# 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:** 7
**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 5, 2024, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/121 "2024-02-05T09:31:34Z")
The only solution appears to be to let them step outside for a clear view… ---
**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 5, 2024, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/122 "2024-02-05T09:33:49Z")
But yeah, because when you debate a flerf, you’re not really participating in a normal debate. While you are making your point, they’re not listening to and studying what you say, they’re using the time to formulate the next piece of wibble they intend to blurt out. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/123 "2024-02-05T09:39:54Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > …wibble… I learned a new word today. Better, it is fun to say. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/124 "2024-02-05T12:27:00Z")
That globe is very cool. /aside - My Wife bought me/us very nice globe for x-mas. I really enjoy it (I’m in GIS). While google maps and such works great, there is something about just looking at a globe to get a relative position of some obscure country that just makes it more real /aside. ---
**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 5, 2024, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/125 "2024-02-05T15:36:15Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > > [@Mangetout](#): > > > > …wibble… > > I learned a new word today. Better, it is fun to say. Thanks! TIL that “wibble” is actually a word. In dictionaries. Thanks! ---
**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 5, 2024, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/126 "2024-02-05T15:49:04Z")
Best combined with ‘utter’ and ‘spouting’; example : “when you have _quite_ finished spouting utter wibble…” ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/127 "2024-02-05T15:52:10Z")
The people who truly believe in a flat earth have accepted it as a point of **[dogma](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogma)**. If they’re able to cast the slightest bit of doubt on a piece of contrary evidence (e.g. departing ships that appear to sink below the horizon might be due to atmospheric refraction), that’s usually enough to reassure them that FE isn’t wrong. For evidence that’s _really_ hard to doubt, it gets ascribed to a vast and terrible conspiracy theory by shadowy government agencies, or simply as something that ferfers haven’t really seen for themselves, and therefore can’t trust. For seemingly incontrovertible evidence (e.g. the ring laser gyro experiment that indicates a rotating earth), they’ll simply say “huh, that’s interesting” and then just quietly walk away. Brains are funny things. Here’s one good and relevant link, with a lot of other relevant links in the “See also” section at the bottom of the page. > **[Escalation of commitment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escalation_of_commitment)** > > Escalation of commitment is a human behavior pattern in which an individual or group facing increasingly negative outcomes from a decision, action, or investment nevertheless continue the behavior instead of altering course. The actor maintains behaviors that are irrational, but align with previous decisions and actions. > Economists and behavioral scientists use a related term, sunk-cost fallacy, to describe the justification of increased investment of money or effort in a decision, based on t... ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/128 "2024-02-05T16:44:07Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > The only solution appears to be to let them step outside for a clear view… Why not? The celestial dome will keep the air in. ---
**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 5, 2024, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/129 "2024-02-05T17:35:06Z")
Blackadder is fluent in [‘Wibble’](https://youtu.be/G2DCExerOsA?si=EZGQx6onjVOclWg_) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/130 "2024-02-05T17:56:14Z")
Who _are_ you people? I knew “wibble” before it was cool. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/131 "2024-02-05T18:46:26Z")
There’s a sort of UK equivalent: ‘wazzock’. But it’s not quite the same. By itself it refers to a person like a flat-earther, not a type of babbled nonsense. The UK usage would be “he keeps on wazzocking about…” ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/132 "2024-02-05T18:59:07Z")
What would happen if NASA/SpaceX/BlueOrigin took 2-3 of the leading voices of the flat earthers and took them along on a space mission, so they can see everything from up there? 1. Would they be convinced that the earth is round? 2. If yes, would they be able to convince other flat earthers, or would they think that the leaders were brainwashed by the deep state? ---
**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 5, 2024, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/133 "2024-02-05T19:12:56Z")
I imagine they would be convinced, and then they would be denounced and ignored by all the other flat earthers. It would achieve nothing useful. NASA wouldn’t do it anyway, because a)they’re busy doing stuff b)it would achieve nothing and c)these people are fucking nutcases who would be a risk to the entire mission. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/134 "2024-02-05T19:16:51Z")
To be somewhat contrary, I doubt they’d be convinced. It’s not like they’d be let outside, i.e. everything they see would be CG projections on screens. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/135 "2024-02-05T19:25:57Z")
I suspect some Flat-Earthers started out as trolls, but in fact fooled themselves. They became so serious about their trolling that they actually became true believers. ---
**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 5, 2024, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/136 "2024-02-05T19:36:28Z")
There are a number that ‘’‘left the Flat Earth’‘’ that are now pariahs in their old communities. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/137 "2024-02-05T19:55:48Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > There are a number that ‘’‘left the Flat Earth’‘’ that are now pariahs in their old communities. - They’re ballers. ---
**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 5, 2024, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/138 "2024-02-05T20:03:19Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > c)these people are fucking nutcases who would be a risk to the entire mission. c. Definitely c. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/139 "2024-02-05T20:06:24Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > these people are fucking nutcases who would be a risk to the entire mission. Somehow I’m thinking of the suicide bomber guy from _Contact_, the 1997 space-wormhole movie with Jodie Foster. ---
**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 5, 2024, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011/140 "2024-02-05T21:05:21Z")
In a sort of related field, there’s a guy called Milo who goes as MiniMimuteMan and presents (quite thorough) debunkings of spurious archaeology. One of his debunkings was picked up by a professional archaeologist, who happened to mention that working archaeologists don’t generally waste effort on debunking nonsense, because there’s so much of it. It’s very resistant to facts and logic, and most of all, because archaeologists are busy doing archaeology. Same with NASA or any other agency of serious organisation. They’re busy doing what they do. Debunking flerfs has zero value to them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-most-flat-earthers-trolls/997011.md?page=8)