Former Flat Earthers Explain What Finally Made Them Come Around

Wisdom in Age

Quote I got from somewhere...

"for 5 years I believed the Earth was flat, then I turned 6".

-QED-

Love the Sphere

I convinced a flat earther, temporarily, by asking him if it was possible for a sphere to be so large that you could not tell it was a sphere my simply being on the surface of it. It took him a while, I used an analogy of a extremely long line that was so slightly curved you could not tell so by looking at a small section of it. Eventually he said yes to the sphere and I told him that was how big the earth is.

A few days later he reverted, most of these people aren't mentally stable, they believe in a lot of conspiracies.

Edit: Corny edit, but as connoisseur of flat earth content my personal favorite is Professor Dave on YouTube. He is a underappreciated dude who just had a Science channel on YouTube and got brigaded by flat earthers for an unrelated video. He made like 6 video responses in total just owning these guys but they eventually gave up. Check it out.

McClain3000

Get a Clue

Look, it's really easy:

If the Earth is flat, there would be an edge(s). And there would be a freaking Disney park at the edge, and we could bungie jump off the side and paraglide into the void etc etc.

Someone would be making an absolute ton of money off of it - if it existed.

Guess what? Nobody is doing that -- in this world where absolutely everything is exploited for profit -- if no one is making money off of it then it does.not.exist. No edge. Not flat. Get a clue.

Gedwyn19

Gazing...

I was debating a flat earther in Mexico, and I asked him about how GPS worked if there were no satellites.

He said that they had devices in the ground to route you.

I told him the Mexican government is barely able to put decent water pipes in the ground; would he really think they had the tech to put routing devices in the ground?

He chuckled with a thousand mile gaze.

mzaouar

"Truth behind the curve"

I watched a documentary about flat earthers called "Truth behind the curve" and my analysis from watching that these flat earthers are a group of people who found a community to be a part of. It's a shame their community is based on a lie, but I saw a bunch of people who were to be part of a community.

Most of the people were social awkward and what not, and so an opportunity to be an influential figure within the community so they double down on their flawed logic.

The more against you are of them, the harder they rep their flatness.

TLDR: I see flat earthers as a group of lonely people looking for a community that will accept them.

edit: wtf did not expect this comment to blow up. Thanks for the silver, and the dialogue everyone.

imthatguydavid

"What do you think now," said the Captain.

The inclined seat conformed perfectly to his body, strategically placed in the cockpit so he could reach no buttons with outstretched arms. The straps anchored him firmly in place, they were uncomfortable but necessary. The engine burst to life with a roar that burned out all the other audio, the vibrations tore through his body and he felt his body sink back into the seat as the G-Force began to take hold.

The captain was watching the readouts on the LED displays and monitoring their trajectory as the acceleration began to peel his thoughts away, there was no more room in his brain, it had been filled by pure fear. The boosters grew with greater ferocity as they lifted higher into the sky, the sun beaming down on the left side of the shuttle.

But faster they went.

Through max Q and higher into the stratosphere until the engines grew quieter, the air more silent, and the vibrations became less violent. They were approaching space, the final frontier.

An hour later, and with the path of the shuttle a success he noticed as his raw emotions withdrew that his body felt funny, head hair drifted aimlessly across his eyes as the captains pen hovered in mid air and he knew the impossible was true, his childhood dream, he was in space. Weightless.

The captain turned around to him, and motioned him to unhook his seatbelts. He did as he was commanded. They both left their chairs and glided over to the tiny glass windows to overlook the magnificence of Earth.

"What do you think now," said the Captain.

He recoiled in horror, it couldn't be. NASA had replaced the windows with high definition screens in order to perpetrate their lies that the world was spherical. Those b**tards.

Naamibro

Throw a Rock

I talked to a flat-earther about my job working for a company that tracks ship locations, routes, and speeds by satellite. We also had ways of monitoring carbon emissions based on fuel consumption and known weather conditions. None of this would work at all if the earth was flat. Not a jot of it. I could only explain the most basic concepts, but it was enough for him to understand and realise that I was right and that he'd been convinced by someone who had no practical experience of the spherical nature of the Earth.

