The resurgence of flat Earth theory in modern times is attributed to its transformation into a conspiracy theory, which has been promoted by various organizations and public figures, and has resulted in a growing number of subscribers.

"The resurgence of flat Earth theory is linked to the spread of conspiracy theories online."

"The resurgence of flat Earth theory in modern times can be attributed to the spread of conspiracy theories on the internet, which can contribute to the misinformation and obscure the facts about the shape of the Earth."

The resurgence of flat Earth theory in modern times is linked to the spread of conspiracy theories, which have been amplified by the internet and social media.

The resurgence of flat Earth theory in modern times is linked to the spread of conspiracy theories, which are being promoted and tolerated in some British universities, according to Richard Dawkins.

The thinking of flat-earthers is characterized by a refusal of scientific reasoning, with arguments in support of the theory being based on ignorance and fanaticism.

The thinking of flat-earthers is characterized by a refusal to accept scientific reasoning and evidence-based thinking, instead relying on opinionated views and a denial of evidence.

The thinking of flat-earthers is characterized by a refusal of scientific reasoning, leading to the belief in unproven and often absurd ideas.

Flat-earthers are characterized by their refusal to accept scientific reasoning, as evidenced by their persistence in believing in a disproven theory despite scientific explanations to the contrary.

The thinking of flat-earthers is characterized by a refusal of scientific reasoning, often driven by selfish interests and a lack of education.

The flat Earth theory belongs to the category of conspiracy theories, and research suggests that certain groups, such as Millennials and Trump supporters, are more likely to be open to such beliefs.

The flat Earth theory belongs to the category of conspiracy theories, which are often spread through social media and involve the manipulation of information.

The flat Earth theory belongs to the category of conspiracy theories, as it is often promoted alongside other conspiracy-related content and goes against widely accepted scientific facts.

The flat Earth theory belongs to the category of conspiracy theories, as it rejects scientific evidence and promotes alternative explanations, and is often found alongside other conspiracy theories in online search results.

The flat Earth theory is an example of a conspiracy theory, as evidenced by public figures like Yuri Loza promoting the idea despite overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary.

Social media has played a significant role in the decentralization of information, contributing to the spread of conspiracy theories, including those related to the flat Earth movement.

Social media has contributed to the decentralization of information, allowing misinformation like the flat Earth theory to spread through online platforms.

Social media has contributed to the decentralization of information, making it easier for people to access and share a wide range of ideas, including conspiracy theories.

Social media has contributed to the decentralization of information and has been used as a platform for flat Earth proponents to share and discuss their ideas.

Social media has contributed to the decentralization of information, allowing for a wider range of voices and ideas to be shared and disseminated, including conspiracy theories and fringe views.

According to the provided information, Radu Cinamar's concept of regression experienced by flat-earthers is related to a severe retrogression into the Middle Ages, implying a significant backward step in societal or intellectual development.

Flat-earthers experience a medieval regression, returning to a more archaic state of consciousness, as they cannot evolve and instead revert to a more primitive state.

Mike Johnson adheres to young-Earth creationist beliefs, which include the idea that the Earth is approximately 6,000 years old.

Kyrie Irving's unconventional beliefs and behaviors, including his flat Earth theory, have been subject to exaggeration and scrutiny.

Kyrie Irving's past belief in the Flat Earth theory is an example of his unconventional beliefs and behaviors, which have been subject to exaggeration and scrutiny.

"Kyrie Irving has faced scrutiny for his unconventional beliefs, including his support for the Flat Earth theory, with public figures like Neil deGrasse Tyson commenting on his views."

Kyrie Irving, a well-known NBA player, has been scrutinized for his unconventional beliefs, including his claim that the earth is flat, which is a key aspect of the contemporary flat Earth movement.

Mike Johnson's views on climate change are shaped by his evangelical faith, which is linked to Christian fundamentalism and creationism.

Mike Johnson's views on climate change are shaped by his evangelical faith, which leads him to reject climate science and adhere to young-Earth creationist beliefs.

Mike Johnson's views on climate change are influenced by his evangelical faith and creationist ideologies, which lead him to downplay the significance of human actions on the environment.

