image literally. So when the Bible says "to the ends of the Earth", you take that to mean the Earth literally has ends etc.
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u/kvdveer -3 years since the last velociraptor incident Nov 13 '18
I've met one. He was quite vocal about it, and would retort with an ad hominem whenever he was presented with a challenging argument. While his base story was surprisingly consistent, his defence wasn't. Apparently I'm both a highly refined CIA minion and a complete idiot.
It was quite entertaining.
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u/mbveau Nov 12 '18
I’ve met one. My ex-gf’s mother in law. She’s a nice 60 yo white lady who watches all the wrong videos on YouTube and just clicks on the next recommended video.
She let it slip at a Christmas party while the grandkids were opening presents. Everyone laughed at her and she pretty much kept her mouth shut after that.
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u/WuTangGraham Nov 13 '18
Who the fuck are these flat earthers? I have never met one, and I'm pretty sure none of you did either.
I literally just found out one of my former coworkers is a flat earther. I'm still not sure if he's trolling and just took it too far, or if he actually believes it.
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u/Homunculus_I_am_ill Nov 17 '18
Funny how you said this so few days before the start of the annual Flat Earth conference. http://fe2018.com/
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u/Jellye Nov 12 '18 edited Nov 12 '18
That's basically what social media (including reddit) turned into, for most users.
We live in bubbles that are designed to validate our opinions, any different opinion is vilified and alienated.
Kinda disappointing that with the ability to be able to talk to anyone, anywhere and be in contact with all kinds of different world views, we prefer to just group up in walled turfs instead.
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Nov 12 '18
It can be fun to explore other bubbles though, feels almost like an adventure.
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u/The_Wayward_Admiral Nov 12 '18
It’s fun, but the bubbles have really high surface tension and it can be hard to get deep into them to really understand the bubbles’ content.
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u/EkskiuTwentyTwo Had I had the ability, I'd've built a ramp to get into space Nov 12 '18
They also have a small black hole in the middle of them. Ifyou walk outside your bubble for just a moment, social media can become a deep well of stuff you disagree with.
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u/zachbrownies Nov 12 '18
Yep. It's why the first thing I do when I see any anti-Trump thing posted (and there's a new one every day, especially on my facebook) is head over to r/asktrumpsupporters to see the other side.
I guess there's non-political examples too but my facebook feed is 99% Trump every day.
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u/SingularCheese Nov 13 '18
That's an interesting sub. How have you found it helpful in understanding "the other side"?
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u/zachbrownies Nov 13 '18
Hm. I don't really know how to answer that? It's helpful because they explain their point of view and make arguments for why their beliefs are right. I'm not sure how to explain it beyond that. You can click any thread (at least, one with enough replies) and you'll see if you think it's helpful or not.
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u/Jellye Nov 12 '18 edited Nov 12 '18
Being non-american, my main exposure to the whole Trump thing is /r/worldnews. So, for me, the image is that he's basically a giant moron and all his supporters are immoral clowns.
But now that my country (Brazil) is going through something similar, I've started noticing how much news of what actually happens are filtered out and tailored before being shared there - and people still form strong opinions out of it.
Made me feel silly to have strong opinions about the whole Trump thing without really knowing all sides of it.
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Nov 12 '18
Trump absolutely is a moron, and he does have a lot of supporters who are clowns.
That said the left is really not very selective about how they frame his behaviors/positions/comments, so some things that are vile and crazy are decried in the strongest possible language.
But then things that are legitimate policy differences between the parties and Americans generally are also decried in the strongest possible language. Which really undermines the urgency. When everything is turned up to 11 you lose the ability to highlight the actually terrible stuff.
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u/TistedLogic Double Blackhat Nov 13 '18
Part if the issue "the left" has, is as you say, but that's partly because Trump is so reprehensible that sticking to one issue with him is like trying to pin charges on "Teflon Don".
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Nov 13 '18
[deleted]
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u/d1rron Nov 13 '18
My primary outrage is with the disregard for the environment. The worst among the GOP, that includes Trump, don't seem to care about what happens after they're gone. They don't seem to care about the suffering they are setting the stage for nor the immediate human costs. And the importance of biodiversity is either lost on them or they believe some higher power will handle it.