I think that's what really did it - my experience was really tangible. This happens then this happens then we measure this etc etc... no theory, just practice. A bit like showing a child a rock dropping to the ground in order to explain gravity, rather than giving them the whole theoretical shebang. Y'know?

Administrative-Task9

Travel Plans

Had to travel to Japan, gave up on my beliefs in order to make a shorter trip.

uvzla792

I said the same thing on another post. However someone more familiar with the conspiracy said they believe the earth is actually a circle with the north pole in the middle with the south pole, or Antarctica encircling us. For me it just brought up more questions.

CptBLAMO

The Deniers....

I spent about a year infiltrating the flat Earth community on Instagram. I garnered a decent following with an account dedicated to flat earth travel photos (an intentionally absurd premise). In that time I learned a quite a bit about the community including how to discern the trolls from the real deal. The majority of legit flat earthers are extremely distrustful of anything the government says or does. These same people are 9/11 truthers, Holocaust deniers, and anti-vaxxers and they connect these conspiracies together.

Many of them have also attached flat Earth theory to religion, magic, or mysticism. Before my infiltration I'd always considered conspiracies fun. Like they were the fan fiction of real life. Now they mostly make me sad. For all the phoney accounts like mine, there are still plenty of people out there willing to drop a couple of hundred dollars on a flat Earth convention.

Zelph_Onandagus

Why Lie?

A serious answer here.

The thing that made me stop was just the question "why would NASA lie to you."

The_Holy_Fork

Truthers

Not a flat earther. But I was a 9-11 "truther" I guess you could say--insofar as I thought it was an inside job. I was heavily influenced and believed in multiple conspiracies in the Zeitgeist film as well. There was a never ending source of dark, shadowy "they's and them's" controlling everything behind the scenes.

I think there were a few factors that helped me escape that:

• Losing my father. It was such a life changing event at that age that it made me reconsider everything in my life.
• Some light training in evaluating information. I learned about how to vet sources, primary, whether something was actually news or just an opinion/editorial, etc.. Ironically, this education came before I was duped. After my dad died, suddenly this started to kick in more.
• Lack of time/means to dig myself a deeper hole. I started college shortly after my father passed and that + a full time job took up all my time. I had none to buy further into the newest crazy BS. I had no Facebook/Twitter/IG/etc.. No smart phone or texting. My primary use of Reddit once I discovered it was for r/Naruto, r/Bleach, rage comics, and advice animals.

So all in all, I think the time away gave me time to detox. If I had been on social media as I discovered those things, I can only imagine I very well may have become a Q believer as well. Looking back I see how gullible I was in that moment, fooled by the onslaught of half truths and clever "logic" of the various theories. I know better now (and I should have known better then), but I've been humbled to the fact that everyone is vulnerable to this sort of stuff. To think otherwise is deluding yourself.

redyellowblue5031

Sheep-like

Not me, but got a flat Earther to question his beliefs (and hopefully critically analyze them) by giving him the proof he asked for, to which he responded "mainstream science and media are lies". I asked why he asked for proof if he could just disregard it as lies either way, then told him that since he required no proof (or evidence against) to believe something, it made him the easiest person to deceive and that it seemed pretty sheep-like to me.

He deleted all of his flat earth comments and hasn't posted about it since.

ETA: Holy Round Earth, Batman! Thank you for the karma and awards and GOOOOOLD! I promise I'll screenshot next time!

ETA2: He didn't block me, I can still see everything he posts/posted, and the OP thread creator also said the comment disappeared. Shame... Shame... Shame...

thelife0fZ

Observations

Surprisingly enough. Facts and logic. More specifically star patterns. What we observe can not happen on a flat earth.

Safinkodyr

True Believers

Obviously there's a lot of memeing around here, but if the question was meant seriously we should understand what exactly Flat Earth belief is. As Dan from the channel Folding Ideas puts it in his excellent video In Search Of A Flat Earth:

Nominally, Flat Earth is a belief that the Earth isn't a globe, but is actually flat, a fact that has been kept from Us, meaning normal people, by a nebulous, powerful Them for nefarious, inscrutable purposes. ... I think it's worth considering that the shape of the Earth might actually be the least important belief of Flat Earth. Flat Earth is a syncretic, biblical belief that is both evangelical and apocalyptic. ... The world is flat and They are hiding that fact from you because a flat Earth would be irrefutable proof that we live in a divine fishbowl and, thus, that God is real.

