“Hey man, you ever seen those YouTube videos about the Earth being… you know, flat?”
“You’re joking, right?”
“No, I’m not. I saw a few the other day and they made some really convincing points and… ”
” Oh REALLY! Exactly which points did they make, that were so convincing?”
“I dunno, they just made it sound like it was something worth considering. You know, like we shouldn’t always just be accepting everything that we are told about this stuff.”
“This stuff? What stuff exactly? Please be more specific. Do you mean to say that you think everyone who understands that the Earth is a sphere, simply does so because that’s what we are TOLD? Told by whom? What exactly is the reasonable argument for it being flat?”
“Why don’t you watch a few of these videos and then tell me why they are wrong?”
“Because everything about the entire idea is so obviously wrong… wrong and (to be honest) stupid! I feel like I’m becoming a bit stupider just having this conversation. I’m not about to ruin perfectly good brain cells subjecting them to that kind of nonsense.”
“So I’m stupid for questioning it? That’s just what they said in the videos. They said that’s how they control everyone. They make it so if you ask questions, you’ll just get called stupid or crazy.”
“No, I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to say that YOU are stupid my friend. It’s just THIS IDEA that’s so stupid. I’m sorry but I get a bit carried away when someone I care about gets duped like this. You’re simply being played by some very clever salesmen. It can happen to anyone and is nothing to be ashamed about. Especially in these times of utter confusion regarding truth, science and the legitimacy of the so-called “news” and/or anything else categorized as “official” information. These people who make these kinds of videos are just trying to sell you something.”
“Sell me what? The videos don’t ask me to buy anything.”
“Just because there’s no obvious sales pitch for a product of some kind doesn’t mean they aren’t selling you something. They are asking you to buy into an entire mindset. One that will lead you to buying into things that will come at great cost indeed. There are entire industries based on people’s mistrust and fear. Some are relatively innocuous and even reasonable, others (like this idea that the Earth is flat) are actually quite dangerous.”
“Dangerous? That’s just silly. How can it be dangerous to think that it’s possible for the Earth to be flat?”
“It’s dangerous because those kinds of ideas support the retardation of critical thinking skills. They have no arguments based on the scientific method. They have no real data. They depend solely on your distrust of all things official and this is becoming easier and easier for them to do nowadays. Especially when there is so much about some things official that really are more than a little bit dubious.
There is a large chunk of modern culture that is rightly mistrusting of official motives. But that doesn’t mean we should just put our trust in polemic people and ideas simply because of this. Simply because they are good at casting doubt.
The best defense any of us have against tyranny is our ability to think critically. An aptitude for analyzing available facts as objectively as possible, is absolutely necessary for making the judgements we need to safely navigate a complex world. This is why I didn’t agree to just watch those videos and tell you why they are stupid and wrong. I’m sorry if I was flippant about it but I don’t want you to simply listen to me. I care about you. I want you to judge for yourself whether or not it makes sense to say that the Earth is flat.
I want you to develop and practice your critical thinking skills.”
“Oh… ok. thanks… by the way, you said there were entire industries based on mistrust and fear and some were reasonable. Which industries were you talking about?”
“AHA! you were listening. Good for you. THAT, my friend is a whole other discussion.”
“Later then?”
“Yea… later Dude.”
——
Blessed…
m(___)m
