666

Conspiracy theorists, including flat-earthers, like to assign each letter in the alphabet a number, come up with a really creative way to get “666” out of a word, then associate the word with “evil.” In reality, it is just numerology and has no basis in reality.

The website 666generator.com shows us that we can always find a way to get “666” out of practically any word with more than a few letters, demonstrating the absurdity of this practice.

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Nobel Disease

Nobel disease is a phenomenon where a Nobel Prize winner endorses a pseudoscientific concept in their later years.

Conspiracy theorists use these endorsements as “evidence” science supports their crank ideas. In reality, science relies on the scientific method to discover what is true, rather than the authority of any individual, not even Nobel Prize winners.

We have no problem saying that psychic is pseudoscience even though some Nobel prize laureates at one point endorsed it. Just because renowned scientists like Pierre Curie, Marie Curie, and Albert Einstein supported psychic, it does not mean it is scientific.

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Predictive Programming

Predictive programming is a made-up element of conspiracy theories that supposes conspirators hide references in popular media before an atrocity takes place. When it occurs, the public has supposedly softened up and accepts it rather than resisting.

Conspiracy theorists invented the so-called predictive programming to allow them to use similarities in books, music, movies, etc., as “evidence” that the atrocity was intentional & caused by a conspiracy. It also gives them a convenient excuse to justify why these conspiracists would even purposely leak their secret plans of an atrocity in popular media.

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Education vs. Propaganda

In our education, we are told that the Earth is a sphere because it is a sphere. It would be wrong if our educational system were to teach us that the Earth is flat.

Flat-Earthers claim that our educational system is a form of propaganda & indoctrination. In reality, we were told Earth is a sphere because it is a sphere. It would be misleading if they told us other than that. Propaganda & indoctrination is what is actually happening in flat-Earth communities themselves.

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(April Fools) DHMO Awareness Campaign

DHMO (dihydrogen monoxide, or hidroxic-acid, μ-oxido dihydrogen, dihydrogen oxide, oxidane, hydric acid) is a non-organic chemical. It is transparent, odorless & tasteless but can cause frostbite and blunt trauma in solid form, suffocation in liquid form, and thermal burns in gas form. Additionally, it can also dissolve heavy metals and accelerate corrosion.

There are many conspiracies involving DHMO in their modus operandi. DHMO is the primary component of chemtrails. Attempts of weather modification by the global scheme can result in a downpour that contains a large amount of DHMO. In the so-called “space industry,” both Neil Armstrong and Wernher von Braun reportedly often consumed DHMO. All genetically engineered plants are known to contain DHMO. And the new world order governments are knowingly feeding DHMO to the population.

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Fact-Fabrication Blending in Conspiracy Theories

Perpetrators of conspiracy theories, including flat Earth, like to mix real-world facts & their fabrications. As a result, the victims cannot differentiate the fact parts and the fabrication parts of the conspiracy, then wrongly use references to the fact parts as “evidence” of the fabrication parts.

For example, they often wrongly use the fact that Illuminati was real as “evidence” they control our lives. In reality, Illuminati was a real-world, historical secret society. But it does not prove that Illuminati is controlling everything in our lives.

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Chemtrail Conspiracy Theory

The chemtrail conspiracy theory presupposes the erroneous belief that long-lasting contrails left by aircraft are, in fact, “chemtrails” intentionally sprayed for nefarious purposes.

The so-called “chemtrails” are just normal condensation trails produced by aircraft engine exhaust. Contrails are composed of water in the form of ice crystals. Depending on the temperature and humidity, contrails may be visible for a few seconds, or they may persist for hours, resembling natural clouds.

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Conspiracy Theories are Immune to Evidence

Conspiracy theories are immune to evidence. They are inherently self-sealing. Evidence that disproves a conspiracy theory is reinterpreted as originating from the conspiracy.

When faced with evidence that disproves flat Earth, rather than considering the evidence, flat-Earthers will simply invent an “explanation” that the evidence was fabricated by those in the conspiracy & include those who told them the evidence as being part of the conspiracy. Sometimes even evidence that can be personally verified also gets the same treatment.

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Gleason Map

The so-called “Gleason Map” is an old map published in the 19th century. The author was a flat-Earther who claimed the map as the “flat Earth map.” In reality, the map is just a normal azimuthal equidistant map centered on the North Pole.

From the map’s patent, we know the author was aware and in full knowledge that the map was just a projection of the spherical Earth, contradictory to the claims in his book.

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Why It is Difficult for Satellites to Locate the Missing MH370 Flight

If many satellites provide navigation and surface imagery, why is it challenging to locate the missing MH370 flight?

Satellite navigation, including GPS, is passive. Satellites emit signals, which are processed by receivers —including those on board the MH370— to determine their own locations. The satellites never receive anything from MH370 and cannot determine its location.

