Flat earth, a conspiracy to discredit conspiracies?

originally posted by: Freeborn
a reply to: Ove38

So we believe one of the few photographic experts who think it was all a hoax or the thousands who don't?

I have a mate who is some sort of photography enhancer or something for a 'Celebratory' magazine called TITS or NUTS or something like that. He subtly draws attention to breasts, crotches, irons out a few wrinkles and a bit of cellulite etc.
He looked at all those moon landing photos thoroughly hoping to find they were faked. His conclusion: barring one or two doubts he's convinced they're genuine.

Believe what you believe.

Agreed that it's all about, belief, on all angles of the discussion.

But that's only my temporary belief, that expires when this post is posted.

a reply to: Ove38

No. A photographer who was too lazy to look up the modifications made to the Hasselblads posted a video showing how little his credentials are worth. On any social media post anywhere you will find people who claim expertise on a subject and then proceed to demonstrate they have nothing of the sort.

The other video you posted is full of lies, obfuscation and cherry picked half-truths that are easily debunked.

Like I said, people don't need any help making themselves look stupid.

Flat Earth debates are as stupid as powdered water.

Saying that, you could replace all of the political crap in ATS with flat Earth topics, and it would be a remarkable improvement.

I don't know that any emphasis on "Flat Earthers" is a conspiracy to discredit conspiracy theorists. The pursuit of conspiracy theories inherently attract those who want to stand out for one reason or another. From what I've read here on ATS, this forum is no stranger to those who want to claim fifteen minutes of fame by "blowing the whistle" on Area 51 or what have you, and 99% of them are fakers. Those who sincerely believe in aliens have been plagued by the same sort of fame-seekers for decades.

From what I've seen lately, the current trend has been to use mainstream media to brand dissenting opinions as "conspiracies" and simply let the force of cultural pressure do its work. Worse, they brand conspiracy theorists as dangerous. "If you believe this or that conspiracy theory, you're a danger to society." Flat Earthers aren't really labeled as dangerous, just silly. They are to conspiracy theories what the KKK is to racists: such a small and inconsequential group as to be largely ignored, except in a few rare instances in the modern day.*

If you want to discredit conspiracy theorists, the smarter play is to brand them as dangerous traitors to the common good. Flat Earthers simply don't merit that sort of label, and it would "tip one's hand" to try; if you tried labeling Flat Earthers as dangerous traitors to humanity, people would raise an eyebrow, chuckle incredulously, and likely conclude you're just as nuts as any Flat Earther.

On the other hand, if you go after, say, those against the COVID vaccines, people who believe what they're told by mainstream media would be understandably concerned about these so-called evildoers who apparently don't care about human life. Brand those who raise concerns about the vaccine as dangerous conspiracy theorists, and suddenly anyone who comes close to being a conspiracy theorist is guilty by association. At the very least, they're just nuts. At worst, they're a menace to society.

* I'm not saying the KKK isn't a dangerous group, especially with regard to their ideology. Obviously they have also been a danger in the past. What I'm saying is their numbers and any influence they have is so vanishingly small that they don't get a lot of press coverage or even discussion time, simply because most people consider them to be irrelevant idiots.

a reply to: Factis

Get what you're saying, but the problem with fringe extremists of any kind is that dismissing them as irrelevant and allowing them to exist unchallenged means their ideology is available to the gullible and stupid.

They exist as a gateway to other things. Once an idiot who is easily swayed by slick presentation realises they can blame the Sci3ntismS and the globe for their failures it's a short step to all the other garbage. It 's the liberals, it's the Jews, it's Muslims, it's everyone but themselves to blame.

They get mocked and derided in the general media for good reason, not as a distraction, but because they deserve mockery. Their arguments, lies and falsehoods are challenged not suppress them, but because they need challenging to stop them from spreading and infecting anyone else.

a reply to: OneBigMonkeyToo

Certainly false ideas should be treated as such, preferably through reasoned debate and a factual presentation of evidence. While I'm not a fan of mocking adherent to false ideology, you're correct that false ideologies tend to have a snowballing effect, and shouldn't necessarily be left unconfronted.

My point was that "Flat Earth" simply doesn't garner the sort of labeling that other conspiracy theories do, so I don't think the media or any other influencers tend to deride Flat Earthers in any kind of effort to discount conspiracy theorists in general. As I stated before, Flat Earthers aren't labeled as malicious or a detriment to the common good of humanity; they're treated as silly and only worth mocking or ignoring.

Without remarking on whether I agree with them or not, other conspiracy theorists--those opposed to the COVID vaccine come to mind--seem more a target of the mainstream media and popular culture at large. There was a time when "anti-vaxxer" was a term applied almost exclusively to people who believe vaccines cause autism, which is a dangerous belief. Now "anti-vaxxer" also refers to someone who has doubts about the COVID vaccine, and the response from mainstream culture has been exceptionally hostile. Such people have been labeled as conspiracy theorists, as well as hostile toward humanity's common good.

If there is any sort of concerted effort to use Flat Earth conspiracy in a campaign to discredit conspiracy theorists at large, I would suggest it's a misguided campaign, and there are much easier and more effective theories out there that could be used to discredit us as a whole.

originally posted by: OneBigMonkeyToo
a reply to: Ove38

No. A photographer who was too lazy to look up the modifications made to the Hasselblads posted a video showing how little his credentials are worth. On any social media post anywhere you will find people who claim expertise on a subject and then proceed to demonstrate they have nothing of the sort.

The other video you posted is full of lies, obfuscation and cherry picked half-truths that are easily debunked.

Like I said, people don't need any help making themselves look stupid.

Why would professional photographers say the pictures of fake, if they are not fake ?

a reply to: Oldcarpy2

originally posted by: charlyv
Flat Earth debates are as stupid as powdered water.

Saying that, you could replace all of the political crap in ATS with flat Earth topics, and it would be a remarkable improvement.

originally posted by: charlyv
Flat Earth debates are as stupid as powdered water.

Saying that, you could replace all of the political crap in ATS with flat Earth topics, and it would be a remarkable improvement.

originally posted by: andy06shake
a reply to: Freeborn

A spare or reserve parachute might have been an idea.

originally posted by: andy06shake
a reply to: Freeborn

A spare or reserve parachute might have been an idea.

originally posted by: Oldcarpy2
a reply to: futurehobo

Some people actually believe in FE but I think a lot of them just want to pick an argument just for the sake of it.

a reply to: Freeborn

Stab in the dark, but i think he may find his "general Byrd" to have been an admiral.

Can't wait for the FE's take on Artemis' launch.

Did anyone hear the Bang when it hit the glass dome?