Flat Earthers are not otherwise empty vessels who believe one kooky thing. They believe that thing because it suits their purposes. Flat Earthers have an agenda. ... Their anxiety is that the world has become too complex, that too many things are changing, and that science and progressivism are actively malicious elements working to obstruct the true nature of God. Most people don't actually believe Flat Earth because they were persuaded by shoddy evidence... they do so because it says something they already believe about the nature of the social world. Didgeridoox

Being Different

I suspect that some people who deny crap like this are the same people who just wants to be different. They'll say they disliked a movie because the majority likes it. They'll say they don't enjoy a type of food coz most do. Basically.... They don't really care how they truly feel about something. They just want to be different and say the opposite of the majority. Maybe not with everything. But they'll choose a few things in life because they want to feel special.

mydogiscuteaf

Half a Decade

It took about five years. It was a lot of wilfull ignorance on my part, I just refused to question the logic of it. In fact I spent most of my time coming up with crazy fantasies about a lot of things I didn't understand. But you have to understand that there is just so much we don't know about that sometimes our priority on what is real and what can be believed can get confused. I was learning so much so fast that I really didn't question something so inane as the world being flat.

Of course it was, why wouldn't it be. The day that changed it forever though was when I asked my father what happens when you get to the edge of the world, he of course said the world is round like a ball. Being about five years old I thought that made a lot of sense.

Orbitaldropbear

Watch Carl

Okay I get the question is funny and all but I actually did believe, for a time, that the earth was flat. I was raised in a very religious family, and basically came to the conclusion that the Bible declared the earth was flat, because since I believed the earth was created in seven days, the idea that God set the stars in the sky in one day made much more sense if the stars were simply points of light in a sort of snowglobe formation extrapolated onto a bigger scale.

Otherwise, he took one day out of the seven to make a septillion or so balls of flaming gas, all with their own planets, and set each one into galaxies before breaking for lunch. It just didn't make sense to me that he would spend five days on one planet, and make the creation of the trillions of other stuff in the universe a little footnote. I was confronted about this belief a couple times, only one of which wasn't laughed off.

That single person who engaged started a serious discussion, presenting much more evidence for the globe earth, and eventually told me to watch Carl Sagan. The Cosmos series was on YouTube, and once I watched it, I had to know more. Finally, a video from the channel MinutePhysics convinced me, in no uncertain terms, that the earth was round. All it took was one quote, which I still remember leaving chills down my spine: "you should have put a serious tag on this question."

maleorderbride

Let me explain...

When I was a tutor there was this guy who went back to college to get a degree. We dealt with everything from the top of the class students to special needs students. He was doubtful of science because it has been wrong in the past, and was very stubborn and bad at logic. What he did was hear a description of something and if it made sense he would latch onto it if it didn't he would say it is false entirely.

Vaccines are good for you. Yep it is like a workout for your immune system.

Earth is round. Nope it looks flat when i look at it.

He was very hard to help because he would argue with you about everything. Try to explain anything in a non-intuitive way and he would ask countless questions, and once you need to check for an answer he would treat it like a gotcha and like the whole explanation is wrong. He enjoyed explaining a scientific topic the way a stoner tries though with things half right.

dognus88

Nuts and Cooks

My FIL is a flat earther and all around nutcase. I asked him if the earth was flat and you was right, what then? How is your life any different? His face was priceless because he didn't have an answer. It was great.

BigWingWangKen

God did It...

Met a couple. One was so "clever" at not believing what the sheeple all believe he didn't believe anything that he hadn't found through conspiracy theories somewhere. It wasn't so much that he didn't believe in science/scientists but that he only believed what he could see himself. And any time you tried to question any of his theories beyond what was rational he would ignore the question entirely or bring up something about you that he though made you stupid.

The other got his knowledge from religion and any question that he hadn't learned an answer from the bible or his pastor for was "God did it."

legendary_lost_ninja

Bad Jokes

Man, I figured there would only be a couple legit ones but I was really interested. Instead it's the same tired old jokes you've been recycling for the past few years. Don't you guys get tired of upvoting dogcrap like "there's flat earthers all over the globe."

