There was a time when people believed that the Earth was flat and those who questioned it were seen as crazy people. Now the tables have turned and the ones who believe in the flat Earth theory are seen as the weird ones.
Although it is difficult to change your beliefs, because you have your own arguments and the other side’s evidence is not convincing enough, it is still possible. People shared their stories of changing their mind about the Earth being flat or seeing someone else realize it when Reddit user jbarms asked “Former Flat Earthers. What made you come round?”
Will you use any of these arguments for people who you know are flat earthers? Have you ever believed that the Earth was flat and have a revelation story? Let us know in the comments.
More info: Reddit
#1 Because There Is No Edge
Look, it’s really easy:
If the Earth is flat, there would be an edge(s). And there would be a f*****g Disney park at the edge, and we could bungie jump off the side and paraglide into the void etc etc.
Someone would be making an absolute s**t ton of money off of it – if it existed.
Guess what? Nobody is doing that – adn in this world where absolutely everything is exploited for profit – if no one is making money off of it – it does.not.exist. No edge. Not flat. Get a clue.
Image source: Gedwyn19, Jeanne Menjoulet
#2 Because People Grow Up
Quote I got from somewhere…
“for 5 years I believed the Earth was flat, then I turned 6”
Image source: anon, Athena Iluz
#3 Because Of The Laser Test Over Water
I entertained it for a while. What convinced me the earth was a sphere was a video I came across of a group of flat earthers doing a laser test over water. They found a stretch of level water around 2 miles long, then used level lasers to measure the distance from the water. The test came back quite accurately indicating the earth was a sphere and not flat. They all got super upset and were crying about it. Seems like a doable and effective test and their reaction, confusion and heartbreak seemed genuine.
Image source: w1lliamsss, star5112
#4 Because You Can Travel To The Same Place Choosing Two Different Directions
Had to travel to Japan, gave up on my beliefs in order to make a shorter trip.
Image source: uvzla792, Pedro Szekely
#5 Because All Other Celestial Bodies Are Spherical
While having coffee with my sister one day, she revealed that she was a flat earther.
I said I wasn’t going to try and convince her otherwise because if literally millions of pieces of evidence doesn’t convince you, then nothing I can say will, but I will ask you a couple of question so that I can understand a bit more. This was the brief conversation:
Q. Do you think the sun is round? Her answer – It appears to be
Q. Do you think the moon is round? Her answer – it appears to be
Q do you think all the other planets are round? Her answer – they appear to be
So to clarify, you’re saying that the sun, the moon and all the planets are round but we’re floating on a flat disk in the same space. Ok.
I think it made a difference from the look on her face but we’ve never spoken of it again.
Image source: ThelastReject, Jonas Bengtsson
#6 Because It’s Impossible To Put GPS Into The Ground If They Struggle To Put Decent Pipes
I was debating a flat earther in Mexico, and I asked him about how GPS worked if there were no satellites. He said that they had devices in the ground to route you.
I told him the Mexican government is barely able to put decent water pipes in the ground; would he really think they had the tech to put routing devices in the ground?
He chuckled with a thousand mile gaze.
Image source: mzaouar, geocaching.smartlog.dk
#7 Because It Doesn’t Matter Anyway
My FIL is a flat earther and all around nutcase. I asked him if the earth was flat and you was right, what then? How is your life any different? His face was priceless because he didn’t have an answer. It was great.
Image source: BigWingWangKen, Matt Brown
#8 Because Earth Is So Big, You Can’t See The Curve
I convinced a flat earther, temporarily, by asking him if it was possible for a sphere to be so large that you could not tell it was a sphere by simply being on the surface of it. It took him a while, I used an analogy of a extremely long line that was so slightly curved you could not tell so by looking at a small section of it. Eventually he said yes to the sphere and I told him that was how big the earth is.
A few days later he reverted, most of these people aren’t mentally stable, they believe in a lot of conspiracies.
Image source: McClain3000, fdecomite
#9 Because It Is Easy To Deceive A Person Who Doesn’t Require Proof Against Something
Not me, but got a flat Earther to question his beliefs (and hopefully critically analyze them) by giving him the proof he asked for, to which he responded “mainstream science and media are lies”. I asked why he asked for proof if he could just disregard it as lies either way, then told him that since he required no proof (or evidence against) to believe something, it made him the easiest person to deceive and that it seemed pretty sheep-like to me. He deleted all of his flat earth comments and hasn’t posted about it since.
Image source: thelife0fZ, Andy Beatty
#10 Because The Globe In Kindergarten Was Round
I went to kindergarten and saw a globe…
Image source: Gouranga56, Dan Keck
#11 Because Of Star Patterns
Surprisingly enough. Facts and logic.
More specifically star patterns. What we observe can not happen on a flat earth.
