Author: FENews
Thinking that the earth might be flat appears to have grown in popularity in recent years. Indeed, flat earthers are gathering for their annual conference this year in Birmingham, just two miles from my own university. But the earth isn’t flat. Unsurprisingly, this isn’t hard to prove. But as scads of YouTube videos demonstrate, these proofs fail to convince everyone. A glance at the comments show there’s still vitriolic disagreement in some quarters. Philosophy can explain why. Consider one, standard, flat earth line: “Can you prove the world is round?” Maybe you point to the (often artificially assembled) photos of…
Speakers recently flew in from around (or perhaps, across?) the earth for a three-day event held in Birmingham: the UK’s first ever public Flat Earth Convention. It was well attended, and wasn’t just three days of speeches and YouTube clips (though, granted, there was a lot of this). There was also a lot of team-building, networking, debating, workshops – and scientific experiments. Yes, flat earthers do seem to place a lot of emphasis and priority on scientific methods and, in particular, on observable facts. The weekend in no small part revolved around discussing and debating science, with lots of time…
Flat Earthism and the idea that human activity is not responsible for climate change are two of the most prevalent conspiracy theories today. Both have been increasing in popularity since the late 20th century. Currently, 16% of the US population say they doubt the scientifically established shape of the Earth, while 40% think that human-induced climate change is a hoax. But proponents of one of these theories are not necessarily proponents of the other, even though both are often motivated by a common mistrust of authority. In fact, they regularly contradict one another. Flat Earthers, for example, tend to disbelieve…
Ask a three-year-old why they think it’s raining, and she may say “because the flowers are thirsty”. Her brother might also tell you that trees have leaves to provide shade for people and animals. These are instances of teleological thinking, the idea that things came into being and exist for a purpose. Teleological explanations for natural phenomena are rejected by scientists because these explanations appeal to intentions. But trees do not grow leaves and rain clouds do not drop water with an outcome in mind. It rains because of physics. And those physics would apply equally if there were no…
The self-declared daredevil and Flat Earther “Mad” Mike Hughes is preparing for another launch in his homemade, steam-powered rocket in the Californian desert. His final goal is to reach the edge of space, but how likely is he to succeed and see that the Earth is actually spherical? Hughes’ first rocket launch was in 2014, and since then he has taken off several times in his homemade machines – reaching an altitude of 572 metres at most. His adventures have led to a number of injuries, yet he is still determined to keep going. His latest attempt was scheduled for…
Science gets a lot of respect these days. Unfortunately, it’s also getting a lot of competition from misinformation. Seven in 10 Americans think the benefits from science outweigh the harms, and nine in 10 think science and technology will create more opportunities for future generations. Scientists have made dramatic progress in understanding the universe and the mechanisms of biology, and advances in computation benefit all fields of science. On the other hand, Americans are surrounded by a rising tide of misinformation and fake science. Take climate change. Scientists are in almost complete agreement that people are the primary cause of…
Around the world, and against all scientific evidence, a segment of the population believes that Earth’s round shape is either an unproven theory or an elaborate hoax. Polls by YouGov America in 2018 and FDU in 2022 found that as many as 11% of Americans believe the Earth might be flat. While it is tempting to dismiss “flat Earthers” as mildly amusing, we ignore their arguments at our peril. Polling shows that there is an overlap between conspiracy theories, some of which can act as gateways for radicalisation. QAnon and the great replacement theory, for example, have proved deadly more…
Uncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching. Title of course “Psychology of Pseudoscience” What prompted the idea for the course? While teaching a course on research methods at the United States Air Force Academy, I concluded that the course needed a bigger emphasis on broad scientific reasoning skills. So I incorporated material about the difference between science – the systematic process of evidence-based inquiry – and pseudoscience, which is the promotion of unreliable scientific claims as if they are more reliable than other explanations. I wanted to understand why people promote claims…
Get the app! Learn the TRUTH! https://www.flatearthdave.com/ https://www.theflatearthpodcast.com. https://www.areyouabluedot.com Learn the truth and meet like minded people near you. Get the Flat Earth Sun, Moon & Zodiac Clock app by Blue Water Bay https://qrco.de/bbizVA To book Flat Earth Dave on your show www.FlatEarthDave.com and click the Book Flat Earth Dave link. Check out the PREMIUM Flat Earth Coffee: 15% off with code: flatearthdave https://www.thegreatawakeningcoffee.com/flatearthdave/ If you would like to help promote flat earth and the flat earth app in your videos here are some FE Clock app media resources you can use. Remember to add your FE Clock referral code…
Original video: https://youtu.be/UrhnDbMbsbA?si=4KmWa9hj6dG2Ao6j Get the app! Learn the TRUTH! https://www.flatearthdave.com/ https://www.theflatearthpodcast.com. https://www.areyouabluedot.com Learn the truth and meet like minded people near you. Get the Flat Earth Sun, Moon & Zodiac Clock app by Blue Water Bay https://qrco.de/bbizVA To book Flat Earth Dave on your show www.FlatEarthDave.com and click the Book Flat Earth Dave link. Check out the PREMIUM Flat Earth Coffee: 15% off with code: flatearthdave https://www.thegreatawakeningcoffee.com/flatearthdave/ If you would like to help promote flat earth and the flat earth app in your videos here are some FE Clock app media resources you can use. Remember to add your FE…