Flat Earth

[InbetweenDreams]

So most of you know that I started a podcast a while back. Well, I just got done with a 2hr 30min interview with well, to no surprise by the title of the thread, a flat earther. I don't know why I didn't stop the interview right there because that shit makes me cringe. I am really debating on whether I should publish the interview or not, the guest also wanted a copy of the interview to put on his SoundCloud.

Normally, I'm pretty open to ideas and being respectful of others' beliefs, but I think this is a bridge too far. As much as I want to be open, I do not want to perpetuate bullshit nor do I want to be associated with what I believe to be nonsense conspiracy theories.

So what do you guys think I should do? Scrap the whole thing? Publish it? Publish it with a big disclaimer/warning at the beginning?

[Bookworm]

Hey Mike, if you made it clear somewhere in the discussion that you don't share their flat earther views then I don't see any harm in publishing it. If you didn't, you can always add the disclaimer, like you say.

I don't buy into the flat earther theory either, but I would certainly be curious to listen to this one, just to get an idea on why they believe what they believe. People listening to it don't have to believe it.

[Chase]

You should slip in some slapstick sound effects like farting trumpet sounds and cuckoo clocks whenever the dude rambles about his nonsense.

[InbetweenDreams]

It is an interesting idea... It was a long interview. The guy also would talk over me every time I spoke. It was a shit show and in hindsight I could have avoided it.

Here's the thing that people do, whether it is flat-earth, or some other conspiracy theory and even when discussing politics. That is contextualism.

So prior to the interview I had no idea what he was going to discuss other than it was supposed to be about spirituality, religion, etc. If he had explained that he was a flat earther I could have either prepared for a discussion or simply turned him down, so I think it was a bit deceptive and similar to how an evangelist operates.

From https://flatearth.ws/contextualism#more-1222

Flat-Earthers love to shift the context to where we would no longer function as a normal human being because only in this context, most of us cannot possibly know the shape of the Earth.

And yes, they're right. I personally have no first hand experience in knowing what shape the Earth is other than all the evidence  (satellites, photos, astronauts and so forth) which flat-earther's simply shoot down anyway, so don't count own the mood landing as proof. The guy also said the North Korea isn't real either which I find ironic as this article mentioned North Korea as an example.

But in the matter of the shape of the Earth, they would shift the context to the extreme end where they would be able to defend flat Earth, and ask questions like “Are you certain the Earth is spherical and what is your evidence?”

We can surely answer the question from scientific standpoints. But we can also let philosophy do the work, and shift the context back to where it applies to our everyday lives: “Yes, I’m certain the Earth is spherical the same way you are certain North Korea is a real country.”

The truth of the matter I didn't really get to ask him very many questions, there was a lot of incomplete thoughts, rambling and talking over me. So if I do anything I would use the material to make commentary since I wasn't able to during the interview. I guess I'm kind of torn on what I should do with it.

To get an idea of what I went through I just typed up the first ~3 minutes of the interview...

I heard about the flat earth about a year ago and I guess to give you a back story… I didn’t want to think about it because it was it seemed so ridiculous right? I was listening to this guy talking about stuff and I was in the middle of playing a video game on my computer so I couldn’t really turn the thing off. So I just listened to this guy for and hour or something and I remember thinking I couldn’t really refute what he’s claiming you know?
And so, that’s what kind of started it for me but then it took me another 6 months to look into it properly because you know it was just like it just a crazy thing. And I think that’s the right assumption to make by the way, is that it’s crazy. Because, we all know we’re on a globe obviously right? This type of idea just wouldn’t make any sense you know like the flat earth kind of idea. So yeah, basically I decided you know that what I am going to do is just try and prove the globe because I kept hearing about this kind of idea and thought it was like nonsense so I just kind of wanted to put it to bed, be all and end all and just be done with it. But the more I looked, the less proof I found. And so I was like wow, like maybe it’s possible that this land is actually just flat kind of a thing and I mean it looks pretty flat. So anyway, that’s kind of what got my whole journey started. Do you have any questions about that?

Almost 300 words and hasn't really said much.

I would post a link to the whole thing but I don't want Google to pick it up here, at least not in its current form.

The other thing is, why does this stuff bother me so much? I know I'm not the smartest person in the world, but damn people like this just drive me up the wall...

[LONDONER]

Some time ago I saw an announcement online from the Flat Earth Society saying that The Flat Earth Society has offices all round the globe.

[InbetweenDreams]

Well guys, if you want to listen to this crap here it is. I cannot say the link will be valid forever simply that I haven't decided what to do with it. I wasn't prepared for this sort of thing either....



I did do a recording for a new episode last night discussing this, as I don't intend on publishing a 2.5 hour episode.... I will probably do a 2nd take which I fairly often.

[Cridders88]

Well guys, if you want to listen to this crap here it is. I cannot say the link will be valid forever simply that I haven't decided what to do with it. I wasn't prepared for this sort of thing either....



I did do a recording for a new episode last night discussing this, as I don't intend on publishing a 2.5 hour episode.... I will probably do a 2nd take which I fairly often.

How on earth you survived that interview is beyond me, kudos to you!

[InbetweenDreams]

How on earth you survived that interview is beyond me, kudos to you!

So I am not crazy then? lol I think the bigger question is why I am polite when I clearly shouldn't lol.

My intuition told me to stop the interview, I guess I was sort of curious, but I wasn't impressed. Here's the thing, he kept saying he had proofs, not just one but many. Proofs that in my opinion he would have been able to demonstrate in the 2 hour and 30 minute interview. That's the disappointment, that's ultimately why it is a waste. I mean outside of making jokes, I'm not sure what to do with this material.

If he had actually discussed what it was that was not refutable, who he heard it from and these supposed proofs he had I might have felt differently. Of course cutting me off 85% of the time and I really didn't ask him enough questions about this crap but you know just as well as I it would have been a waste of time.

Here's what I kind of don't like, because I wasn't prepared for this sort of crap I don't want it out there. I don't want to provide him with the recording because it will be hey look I took down a "globalist," or whatever they call people with a functioning brain. I also don't want to be part of possibly spreading this nonsense too. While I trust that those here reading this know better and while I can't see how anyone could take what this guy said seriously, you just never know.

So am I within my right to scrap this whole thing and not share the recording with the guest? Is it ethical to use parts of the interview? I honestly never thought I would have this sort of thing come up...

[Cridders88]

How on earth you survived that interview is beyond me, kudos to you!

So I am not crazy then? lol I think the bigger question is why I am polite when I clearly shouldn't lol.

I have to admit, I didn't listen to a lot of it. I just couldn't. Like you say, there was a lot of waffling from him with not a lot of substance. I mean, what substance could his argument have after all? The notion the earth is flat is ridiculous.

Is he asking for the recording by chance? Personally I'd probably just not use it at all. Brush it off as one bad memory. Like you say, it wasn't really a debate, just him spouting crap.

[InbetweenDreams]

@Cridders88 he is, he wants to put it on his soundcloud.