Quote:
Originally Posted by Engine09
I had a discussion with a person once who was arguing that Neil DeGrasse Tyson should accept a debate with a leader of the flat earth community. This person argued if the evidence is so strong then Neil DeGrasse Tyson should quickly destroy him in a debate and he should not be afraid of the challenge. I explained that we solved this hundreds of years ago and there is nothing to be gained from entertaining such nonsense.
Some things are just a waste of time, like everything this Yoho lunatic posted. The guy was nuts.
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The problem here is that you and your friend are both right.
Yeah, DeGrasse Tyson could engage with flat earthers, and maybe he should, and yes he could debunk most of that crap almost immediately.
And flat-earthers are a lot like other elements of the lunatic fringe, they feel like they're the ones truly 'in the know' and aren't going to be swayed by any evidence anyways, so whats the point?
Flat-earthers are a group of people that want to feel special, they want to feel like they know a secret that nobody else knows, it becomes an element of their ethos, even though its just not true.
You cant reason someone out of a position they didnt 'reason' themselves into. Thats what makes conspiracy theorists infuriating.
But ignoring them or disregarding their beliefs or never engaging with them also fuels their beliefs. So in short, there is no winning.