Thats_an_RDD

I think the problem is that flat earthers who change their mind are incredibly rare. There's not many flat earthers to begin with and only a tiny percentage of them will ever change their mind.

ftctkugffquoctngxxh

Ask NASA

I'm not a flat earther, but I wanna ask them, "why would NASA and the govt lie to you? Why would they spend extra energy and time and money and whatever faking crap like the moon landing and outer space pictures of earth.

villainized

There is a logical reason to why they'd fake the moon landing, during a space race with the USSR in the middle of a cold war...

But there would be no reason the USSR would just admit defeat instead of calling bull if the landings were indeed fake.

All the other stuff you mentioned though, yeah, there's nothing to gain from it.

elheber

Changing Thoughts

I once had a conversation with a professional UFC fighter and outspoken Flat Earther. I tried to explain how Archimedes was able to prove the Earth was round just by using his shadow. I mentioned air travel and how Hawaii and Japan are not 20+ hours of flying apart.

But what I think got through to him the most was seasons. This particular guy was Brazilian. I explained that because the Earth is round, it's possible to be winter in Brazil and summer in the USA and vice versa. He nodded and stared off into the distance silently and the conversation was over. I don't think I "converted" him but it gave him significant pause at the very least.

PlaneShenaniganz

Needed Facts

Man, we really need this knowledge now. I don't know how we are going to reach "Stop the Steal" truthers when they already think they know more than the Supreme Court, 60 Republican and Democratic-appointed federal judges, every state Election Commission, every Republican and Democratic governor, Trump's (now former) right-hand man and Attorney General of the United States William Barr, and the party-warrior and Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConell. Somehow, we have to find a way. I was thinking the other day about whether the flat earth movement shows us the way out of this situation America finds itself in because it seems to be a very similar phenomenon.

Good question OP.

free-advice

The Fire Ball

Sunsets man. Sunsets. I watched all these videos read a book on it talked to people about it. I was one of them. Everyone else was crazy for not seeing the truth.(still i have a lot of questions about how the heck this thing could possibly be a globe but thats besides the point) but i had an answer for everything. People would ask why don't we fall off the edge? There is no edge the earths an infinite space. Why do balloons pop when they go high enough?

Because theres only so much air and it sinks to the earths surface but eventually you can fly above it and then theres no pressure of the air pushing against the ballon so it pops. Hows gravity work? Gravity is made up i believe in buoyancy. But one day somebody asked me if the sun is a spotlight in the sky, then how does a sunset work? I was like uh... and i looked into it. Couldn't find anything that makes sense. Sunsets turned me back.

NamelessSithNPC

Full Circles

While having coffee with my sister one day, she revealed that she was a flat earther.

I said I wasn't going to try and convince her otherwise because if literally millions of pieces of evidence doesn't convince you, then nothing I can say will, but I will ask you a couple of question so that I can understand a bit more. This was the brief conversation:

Q. Do you think the sun is round? Her answer - It appears to be

Q. Do you think the moon is round? Her answer - it appears to be

Q do you think all the other planets are round? Her answer - they appear to be

So to clarify, you're saying that the sun, the moon and all the planets are round but we're floating on a flat disk in the same space. Ok.

I think it made a difference from the look on her face but we've never spoken of it again.

ThelastReject

Laser Tests

I entertained it for a while. What convinced me the earth was a sphere was a video I came across of a group of flat earthers doing a laser test over water. They found a stretch of level water around 2 miles long, then used level lasers to measure the distance from the water. The test came back quite accurately indicating the earth was a sphere and not flat. They all got super upset and were crying about it. Seems like a doable and effective test and their reaction, confusion and heartbreak seemed genuine.

w1lliamsss

The GPS Knows

Another "not me but might have convinced someone else" story.

I was on the bus home and a flat earther decided to talk with me about something. Idk what it was but the conversion quickly turned to the earth being flat. Humoring him I asked 'if the earth is flat how does GPS work?' He told me that GPS comes from cell towers. I pressed him and told him 'that can't be true because I have an app on my phone that shows my location on a pdf when I have no cell signal.

