# Are Most Flat Earthers Trolls? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 2, 2024, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011 "2024-02-02T09:02:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/181 "2024-02-09T20:02:19Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I’ve even heard it as an argument about the sizes of the moon and sun - like ‘how can the sun be 865,000 miles across and look the same size as the moon, which we’re told is only a couple thousand miles across? Explain that NASA!!!’ I’ve heard this, and it mostly seems to be “it can’t be a coincidence, so they must be designed to be the same size.” Some people see coincidence as evidence of design or conspiracy. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/182 "2024-02-09T20:09:18Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I’ve heard this, and it mostly seems to be “it can’t be a coincidence, so they must be designed to be the same size.” Some people see coincidence as evidence of design or conspiracy. I’ve long thought that the extreme similarity in apparent size is the most miraculous thing in the world. Both in chances of it occuring and its global immensity. It loses a few miracle points for not really meaning anything, though. And at that, it’s not very miraculous considering there isn’t anything _more_ miraculous. It’s sort of the exception that proves the rule of a lack of designer. There should be a lot more of those coincidences. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/183 "2024-02-09T20:14:29Z")
The alternative to “troll” is “maliciously stupid.” Pick ‘em. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/184 "2024-02-09T20:51:53Z")
That too, but definitely also ‘how can they be different sizes when they look the same?’ ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2024, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/185 "2024-02-10T19:30:54Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > That too, but definitely also ‘how can they be different sizes when they look the same?’ As mentioned above, I think that everyone understands that big things look small far away. But I may be overestimating the intelligence of some of these people. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2024, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/186 "2024-02-10T21:29:07Z")
You definitely are haha! ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2024, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/187 "2024-02-10T21:48:30Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > How do they deal with Eratosthenes’s measurement that the sun is 7 degrees from vertical at Alexandria on midsummer day and overhead at Aswan? That was the basis for his calculation of the earth’s diameter. That’s easy. I’ve “proven” the flat Earth by using a little trig and you get a distance of IIRC just under 4000 miles to the Sun. Of course that distance changes if you change the distance between the measuring points. But that’s because NASA lies. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2024, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/188 "2024-02-10T21:58:41Z")
I suppose there’s _knowing a thing_ and _knowing how and where to apply it_. If you asked them if the faraway cows look small, they’d probably say yes (although if there are no cows in sight, they might just argue that cows are cow size). If you ask them to figure out how that applies to astronomical observations, you probably won’t get a coherent answer. They might even just divert onto some other track entirely, such as asking ‘how can we even see the sun if it’s 93 million miles away?’ - that’s a genuine flerf question. Some of them think there is just some arbitrary limit to how far we can see. Nothing to do with obstacles or anything in the way, just ‘humans can’t see that far’. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2024, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/189 "2024-02-10T22:05:36Z")
please don’t start connecting dots - please… ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/190 "2024-02-11T00:00:58Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Some of them think there is just some arbitrary limit to how far we can see. Nothing to do with obstacles or anything in the way, just ‘humans can’t see that far’. Helps you get out of explaining why you can’t see things below the horizon, too. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/191 "2024-02-11T00:06:10Z")
You know, I’m kind of curious. I’ve seen plenty of conspiracy theorists postulate stuff that sounds wacky, but where they could _easily_ accuse someone of, basically, having more money due to the super-secret cover-up. So: what do these guys think was the profit motive for concealing the flatness of the earth with this elaborate hoax to make everyone think the world is round? Like, if it’s the 1500s, and guys on sailing ships keep _ostensibly_ circumnavigating the globe (a) by gradually sinking out of sight over the horizon, tip of the mast last, (b) while those in the know note that, er, as it happens, all that time at sea is actually being spent on a _flat_ sea, then — who’s making more money if that’s the case? Who’d make _less_ money if the truth got out, in the 1600s or the 1700s or whatever, that, _uh no; it’s all flat, see?_ Follow The Money, they say. Okay: to whom? ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/192 "2024-02-11T00:24:23Z")
Far more often than not ‘_They_ are hiding God’. Also ‘_They_ are hiding all the other land that if we had access to we’d have endless free everything’. > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Follow The Money, they say. Okay: to whom? C’mon, who is it always? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/193 "2024-02-11T00:35:59Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Far more often than not ‘_They_ are hiding God’. > Also ‘_They_ are hiding all the other land that if we had access to we’d have endless free everything’. …where? No, seriously: if you were a flat-earther, and you showed me a globe, and then you showed me a flat-earth map of the world, and then you held that map right next to that globe, then: where, exactly, is the spot that you couldn’t reach on one but could on the other? ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/194 "2024-02-11T00:42:31Z")
You can’t reach beyond the Antarctic ice wall on a globe. > **[https://i.redd.it/zbt6knzx7s101.jpg](https://i.redd.it/zbt6knzx7s101.jpg)** ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/195 "2024-02-11T00:46:21Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > You can’t reach beyond the Antarctic ice wall on a globe Well, I’ve now learned something new; much obliged. And the folks who believe that they know the truth about the map don’t set out for the land where there’s access to endless free everything because…? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/196 "2024-02-11T00:49:55Z")
Query: it sounds like a lot of you folks have had actual contact with flat earthers. Is that right? Personally, or just by browsing the internet? Because I’ve never had any contact of any sort. Am I just living in a bubble? ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/197 "2024-02-11T00:53:20Z")
Mostly, a completely spurious reading of the Antarctic Treaty. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/198 "2024-02-11T00:55:40Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Personally, or just by browsing the internet? ~~Google~~ YouTube is your ~~friend~~ gateway to brain damage. Wear your oven mitts! (Facepalm protection.) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/199 "2024-02-11T00:59:51Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Mostly, a completely spurious reading of the Antarctic Treaty Wait, _what?_ That groovy map of the flat world looks like it has a huge gap for sailin’ through if you set out straight from the California coast — Antarctic to the left of you, Antarctic to the right of you, and a great big wide open _opening_ smack dab in front of you — and their spurious reading of a treaty is that they can’t go where the land _isn’t?_ ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/200 "2024-02-11T00:59:57Z")
A flat bubble.🙃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011.md?page=11)