Mike Johnson's views on climate change are shaped by his evangelical faith, which leads him to view the climate agenda as a religious issue rather than a scientific one.

Mike Johnson's views on climate change are influenced by his evangelical faith, as evidenced by his connection to fundamentalist groups like AiG and his mentor Tony Perkins, who uses biblical citations to reject climate crisis solutions.

The flat earth theory is a conspiracy theory that rejects scientific evidence of the Earth's shape, despite historical observations and measurements that prove the Earth is not flat.

The flat earth theory is a conspiracy theory that rejects scientific evidence of Earth's shape, and research suggests that millennials and Trump supporters are more likely to be open to such conspiracy beliefs.

The flat earth theory is a conspiracy theory that rejects scientific evidence of Earth's shape, and it has been found to have a conservative preference in terms of political correlation.

The flat earth theory is a conspiracy theory that rejects scientific evidence of Earth's shape, with a long history dating back to ancient civilizations, but has been disproven by early astronomers such as Pythagoras and overwhelming scientific evidence.

The flat earth theory is a conspiracy theory that rejects scientific evidence of Earth's shape, promoted by individuals and organizations such as Samuel Rowbotham and William Carpenter, and has resurfaced in modern times mixed with other conspiracy theories.

Muslim scholars, specifically Al-Ma'mun astronomers, disproved the flat Earth theory by measuring the circumference of the Earth using the height of the polar star.

"Abu Rayhan Al-Biruni, a Muslim scholar, disproved the flat Earth theory around a thousand years ago by calculating the Earth's circumference using triangulation."

"Muslim scholars disproved the flat Earth theory over a thousand years ago, using experimental scientific methods and collecting astronomical data from various cultures."

Muslim scholars played a significant role in disproving the flat Earth theory over a thousand years ago, contributing to the understanding of the earth's sphericity.

Al-Biruni calculated the Earth's circumference using a trigonometric equation based on triangulation.

Neil deGrasse Tyson, a prominent scientist, responded to Kyrie Irving's Flat Earth claim in a logical manner.

The torus Earth theory was first proposed at the Flat Earth Theory forum in 2008.

The torus Earth theory was first proposed as a joke on the Flat Earth Theory forum in 2008 by Dr. Rosenpenis, but was taken seriously by some flat-earthers.

The torus Earth theory was first proposed on a Flat Earth Theory forum in 2008.

People in modern society, particularly those attracted to the flat Earth movement, often seek simplistic explanations and are drawn to primitive ideas.

People in modern society tend to seek simplistic explanations due to a lack of clear information from trusted sources, leading to the spread of misinformation.

People in modern society often seek simplistic explanations for complex issues, which can lead to the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories, as seen in the context of vaccination, QR codes, and the flat Earth movement.

People often seek simplistic explanations in modern society, which may be driven by a desire for a single, straightforward idea or a lack of reliable information.

People in modern society often seek simplistic explanations, which can lead to the spread of misconceptions like the flat Earth theory, as seen in the provided source document.

The resurgence of flat Earth theory in modern times is attributed to its transformation into a conspiracy theory, which has been promoted by various organizations and public figures, and has resulted in a growing number of subscribers.

Title:

Content: How did Muslim scholars refute the flat Earth theory a thousand years ago?
The flat earth is currently one of the most famous scientific myths widespread in the Arab world, and has private groups on social media met by supporters from all over, and in recent days has been controversial because of statements by the Egyptian artist Mohamed Sobhy.
There are two histories to this theory, not one; the first is ancient and the second is modern.
A number of Greek philosophers believed that the earth was flat, and the ancient Scandinavian and German peoples also believed that the earth was flat and surrounded by oceans, and the common belief in ancient China was that the earth was square and flat while the sky was spherical.
But it ’ s really surprising to know that early astronomers assumed its sphericity, and they were from almost every culture: Pythagoras, who lived about 2,500 years ago, proposed the sphericity of the Earth based on his observations of the moon during the eclipse.
Pythagorean's observations are still evidence of a refutation of the flat Earth theory: Pythagorean observed that the shadow that the Earth casts on the Moon during the eclipse is always round.
Regardless of the moon-facing part of the planet, eclipses occur everywhere in the world.
The idea of a lunar eclipse is simple: put a big lamp in the middle of your room and turn off the rest of the lights, stand at a distance of one meter from it, now turn around while you reach your hands in front of you with a tennis ball, when you give your back to the lamp and pass the tennis ball in the shadow extended in front of you because of your body, this is the eclipse.
To Eratosthenes
Eratosthenes, born 276 BC, was the first to measure the circumference of the Earth using a simple method involving the angle of the Sun at different locations.
Eratosthenes was astonished to read that the columns in the ancient Egyptian temples of Aswan on the afternoon of June 21 of each year did not leave a shadow under them, and the mystery of the wonder was that the columns in Alexandria left a shadow under them on the afternoon of the same day.
Eratosthenes came to the conclusion that the earth must be convex and not flat, otherwise the columns in Alexandria would appear shadowless, and then after reflection Eratosthenes came to the clever idea that we could measure the length of the shadow in Aswan which is zero, and its length in Alexandria, and then measure the distance between Alexandria and Aswan, and infer the circumference of the earth.
The story goes that he sent a man to measure the distance, so that with some simple geometry he could measure the circumference of the Earth, which he concluded was about 39,348 kilometers.
Eratosthenes' account was transferred to the Arabs from among the sciences they translated.
According to Carlo Nelino in his book "Astronomy: A History of the Arabs in the Middle Ages", the Caliph al-Ma'mun al-Abbasi (who ruled from 813 to 833 AD) asked two teams of astronomers to test these calculations and come up with the most accurate measurement of the Earth's circumference....
The safe astronomer.
The method adopted by the Arabs is to go out into a perfectly flat desert, and then rely on the inclination of the polar star in the sky.
The ancients realized that the position of stars in the sky is affected by your place on Earth, the further you travel south, the lower the polar star in the sky until it disappears completely after the equator, and the more you travel north, the higher the polar star sky until it became above your head in the North Pole, which means that the Earth is round, otherwise the position of stars in the sky changes with your place on it.
The height of the polar star (and all other stars) is measured in degrees, and it is like to put a protractor in front of your eyes, the horizon is at zero, and then look at the protractor from the side to find at what degree the polar star stands, and this is something you can do exactly as the ancients did, and now astronomical software is easily available.
Al-Ma'mun astronomers measured the height of the polar star, then moved north once and south once, until the amount of inclination of the polar star changes by one degree, and then measured the distance north and south, and this measured distance is one degree from the circumference of the Earth's circle, and it can know the rest of the circumference of the Earth, because the Earth is a ball, and like any ball, rotation around it requires 360 degrees.
The first team of Al-Ma ’ mun astronomers went out to the Sinjar desert, a small city in northwestern Iraq today, and the second team to the Palmyra desert in eastern Syria, and carried out the same experiments in both places. In the Sinjar desert, for example, the height of the polar star was about 35 degrees. south of the wedge site until the measurement dropped by a degree.
According to al-Ma ’ mun ’ s astronomers, the scale of one degree was about 56 parsecs and two-thirds parsecs, which Nalino calculated — according to Edward Kennedy of the American University of Beirut in a paper published in the Encyclopedia of the History of Arab Sciences — to be 111.8 kilometers, a value used by later researchers such as al-Biruni and al-Toussi.
Calculating the circumference of the Earth in this experiment, it turned out to be about 410,248 km, which was close to modern measurements (40075 km) in the most accurate way at the time.
Note that the difference between the two measurements is about 1,100 years, and the reason for the difference is not related to the same method but to the ellipse of the Earth, as the distance between the two latitudes increases slightly as we head north.
Abu Rayhan Al-Biruni
The second attempt was by Abu Rayhan al-Biruni, born in September 973 AD, who used the best and easiest formula to calculate the circumference of the Earth in his time.
The Al-Biruni method is based on triangulation, where the sunset is observed from the top of a high mountain overlooking flat ground to the horizon, the astrolabe measures the angle the sun descends relative to the observer on the top of the mountain, where the line connecting the observer on the top of the mountain and the horizon makes the sunset clock touch the planet Earth.
It is known that the tangent of a circle perpendicular to its diameter, and then we have a right-angled triangle at the horizon, and we can measure the radius of the Earth by knowing the height of the mountain, which is mathematically easy.
Currently, the same calculations can be applied by high school students, for example, in all countries of the Arab world, who have a good amount of trigonometry study.
In a study published in the International Journal of Sciences, an Italian team repeated al-Biruni ’ s experiment and concluded that its results for the radius of the Earth are equal to 3,928.77 English miles, which compares favorably, being 2% different, with the average reference radius at the measurement latitude, which is 3,847.80 miles.
Pakistani physicist Mazhar Mahmood Qureshi, in his book An Introduction to Muslim Contributions to Science and Technology, points out that al-Biruni ’ s experience in what is now Nandana Fort in the mountains of northern Pakistan is a typical example of the use of experimental scientific methods.
The most important book of al-Biruni astronomical is "The Law of Masoudi", in which al-Biruni collected all the astronomical problems of his time, and the way of al-Biruni was to present the origins of the matter and the views of the Indian, Greek and Arab astronomers and then weighted between them.
Modern history of flat earth
But at that point, you might ask yourself: if the sphericity of the Earth was obvious to Muslim scholars and their comrades in other parts of the world in ancient times, why did it come back?
In 1849, the English writer Samuel Rowbotham published a pamphlet entitled "Oil Astronomy" (from the Greek letter zeta, not oil), in which he defended the theory of the flat earth, and followed this with another entitled "The Instability of Modern Astronomy and its opposition to the Bible".
In 1883, Rowbotham founded oil societies in England and New York, shipping thousands of copies of his books to talk about flat earth.
Meanwhile, William Carpenter, a printer and native of Greenwich, England, supported Rowbotham and advocated his theory, learning it from John Jasper and preaching to more people than any cleric of his generation in the southern United States. Once.
From here the myth began to branch again in the United States, and then to Europe, and then to the Arab world and the rest of the world, but in this context it was mixed with conspiracy theories concerning secret groups trying to control the world by deluding people that the earth is round.
The proof of the sphericity of the earth is not new, and has a long history in which Muslim scholars have made an influential contribution, but because the “flat earth ” has been transformed from ignorance of the nature of science into a conspiracy theory it has been imported along with other famous theories into our Arab world.
Source: Al Jazeera + Websites