I use it when I go hiking in the mountains.' He told me that 'the GPS signal is so much stronger than the cellphone signal that I would still get it up there.' Just then we passed though a tunnel and I asked him 'why, if the signal is stronger, do I lose GPS tracking in a tunnel?' He seemed confused and just said 'I don't know I'm just asking questions.'

As a general rule all flat eathers are just trolls and I tell that to their face if it comes up. That out of hand dismissal by itself tends to shake them. But I was in a playful mood that day.

t014y

Back in the day...

My daughter (13) just told me yesterday that she was a flat earther until about 4th grade. Not sure how I missed that for so long. Says she figured it out seeing some pictures of the earth from outer space.

micfost

Part of the Cult

A question I wonder about is can a flat earther ever stop being one?

I think it's a question for psychologists. Being a flat earther isn't about facts, it's a way to gain an identity and reassurance. A flat earther wants to not walk the earth not understanding anything and not knowing who to trust. It's a way to carve a sense of self out of a sense of incompetence.

Instead of walking around as an idiot, now you tell yourself you are one of the few who knows the truth and can't be tricked like the other headless sheep.

To stop being a flat earther would be to give up this coping mechanism to deal with your own mediocrity. Even worse, it would be admitting you were wrong, and therefore again reaffirming the thing you were running away from to begin with: the fact that you are just another idiot who doesn't know anything.

So I doubt anyone can give up being a flat earther without first overcoming the original psychological need that brought them there in the first place. Just like any other cult (yes, I'm talking about you trumpists out there). The more invested you are in the lie the longer and harder the withdrawal process will be.

Dadaofkufsa

Australia

Was friend to a flat earther a couple of years ago before the time when they came up with the idea that Australia was not real and it's just a hoax by the British govt. fast forward to the time when they finally came up with that crap, needless to say, this flat earther had a sudden change of heart, at first it didn't process to him that Australia is just a hoax that it's not real. Then finally came to his senses that the earth is round and he's been a moron for being a flat earther. Reason for his roundabout? We live in Australia.

workredditme

Such a Tease

I actually love the flat earth argument. Every time I encounter an anti-vaxer or a plandemic nut I listen and agree. I then make them listen to "my" logic on how the earth is flat. Every time they respond by picking apart the flat earth logic. I then defend the flat earth and sincerely compare my "proof" to their "proof" against vaccines or Covid. They get so frustrated that I compare their point of view to something as dumb as flat earth. This is especially fun with the anti-vaccine crowd because they think they understand data and scientific research.

Reasonable1svoice

Beneath Us

The friend of a student of mine once said the earth had to be flat as the soles of our shoes were flat and if it were round we wouldn't be able to walk on it. I was so baffled I couldn't even answer. Took me a while to think of telling him that actually the soles of our feet are arched.

baksuus

Let it Be

Serious answer here.

I was really into flat earth, I never admitted to being 100% sure it was, because I wasn't, but I know the general aspect of how it could be possible. I'm not sure if I "converted" but I just decided to stop giving it the time and attention I was dedicating it. Like there are lots of thing wrong with the flat earth theory, but there are also lots of questionable things regarding the earth being a globe. So, for me its more of a live and let live kind of thing.

Leaving it like that, just because I don't feel like writing a whole monument script of my thoughts right now.

FutoRicky

The Stars Aligned

After I saw a computer simulation of how stars movement would look like if we were indeed on a flat surface. It was based on human point of view aka how our own eyes sees stars and planets. If I find it again, will share it here.

Gibttlik

The Physics Guy

I was "The physics guy." So once, when the neighbor's home schooled kids started asking about earth and stuff, my wife invited them over. I had a globe, a ball that i used as the moon, a lamp that i used as the sun, he whole lesson plan.

i explain about seasons, and eclipses, and day/night.

I explain about the phases of the moon.

after about an hour, the dad (THE DAD ?!?!?!) asks me, "wait, are we on the outside or in the inside of the globe. "

it must have been a brain fart, the guy's not an idiot, but it amazed me that this is the first he ever thought about earth at all.

vishnoo

Ahoy! 

