On 5/5/2024 11:39 PM, jillery wrote:

The following link is to an 8-minute Youtube video of Sabine
Hossenfelder expressing her concerns about flat-earthers aka
flearthers:

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW6hgOc3wuI> ************************************
@1:04
But it's not just a matter of misunderstanding. If you believe that
the Earth is flat you also have to believe in a global conspiracy
that's hiding the truth for no particular reason.

@3:04
To me flat earthers are the first symptom of a much bigger problem.
They show us what happens when people realize they can't understand
modern science, don't trust scientists, and therefore throw out even
the most basic scientific knowledge on the rationale of skepticism. *************************************

The above is similar to my concerns about pseudoskeptics generally,
while Sabine excuses those who don't do science themselves:

**********************************
@3:23
Flat earthers are somewhat extreme in that they're actually throwing
out evidence that they could test themselves if they weren't so bad at science. But the underlying problem is much deeper because in most of
modern science the average person can't test evidence for themselves. **********************************

While I agree doing "modern science" is beyond the financial and
logistical resources of the average person, I disagree that's an
appropriate test. Just as people don't need to be an automotive
engineer to understand and appreciate the merits of good automotive
design, they also don't need to be professional scientists in order to understand and appreciate the evidence on which scientific theories
are based.

When Sabine says she doesn't understand how CRISPR works, I have no
doubt she doesn't understand every jot and tittle about it any more
than I do, but she doesn't have to be able to peer review articles
about CRISPR in order to grok the method's veracity and the basic
concepts about it.

My experience is all pseudoskeptics, not just flat-earthers, not just scientific pseudoskeptics, but all those who reject material evidence
and accept made-up facts without question, are symptomatic of a
failure in education, and equally pose clear and present dangers to
modern society.

--
To know less than we don't know is the nature of most knowledge

https://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/from-a-million-miles-away-nasa-camera-shows-moon-crossing-face-of-earth/

They probably have to think that the moon landings were faked.

https://explorer1.jpl.nasa.gov/galleries/earth-from-space/#gallery-9 https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/apollo-8-earthrise/

Ron Okimoto

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