"The resurgence of flat Earth theory is linked to the spread of conspiracy theories online."

Title:

Content: A Comparative Algorithm Audit of Conspiracies on the Net: Resultsby@browserology

A Comparative Algorithm Audit of Conspiracies on the Net: Results

Too Long; Didn't Read

A comparative algorithm audit of the distribution of conspiratorial information in search results across five search engines.

This paper is available on arxiv under CC 4.0 license.

Authors:

(1) Aleksandra Urman, She is a corresponding author from Department of Informatics, University of Zurich, Switzerland;

(2) Mykola Makhortykh, Institute of Communication and Media Studies, University of Bern, Switzerland;

(3) Roberto Ulloa, GESIS - Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften, Germany;

(4) Juhi Kulshrestha, Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Konstanz, Germany.

Results

Prevalence of conspiratorial information in web search results

We present the results of our analysis on the prevalence of information with different stances towards conspiracy theories (RQ1) per engine across all locations, collection rounds and queries in Figure 1, and disaggregated per query-engine-location in Figures 2-7 (Figures 2-4 correspond to the observations from March 2021; Figures 5-7 - from May 2021).

Location-based and temporal differences

The shares of content with different stances towards conspiracy theories vary widely across SEs and queries, but less so across different locations and waves. These observations indicate that our findings are not highly dependent on a specific location or time frame - at least when it comes to English-speaking locations and periods of observation that are relatively close to each other.

