Sooooo...turns out my new roommate is a flat earther.

Sign her up for the one-way trip to Mars. That would both prove a point & hopefully stop her procreating.

sbsquarepants wrote:

My girlfriends family are all mad for the osteopath (not her thankfully, but her sister who's an intensive care nurse is, which is slightly worrying ) You get "poor old annie had an awful flu, couldn't even stand up - she went to the osteopath and a few days later she was right as rain" I had the same thing, I watched Dr Phil with a cup of tea and a few days later I was right as rain - The miracle worker is your own immune system not some german hippy in a white coat.

Isnt osteopathy somewhere between a massage and a chiropractor? Nothing magic about that.... having said that ,I think the idea behind homeopathy is bunk but it seems to have an effect on me-long live placebo effect

Markcheese wrote: »

Isnt osteopathy somewhere between a massage and a chiropractor?

Which makes it even worse considering that chiropractic is nonsense bullsh1t too.

ardinn wrote: »

Well my view of the universe has been completely warped since I started listening to joe rogan so Im of the opinion she could be right - or wrong - and who the fúck are you to tell her your right and she is wrong?

It was people like you who told her the earth WAS UNDENIABLY FLAT years ago!

WHAT? This makes no sense. Science isn't an ideology, we know the Earth isn't flat because we can observe it from space, we know it's not flat because satellites orbit it, we know it's not flat because of gravity, there are a ton of physical, gravitational and visual proofs to show the Earth isn't flat. People like us (science students/lovers/graduates) aren't like the people in charge then (AKA religion, an ideology that has a dogma and refuses to accept facts) in any sense.

mrkiscool2 wrote: »

WHAT? This makes no sense. Science isn't an ideology, we know the Earth isn't flat because we can observe it from space, we know it's not flat because satellites orbit it, we know it's not flat because of gravity, there are a ton of physical, gravitational and visual proofs to show the Earth isn't flat. People like us (science students/lovers/graduates) aren't like the people in charge then (AKA religion, an ideology that has a dogma and refuses to accept facts) in any sense.

The kind of person who believes in a flat earth has a condition where they are incapable of trusting anything that contradicts their opinion unless they see it with their own eyes.
They just have confirmation bias, like we all do, but their's is dialled up to 11. To the point that they're paranoid the entire world is lying to them.

In my totally unqualified opinion, people who are heavily into CT's like Jim Corr and clearly OP's flatmate are actually mentally ill and somewhere on the schizophrenic spectrum, and require the help of a professional. Ridicule doesn't really do anything except push them further into paranoia.

The Flat Earth thing had been around for a while but it was always predominantly a satire movement, much like Landover Baptist website being an elaborate satire on extreme conservative views. Come up with the most outrageous claims as "proof" and just troll the hell out of people.

But in the past few years there's been a rise and acceptance of anti-intellectualism, value of opinion over knowledge, every person and their dog becoming a social media science or health "guru" spreading amazing levels of misinformation to their audiences, distrust in authority bodies, me getting older and noticing it more has just led me to understand that people will really believe just about anything to support their hyper-sensitive confirmation bias.

There is literally no evidence or proof you could bring to the table that could make these people analyse their situation in a critical fashion.......despite their constant use of "keep an open mind"...........it becomes part of their persona.

I mean, at this stage..............in 2016.............you'd nearly have to have a special talent to be this genuinely ignorant of the basic fundamental understandings of our world.

Holographic moon...........there's no stars (people not understanding exposure in photography is just astonishing).................are there parasites or a neurological viral strain going around making people this stupid or something?

Markcheese wrote: »

Isnt osteopathy somewhere between a massage and a chiropractor? Nothing magic about that.... having said that ,I think the idea behind homeopathy is bunk but it seems to have an effect on me-long live placebo effect

It's like a chiropractor who doesn't actually do any chiropracting!. They make "tiny adjustments" so small that the untrained person wouldn't even notice, but after many reasonably priced sessions (it takes time of course) the effects build up. It boggles the mind how people fall for this bollox. For a mere €400 -€500 euro you too can have your minor self healing ailment magically disappear.

The only thing they have going for them is unlike a chiropractor who may very well cripple you, they at least won't do you any harm, just not any good either.
They are both unprotected phrases, you or I could set up shop tomorrow as a chiropractor or an osteopath.

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Walk her to the edge and push her off.

EDIT: actually, on a more serious note, what is it these people think "the man" gains by lying to us about the earth being flat? From snippets I've seen on various threads here lots of people have to be in on it, airlines etc. Wouldnt it be easier to just say "yeah the earth is flat" and stick a few "mind the edge" signs a few feet back from the drop?

You're projecting sound reasoning onto an irrational mind. Anyone who thinks that the Earth is flat, even though they can go out this afternoon and empirically prove to themselves that it's not (really easily), is not going to be able to follow the reasoning that you just laid out.

I work with a guy who is otherwise completely sane and fairly intelligent, but is adamant that the moon landings were faked. I'm convinced he only says it to wind me up, but he has never wavered.

I think Richard Dawkins (among others, I'm sure) nailed it when he said (talking about 'young-earthers', but the same point applies here) that we should never make the mistake of thinking that those who believe such things are open to rational scientific argument, and only believe what they believe because the evidence hasn't yet convinced them, or the arguments made haven't been good enough.