He asked me "majornerd, you are a smart guy, how do we know the earth is round"

I said "you'd think it would be because we went to space"

he said "yeah, but we didn't. It was a lie to fool the Russians."

To which I replied, "that's not how we know the earth is round. We've known for centuries that it was round."

"How?"

"It's easy, and you can do this too. Stand on any dock in the world and look to the ocean. What part of the boat do you see first?"

"Huh? I don't know."

"You see the mast and sails first. The question is why? The hull is much larger, why do we see the top of the mast, then the sails, then the hull?"

"I don't know"

"Because the earth is curved. So the tip of the boat appears first as the rest comes into view, literally around a corner"

"Holy crap, I'm forty and nobody has ever explained that so easy to me. I have to think about this."

He told me a couple days later that I changed his mind on the subject. He had no idea we had known for so ever loving long.

majornerd

The Numbers

I studied math in college, and the Flat Earth webpage had a link to explain the math behind why the Earth is flat. I was curious to see whether they actually could mathematically prove the Earth is flat.

The math was total BS and I realized then that I'm making a huge mistake.

Winds_Watcher

Oh they know...

99% of flat Earthers don't really, truly believe it. What they believe is that scientists are liars, the government is preventing us from understanding the natural world, and they enjoy seeing just how scientifically illiterate the average person is. Part of what makes them believe it is that most people have no idea how to explain it because they just accepted it. They watched that Columbus Disney movie or just took it as gospel from a teacher but probably can't prove the Earth is round. That feeds the doubt. But deep, deep down they know they are wrong. Except for the truly delusional ones.

bigdaddyradio

The Simple Answers

Look, most people here don't really know what they're talking about.

The ones saying "it's simple, if ___ then ___." It's not that simple. I've seen a lot of this flat earth community, and I'm telling you there is an explanation for everything. This is like the MCU of conspiracy theories, it goes very deep. I get why people fall for it.

SnakeASaur

Just for Fun

My husband and I have talked about this a lot. He saw some flat earth stuff, and started the conversation with how do we know the earth is round? I'm 99 percent sure he knows the earth is round, but he debates it in fun so earnestly I love to bring it up around groups of people because it's hilarious.

Anyway, my question has and always will be... why would anyone lie about the earth being round? How could anyone believe that all the countries of the world have somehow all collaborated together to lie to all citizens that the earth is round when it's truly flat. What benefits are there to this?

missourifarmgirl

Out in the World

An ex of mine was brought up as a Creationist.

She said there was a moment after she moved out to university and she went to a museum and there was a display about evolution and her mind was BLOWN. She told me she stared at it for hours then went home.

satellite_uplink

Teacher Knows best

One of my Geometry students believed the earth was flat. I found out because the other students were mocking her for it. I told them to knock it off, and then quietly didn't the rest of the year trying to demonstrate how the earth was not, in fact, flat. We did a day on spherical Geometry and measuring angles on a sphere.

We did projections from three to two dimensions and looked at different maps of the earth. They drew the continents on an orange and then peeled it different ways to make it lay flat, and compared distortions between the different ways of opening.

I got and airline pilot to come talk about using math, and one kid asked why they fly over Greenland to get to London, so he grabbed my gloves and talked about segments of great circles and how beautiful it was to see the earth curve away through the windscreen. We measured a bunch of shadows on our football field and then Skyped a buddy in Alaska, whose class measured shadows on their field, and tried to use our data to calculate the radius of the earth. (we were way off).

I there in a calculus activity on local linearity- that any curve can be assumed straight on some small scale, and explicitly stated that it was like how earth looks flat to us but is really a sphere. We even watched videos of tall mast ships disappearing over the horizon during the break in the final exam.

At the end of the year, I pulled her aside and asked if she believed the earth was flat. She said, "well, for airplanes and boats and stuff, and like Geometry, it's a sphere, but really it's flat."

So, she knew it was round, but chose to believe it to be flat.

FailedAtMasonry

Almost got Me

I was never a flat earther, but I went down the rabbit hole one day and let myself hear out their main arguments and had a moment when I started getting freaked out and scared that it could be true. So, I googled proof that it was spherical and quickly found several practical experiments that you can do at home which prove it is a sphere.

writing_wrongs

Travel More

I ran into a young man (I worked with his brother ages ago) while visiting my hometown and sometime during our stop and chat he began saying things about how the earth is flat.