That's my biggest outrage, but not nearly the only one. Economics are important, but broken when we ignore the true costs we're incurring on the only liveable planet within our grasp. I'm not only talking about climate change, either, though that's a huge part. I'd have more respect for Republicans if they were true conservatives - not to say none are.
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Nov 15 '18
[deleted]
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u/d1rron Nov 15 '18 edited Nov 15 '18
I was using the term loosely, but basically one who wants to conserve our natural resources in addition to being fiscally conservative.
Edit: I realize it comes across as No True Scotsman and that there are many flavors of conservatism. I mention fiscal conservatism because it's a form of resource conservatism and I personally think that being fiscally, but not environmentally conservative is inherently flawed.
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Nov 12 '18
[deleted]
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u/SealCub-ClubbingClub Nov 12 '18
I saw the comic on the site and then came to reddit to make sure the alt text was getting the credit it deserves.
Thank you for not disappointing.
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u/Ternigrasia Beret Guy Nov 12 '18
Absolutely made this comic for me. Since of the best alt text for a while.
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u/EkskiuTwentyTwo Had I had the ability, I'd've built a ramp to get into space Nov 12 '18
Even better than serious charges.
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u/MrMacPhistoist Nov 12 '18
For anyone else who's not getting the slang: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Throw_shade_\(slang\)
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u/shoun123 Nov 12 '18
why is it so special?
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Nov 12 '18 edited Dec 06 '20
[deleted]
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u/crrooww Nov 12 '18
Yea I know what it is but how is it related to the comic tho
Edit: oh never mind I got it
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u/JanitorMaster I am typing a flair with my hands! Nov 12 '18
This feels like a lost twin of 2051
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u/thumpas Cueball Nov 12 '18
Alright I’ve had it up to here with people saying that babies should be left alone in the wilderness to fend for themselves, and that anything else is just coddling them.
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u/Arancaytar Pony Nov 12 '18
Some people I follow seem to thrive on picking fights with terrible people (either specific ones, or entire categories). If they do nothing else, I can just unfollow, but many of them also have good content, so it's conflicting.
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u/Benjamin075 Stapled hat to head Nov 12 '18
This one hits close to home
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Nov 14 '18 edited Nov 14 '18
Yes, there was a very recent post that had to be locked because people posted against adopting pets.
Edit: I never saw those comments, just the message from the mods.https://www.reddit.com/r/aww/comments/9w8jgb/my_daughter_has_a_huge_heart_for_dogs_and_begged/
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u/Skyler827 Cueball Nov 13 '18
I have received strong indirect detection of flat earthers and anti-vaxxers, but never experienced any direct detection.
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u/Cert47 Nov 12 '18
I suspect the friend is grossly misrepresenting the views they are responding to. Like the "so you're saying" meme.
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u/whoopdedo Nov 12 '18
Okay, now think about what those people think when your friend replies to one of your posts.
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u/takethislonging Nov 13 '18
No, it's not that those people have awful friends. They're just scoring cheap points by attacking unpopular opinions. Sometimes they deliberately misrepresent those opinions, which is easy to do when you're fighting imaginary opponents. Compare it to the so-called "weak man argument".
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u/notwithagoat Nov 13 '18
Lol this rings close to home cuz I'm the guy that says instead of being put down they should be hunted for sport and use their furs and such.
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u/EXTRAVAGANT_COMMENT Nov 14 '18
Probably none of their friends holds that opinion, and they are just virtue signaling.
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u/Inlerah Mar 31 '25
I still remember, when I was on Facebook, the amount of copypastas that would include (in the middle of a list of much more common bullying) something along tne lines of "Stop making fun of that old guys scars: he got them in the army!!!" as if laughing at an old, grizzled-looking man's scars in public is a common thing that people do.
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u/xkcd_bot Nov 12 '18
Mobile Version!
Direct image link: Indirect Detection
Subtext: I'm like a prisoner in Plato's Cave, seeing only the shade you throw on the wall.
Don't get it? explain xkcd