Airliners do broadcast their positions using ADS-B. However, at the time of MH370, only ground-based ADS-B stations existed. There were no satellite-based ADS-B receivers yet, and no coverage in the middle of oceans.

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Controlled Opposition or Psyop

Believers of a less ridiculous conspiracy theory often wrongly claim that a more ridiculous one, like flat Earth, is a psyop or controlled opposition intentionally created by the authorities to undermine and discredit all the other conspiracy theories.

In reality, conspiracy theories like flat-Earth can form due to ignorance, emotion, and prejudice. It is not necessary to invent a conspiracy theory to explain the existence of another. Moreover, all conspiracy theories are more similar than different from each other, including flat-Earth. They differ only in the severity of ignorance, emotion, and prejudice needed for someone to become a victim of a specific conspiracy theory.

Image of William Shatner Wearing the Same Jacket as Jeff Bezos

In 2021, William Shatner becomes the oldest person to travel to space after he went up with Blue Origin. Conspiracy theorists noticed a Photoshopped image of Shatner wearing a Blue Origin Jacket. And they use the image to discredit spaceflight.

Conspiracy theorists —including flat-Earthers— were quick to notice the Photoshop job, yet unable to notice the glaring fact that Blue Origin had nothing to do with it.

Even if they did it, it does not “prove” anything. This incident, however, serves to demonstrate the inability of conspiracy theorists to use their critical thinking skills.

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Cherry Picking Experts and Appeal to Authority

Out of millions of people with an advanced degree, we can find someone, somewhere, who believes a crackpot proposition, including flat-Earth. Citing these very few experts to “prove” the crackpot proposition and ignoring the much larger body of experts who disagree is the fallacy of cherry-picking and appeal to authority.

The scientific consensus is determined by the collective position of the community of scientists in a specific field of study, not just by a few individuals.

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Meaning of the Term “New World Order”

The term “New World Order” has two meanings. The original, benign meaning is a period of history evidencing a dramatic change in world political thought and balance of power. It refers to periods like after the First World War, the Second World War, and the fall of communism.

The second meaning is the one used by conspiracy theorists. In this case, “New World Order” means a secretive power elite with a globalist agenda conspiring to eventually rule the world through an authoritarian one-world government. This second meaning is just a conspiracy theory, which is not an actual fact but believed as true anyway by its adherents.

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Hawaiian-Japanese-Buddhist Flat-Earth Map by Dr. Kobayashi

The lost world is a genre of fiction involving the discovery of an unknown world, popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s when the remnants of lost civilizations were being discovered by westerners. However, newspapers of the era often published such works in a way it might not be obvious that these are just works of fiction.

In 1907, the Hawaiian Gazette published one of such works titled “Was This World Map Made Ten Centuries Ago,” illustrated with the so-called Kobayashi map, for a more powerful story. Flat-Earthers fail to realize it was a work of fiction that was common in the era. The tale & the Kobayashi map spread in flat-Earth communities as a hoax.

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Crank Magnetism

Crank magnetism is the tendency of “cranks” to hold multiple irrational, unsupported, or ludicrous beliefs that are often unrelated. Crank magnetism also denotes the tendency of these people to accumulate more of such beliefs over time.

Those who believe flat Earth will tend to believe other “crank” ideas. Some of these ideas are necessary to support the belief in a flat Earth, like the hoax that moon landings did not happen. But most of these beliefs are not related to flat-Earth.

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“Moontruth” Prank Video

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In 2002, the advertising company Viral Factory filmed the “moontruth” video, which is a prank showing an “outtake” from the supposed faking of the “one small step” scene. The video shows “Neil Armstrong” (played by an actor) being interrupted by a falling studio light.

Flat-Earthers and other conspiracy theorists failed to realize that the video was just a viral prank video. It spreads in conspiracy theory circles as if it “proves” that the Apollo moon landing was faked.

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Georgia Guidestones

The Georgia Guidestones is a granite monument in Georgia, United States. In one of the stones, a hole is drilled through that points to the north celestial pole. And consequently, by looking through the hole, the star Polaris is visible at night.

Polaris is visible through the Georgia Guidestones’ hole every night, and flat-Earthers use the fact as “evidence” that Earth is stationary. In reality, due to Earth’s axial precession, in a few hundred years, Polaris will have moved far enough away from the north celestial pole and will no longer be visible through the hole.

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Fallacy of Appeal to Worse Problems / Relative Privation

The fallacy of appeal to worse problems (or relative privation) occurs when someone argues that efforts spent to solve a specific problem are a waste by pointing out that there are bigger problems that need to be solved.

Space research is a common target of appeal to worse problems. Flat-Earthers use it to discredit space research and to make people emotional. In reality, it is possible to care about multiple problems simultaneously, and solving the supposed smaller problems does not mean the bigger one is considered unimportant.

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