My boyfriend and I glanced at each other and realized at the same time that this person was serious and not messing around.

I asked how he knew, tried my best not to let on that I was shocked I'd finally met a flat earther.

His reasoning was that when you look at the water (he's only seen a few Great Lakes and rivers) that the sky doesn't curve and the water looks flat all the way out.

He had a few other reasons and it was sad because his "proof" was due to his limited ability to travel out of Michigan and actually see things. I think if other people and also the planet seemed more real that a lot of individuals would be better for it.

kendrahoffdude

From the Top

My husband was really questioning it but then I went in a private jet and went so high that I was able to see curvature the earth first hand. I took a lot of photos and he was convinced after that.

zilpha69

She IS Smart...

My SIL is a flat-earther. She is very educated. That being said... we think she is likely mentally ill or has some kind of mental issue. She believes all kinds of conspiracy theories and falls for all the fake news. Despite having a Master's degree she seems to possess zero critical thinking skills.

inclusivefitness

Matches the Floor

Former flat earther here.

Thought the earth was flat because the floor in the room I was in was flat. Then I turned like, a few years old.

Probably, anyway. Nobody should figure out the earth is round while they're old enough to remember how.

eifersucht12a

He's Kidding...

I once had a debate with a dude that was arguing for the flat earth theory... I'm still not sure if he actually believes it, or was just playing devil's advocate. I've never asked, because if it's the former, that is a rabbit hole I have no interest in exploring.

Adaku

"maintain control"

I have a co-worker that thinks the Earth is flat. His logic is that god did it to show humans they were special and the devil works with a Jewish shadow government to lie to the world in order to "maintain control".

You should visit voat.co it's where the crazies convene and share their "proof" for a number of conspiracy theories.

Lucasaurusawesome

Gravity

Not a former flat earthist, but I've reminded a few of them about gravity, and how it exerts its force around matter in spherical shape. And when they rebuttal "Gravity is a flawed theory", I remind them that the gravitron's existence has already been confirmed. That convinced the majority of them.

IAmSpinda

Deep Thoughts

I don't believe in flat earth, but theres some psychology behind this. Most people choose to beat people with the right answer rather than guiding them down a gentle path to it. If I was in intellectual darkness, I'd stay away from someone who chooses to blast a floodlight of truth in my face, but would easily accept it if it starts dim and then gradually gets brighter.

Goomonster

Beyond the Horizon

I wasn't entirely a flat earther but when I was younger, I was falling for everything I could find on the internet: hollow earth, flat earth, we're actually inside the hollow earth etc etc.

I fell in and out of the belief over time until I saw a video of an experiment where one group flew a helicopter far out over the ocean and another group watched it with a powerful telescope as it slowly lowered to the horizon. It disappeared behind the horizon while the helicopter was still a considerable distance from the ground. That ended that phase for me for good.

I_literally_can_not

Listen Close

I doubt you'll find many, if any reformed flat earthers. For people like that who are so entrenched within their ideology, the flat earth isn't just something they believe, it's who they are. They have flat earth friends, listen to flat earth podcasts, watch flat earth YouTube, and wear flat earth clothes to their flat earth meetings. Even if deep down, someone like that had an epiphany and realized that they were wrong, imagine how hard it would be to reject all of these relationships, the community, and the friends that are held together because of that one common belief. It's similar to why it's so hard for people to leave cults or extremist religious or political groups.

_Nyarlethotep_

Head South

As someone who entertained but never genuinely believed the idea and went pretty deep down the rabbit hole it's distance/time. On a flat earth map circling the north pole should be an extremely short trip while circling the south pole would be the longest route on the planet. The further south you get the further apart things should be and the longer trips would take. The flat earth map really falls apart there. Once they start arguing that time works differently based on location you know there's no way to justify the argument.

spacedandy1baby

To Mars

I think my favorite recorded Flat Earther interaction was when Elon Musk tweeted at the Flat Earth Society and asked them why they believed the Earth was flat when we could plainly see that Mars is round.

They responded that unlike the Earth, Mars has been observed to be round.

Geno__Breaker