Engine-based differences

The only search engine that consistently did not return links promoting conspiracy theories is Google (see Figure 1), except for small shares of content promoting conspiracies in relation to the “new world order” query in May for the two US locations (Figure 5 and 6). The share of conspiracy-debunking content on Google was similar to that of other SEs for the most queries. At the same time, Google had the highest share of content that did not mention conspiracy theories at all, thus its users were less likely to be exposed to any conspiracy-related information.

The search engine with the highest proportion of conspiracy-promoting content was Yandex, while the remaining three engines - Bing, Yahoo and DuckDuckGo - were somewhere in-between Google and Yandex, with Yahoo having lower shares of content without mentions of conspiracy theories compared to the others but the highest proportion of conspiracy-debunking content. There were minor variations between the three with Yahoo having slightly lower shares of conspiratorial content. The similarities between Bing, Yahoo and DuckDuckGo are, perhaps, to be expected since Yahoo and DuckDuckGo are partially powered by Bing’s search algorithms and results.

Query-based differences

We observed evident discrepancies in the shares of content with different stances towards conspiracy theories across queries. Results for “9/11” contained the lowest shares of conspiracy-promoting content across all engines except Yahoo where, depending on the location and collection round, the share of conspiratorial content - e.g., that 9/11 was an “inside job” - reached close to 50%. No search engine returned results debunking conspiracy theories related to 9/11 but that arguably can be connected to the data void on this - i.e., there is content promoting either the official version or the conspiratorial one, with the former stating facts, but not debunking the latter.

The queries “george soros” and “new world order” are the other two queries for which relatively high shares of content that does not mention conspiracy theories were returned. For both queries,

we observed comparatively low (<20% for “new world order” and <30% for “george soros”) shares of content promoting conspiracy theories on all engines except Yandex. There is also a difference between the results returned for these two queries. For “george soros”, more results debunking conspiracy theories were returned, with no results that would simply mention the theories. For “new world order”, we observed few debunking results but relatively high proportions of results that simply mentioned the theory - i.e., that there is an emerging secret totalitarian world government - without a clear stance towards it.

Finally, the queries that attracted the highest shares of conspiracy-related content were “illuminati”, “flat earth” and “qanon”. For “qanon” we retrieved mostly content debunking the theory - with the exception of Yandex. Bing, DuckDuckGo and Yahoo contained comparatively low (up to 25%) proportions of conspiracy-promoting content. There was no content without any mentions of the conspiracy theory on either of the engines, which is perhaps to be expected given that “qanon” is a rather unambiguous term. With “illuminati” and “flat earth” the shares of conspiracy-promoting content were high on all SEs (except Google). Yandex, like with other queries, contained the highest shares of conspiracy-promoting links, whereas Bing, DuckDuckGo and Yahoo, depending on the location and the wave, displayed between 25% and 50% of conspiracy-promoting results. While with “flat earth” information debunking the conspiracy - i.e., listing arguments why the Earth is not flat, - was commonly displayed across all SEs, for “illuminati” conspiracy-debunking results were much less prevalent (except for Google).

Some of our expectations outlined in the “Methodology” section were not supported by the analysis. Notably, the search results regarding “illuminati” (a subject surrounded by many conspiracy theories) contained more conspiracy-promoting information than the results for “new world order” (query naming a particular conspiracy theory). Qualitatively, we have established that the non-conspiracy-related results displayed for “new world order” were referring to this concept in the context of international relations (e.g., Slaughter’s (2012) article in Foreign Affairs that was featured in Google’s search results). In the case of “illuminati”, we attribute the high shares of conspiracy-promoting content to the wide spread of the related conspiracy theory and frequent references to it in popular culture (e.g., Dan Brown’s books).

Prioritization of different types of sources in search rankings

In relation to RQ2, we first present the results of the analysis of the shares of sources of different types across all queries-locations-waves (Figure 8), and then disaggregated per engine-query-location-wave combination (Figures 9-11 correspond to March 2021; Figures 12-14 correspond to May 2021). Finally, in Figure 15 we present the share of content with different stances per source type, aggregated across all SEs and queries for each of the two data collection rounds.

