Daniel Shenton, President of the Flat-Earth Society and the nature of (dis)belief
Daniel Shenton believes that the earth is a flat disc surrounded by mountains to hold the water in. Yes, he actually believes this. Why? Because go look outside. Do you see any curvature? To wit, he feels “our senses tell us these things, and it would take an extraordinarily [sic] level of evidence to counteract those.” Every photo of earth, every space expedition, every piece of information we have on satellites and flight routes — all fakery.
And I’m left wondering… how does this happen? How are people capable of such self-deceit? And is it really possible to change their or anyone else’s minds about the things they believe?
While the article frustrates me beyond belief, it illustrates a human phenomenon I’ve been increasingly obsessed with; how untrusting we can be of provable facts. It crops up everywhere; the Moon Landing Hoax, the 9/11 truth movement, Climate Change denial, Holocaust denial, young-earth creationism, homeopathy, Tea Parties and their non-citizen muslim president nonsense… it goes on and on. All things that should be a given, based on all the available evidence we have, and yet, millions of people refuse to accept.
I’m certainly not above having a crazy idea now and again. No one is. And I don’t think this is a religious or political issue as the phenomenon is in no way restricted to just one type of person. There are nutjobs of every shape and color. More often then not, it presents as a sort of bias towards one set of information and a mistrust of anything counter to it. Guys like Daniel Shenton pride themselves on their use of cold hard logic and facts to support their arguments and often have more than a handful to cite, but are happy to ignore or discredit whatever facts you throw back at them. Shenton himself said the only way he’d change his mind about a Flat Earth is if he himself went up into a rocket and looked down, “but even then, in seeing it, I would have to be convinced there weren’t any tricks involved.”
Perhaps more interestingly is how this phenomenon seems to be on the rise. Or just being given more attention and treated as more valid. The earliest I can remember this sort of thing happening is when Fox News first came onto the scene and started pulling their “two sides to every story” bullshit. They’d have Guy #1 on the screen talking about something fairly obvious and irrefutable, and Guy #2 next to him spouting complete nonsense and having his viewpoint treated as equal. But obviously, that guy existed before Fox News. So it didn’t start with them.
So what the hell is going on? What causes this? Is it just part of being human or is this actually something fairly new? Are our science classes failing? Poor parenting? Simply the power of belief and denial? Or am I completely wrong about the whole thing and there’s no such thing as an invalid point of view?
I just want to understand it cause I’m starting to lose faith in humanity. I’m losing the desire to follow the news or talk about anything of substance with other people. I’m all for the free exchange of ideas, but it’s no fun talking to a brick wall. Maybe this happens to everyone and that’s why old folks love to small talk to much, but that doesn’t make it right. Or maybe this is what creates nutjobs in the first place? I’m very much aware of the fact that this entire article is essentially a refusal to accept and understand people who refuse to accept and understand… So how do I deal?
Comments
Can’t these people just watch a boat come towards them on the horizon? If the earth were flat the boat would be 100% viewable the entire time.
Hutch, I feel your pain. But I’ll try to look at the bright side (even though that’s hard to do and not really that great of a bright side).
I’d say that there were probably way more skeptics like this in the history of mankind. They had way more power, and they probably killed the logical ones like you and I.
So if anything the trend is heading in our direction. I just finished God Is Not Great and I’m sorta reminded of Hitchens’ last chapter of hope for the future.
how do you know YOU’RE not the one actually buying all the “proven” bullshit?
rhetorical question, mind.
And a good one — one worth asking, especially when you spend as much time as I do arguing with the “crazies” I’m bitching about.
The long short is that you don’t. All you can do is weigh all the possible evidence and do everything you can to avoid the various pitfalls the “crazies” seem to fall into. Avoiding things like discussion of bias, of hidden agendas, of conspiracy and scenarios that involve a great number of people hiding “the truth.” I think, generally speaking, if you’re willing to give an objective look at all the evidence without getting into these sorts of things, you’ll find yourself on the right side of crazy — or you’ll have a position on a point of view that, maybe, isn’t quite so cut and dry.