No matter how mind-snappingly stupid an idea or a movement is, no matter how objectively and *obviously* flawed its basic premise is… there will be people who cling to it forever. Observe:
These Coloradans say Earth is flat. And gravity’s a hoax. Now, they’re being persecuted.
The Flat Earth movement is growing in Colorado, thanks to technology and skepticism about science
Oy.
There’s no point in me rehashing the history and ideas behind the flat Earthers, we’ve heard it all before and it remains an infuriatingly awful conspiracy theory. What’s of interest is that as scientific data proving the non-flat nature of the Earth continues to pile up, more people seem to be signing on. Why? Well… I think one quote from the article nails the cause:
“They want you to think you’re insignificant, a speck on the earth, a cosmic mistake,” Sargent says. “The flat earth says you are special, we are special, there is a creator, this isn’t some accident.”
Here’s the thing: you *ARE* insignificant. And I don’t even mean on the cosmic scale. Take *any* random human, from you, dear blog reader, to your most cherished loved one, your workplace nemesis, your best friend, your neighbor, whoever. Now, assume that that human has a perfectly normal heart attack and dies tomorrow. Will people care? Sure, probably. But how many? For virtually all the seven billion+ people, that one persons passing will be completely un-noticed. It would be surprising if the news goes beyond an obituary in the back of the local paper. And in a hundred years, that perfectly average human will have been *entirely* forgotten by living humans, remembered solely by unread words on a stone in a cemetery and in unread old databases.
Yeah, you’re insignificant. You’re a speck on the Earth, a cosmic mistake.
But you’re one insignificant speck among seven billion others. If you work at it, aren’t a jerk and behave rationally and intelligently, you might help be a part of turning this mess of specks into something meaningful on a cosmic scale. *YOU* won’t live to see it, but so what? If you live well, you might enjoy your brief life and have some satisfaction that you did something useful.
Or… you could decide to live delusionally and just decide that you are more important than you really are. It might make you feel special to think that the universe was set up just for your piddly ass, but it won’t mean that you really are special. In the end, you will not only die and be forgotten, like everyone else, you will play no useful or meaningful role in advancing mankind.
Oh, and headline writer? Being mocked is not “persecution.”