Image source: anon, Jonny Williams
#12 Because Different Places Have Different Seasons At The Same Time
I once had a conversation with a professional UFC fighter and outspoken Flat Earther. I tried to explain how Archimedes was able to prove the Earth was round just by using his shadow. I mentioned air travel and how Hawaii and Japan are not 20+ hours of flying apart.
But what I think got through to him the most was seasons. This particular guy was Brazilian. I explained that because the Earth is round, it’s possible to be winter in Brazil and summer in the USA and vice versa. He nodded and stared off into the distance silently and the conversation was over. I don’t think I “converted” him but it gave him significant pause at the very least.
Image source: PlaneShenaniganz, Rob Young
#13 Because A Person Working For A Company That Tracks Ship Locations, Routes, And Speeds By Satellite Explained That Their Job Wouldn’t Be Possible Otherwise
I talked to a flat-earther about my job working for a company that tracks ship locations, routes, and speeds by satellite. We also had ways of monitoring carbon emissions based on fuel consumption and known weather conditions. None of this would work at all if the earth was flat. Not a jot of it. I could only explain the most basic concepts, but it was enough for him to understand and realise that I was right and that he’d been convinced by someone who had no practical experience of the spherical nature of the Earth. I think that’s what really did it – my experience was really tangible. This happens then this happens then we measure this etc etc… no theory, just practice. A bit like showing a child a rock dropping to the ground in order to explain gravity, rather than giving them the whole theoretical shebang. Y’know?
Edit: sorry it’s a bit rambling I’m so damn tired
Image source: Administrative-Task9, H. Michael Miley
#14 Because Of Sunsets
Sunsets man. Sunsets. I watched all these videos read a book on it talked to people about it. I was one of them. Everyone else was crazy for not seeing the truth.(still i have alot of questions about how the heck this thing could posibly be a globe but thats besides the point) but i had an answer for everything. People would ask why dont we fall off the edge? There is no edge the earths an infinite space. Why do balloons pop when they go high enough? Because theres only so much air and it sinks to the earths surface but eventually you can fly above it and then theres no presure of the air pushing agaist thr ballon so it pops. Hows gravity work? Gravity is made up i believe in buoyancy. But one day somebody asked me if the sun is a spotlight in the sky then how does a sunset work. I was like uh.. and i looked into it. Couldn’t find anything that makes sense. Sunsets turned me back
Image source: NamelessSithNPC, Edward Adams
#15 Because They Studied Physics
I feel into a rabbit hole of conspiracies. Thankfully, physics is a mandatory subject in Switzerland, made much more sense that any « top 10 facts that prove that the earth is flat ».
Image source: Lykorice, naturalismus
#16 The Mobius Strip Earthers Had More Compelling Arguments
The mobius strip earthers had more compelling arguments.
Image source: jnhummel, Andy Beatty
#17 Because NASA Wouldn’t Lie
The thing that made me stop was just the question “why would nasa lie to you
Image source: The_Holy_Fork, Becky Stern
#18 Because Basketball Player Kyrie Irving Who Believed The Earth Is Flat Doesn’t Do Press Conferences Anymore
Kyrie Irving hasn’t been doing press conferences
Image source: BjornBeetleBorg, Erik Drost
#19 Because Of How A Video From The Channel Minutephysics Explained It
Okay I get the question is funny and all but I actually did believe, for a time, that the earth was flat. I was raised in a very religious family, and basically came to the conclusion that the Bible declared the earth was flat, because since I believed the earth was created in seven days, the idea that God set the stars in the sky in one day made much more sense if the stars were simply points of light in a sort of snowglobe formation extrapolated onto a bigger scale. Otherwise, he took one day out of the seven to make a septillion or so balls of flaming gas, all with their own planets, and set each one into galaxies before breaking for lunch. It just didn’t make sense to me that he would spend five days on one planet, and make the creation of the trillions of other stuff in the universe a little footnote. I was confronted about this belief a couple times, only one of which wasn’t laughed off. That single person who engaged started a serious discussion, presenting much more evidence for the globe earth, and eventually told me to watch Carl Sagan. The Cosmos series was on YouTube, and once I watched it, I had to know more. Finally, a video from the channel MinutePhysics convinced me, in no uncertain terms, that the earth was round. All it took was one quote, which I still remember leaving chills down my spine: “you should have put a serious tag on this question.”
Image source: maleorderbride, Om1cron
#20 Because Dad Said The Earth Is Round
It took about five years. It was alot of willfull ignorance on my part, I just refused to question the logic of it. In fact I spent most of my time coming up with crazy fantasies about alot of things I didn’t understand. But you have to understand that there is just so much we don’t know about that sometimes our priority on what is real and what can be believed can get confused. I was learning so much so fast that I really didn’t question something so inane as the world being flat. Of course it was, why wouldn’t it be. The day that changed it forever though was when I asked my father what happens when you get to the edge of the world, he of course said the world is round like a ball. Being about five years old I thought that made alot of sense.
Image source: Orbitaldropbear, Wutthichai Charoenburi
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