Location-based and temporal differences

Similar to the observations on the search results’ stances towards conspiracy theories, we did not find major differences across locations and collection rounds. The only obvious difference relates to the prevalence of scientific sources: their share was higher in the UK than in the two other locations, and it was higher in March 2021 than in May 2021.

Engine-based differences

Our observations regarding the source types partially echo the findings on the content with different stances towards conspiracy theories reported above. Specifically, Google is the only search engine that did not return links to conspiracy-dedicated websites, while Yandex had the highest share of such links (Figure 8). Additionally, Google’s results contained the biggest proportion of links to scientific sources, while those were absent on Yandex. In turn, Yandex was the engine with the highest share of links to social media in the results. Bing, Yahoo and DuckDuckGo contained similar shares of links to sources of different types with some differences for specific queries (e.g., Yahoo had fewer results from the media in response to “9/11” query than the other engines).

Query-based differences

For all queries except “flat earth” the outputs of SEs contained rather high shares of links to media and reference websites (e.g., Wikipedia pages), which is in line with what previous research found for queries related to COVID-19 (Makhortykh et al., 2020) or elections in the US (Kulshrestha et al., 2019; Urman et al., 2021). There were, however, some query-based discrepancies. For instance, for “qanon” the results had the highest shares of links to media, perhaps due to the intense media coverage of QAnon at the time of the data collection . The variations in the distribution of conspiracy websites across engines were similar to what we observe with regard to conspiracy stances: “flat earth”-related results had the highest shares of conspiracy websites, followed by “illuminati” and “qanon”, while for the other three queries conspiracy websites were less prevalent.

Source types vs stances towards conspiracy theories

With regard to the shares of content with different stances towards conspiracy theories across source types (Figure 15), the observations within the two periods are rather similar, once again indicating the robustness of the findings against (short-term) temporal changes. Expectedly, all conspiracy-dedicated websites contained only information promoting conspiracy theories. Additionally, conspiratorial information was often present on social media that aligns with existing research on conspiratorial content spread online (e.g., Bessi et al., 2015; Stano, 2020). Among all other source types, the share of conspiracy-promoting content was the highest among websites in the “other” category. This included, for example, links to the webpages of individual books dedicated to specific conspiracy theories on Amazon webstore. There were very few media and reference sources that promoted conspiracy theories; instead, both source types predominantly either mentioned conspiracy theories or provided information unrelated to conspiracies. Media websites also contained high proportions of conspiracy-debunking content but the highest share of such information came from scientific websites.

The minor share of conspiracy theory-promoting information coming from scientific sources (see March 2021 observations in Figure 13) corresponds to one link to a peer-reviewed article from an academic journal in which the author postulated that International Relations scholars should question the official version regarding the September 11, 2001 attacks and backed this statement with the arguments coming from the “9/11 truth movement”[3]. For ethical reasons, we refrain from citing that particular paper here to not promote the conspiracy further.

[3] “9/11 truth movement” refers to loosely connected individuals and groups that support conspiracy theories questioning the official version of the September 11, 2001 attacks (see more on the movement and related theories in Wood and Douglas, 2013)

"The resurgence of flat Earth theory in modern times can be attributed to the spread of conspiracy theories on the internet, which can contribute to the misinformation and obscure the facts about the shape of the Earth."

The resurgence of flat Earth theory in modern times is linked to the spread of conspiracy theories, which have been amplified by the internet and social media.

The resurgence of flat Earth theory in modern times is linked to the spread of conspiracy theories, which are being promoted and tolerated in some British universities, according to Richard Dawkins.

Title:

Content: The Daily Express Original
Express: “indulge conspiracy theorists ” – British universities criticized for supporting anti-scientific ideas
The famous biologist Richard Dawkins attacked the “tolerant ” British universities.
According to the professor, the leadership of educational institutions cares too much about the “feelings ” of students and therefore is in no hurry to debunk the growing popularity of pseudoscientific ideas, including the hypothesis of a flat Earth and the denial of evolution, writes the Daily Express.
The famous evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins lashed out at the “tolerant ” British universities.
The academician accused their leadership of encouraging the spread of pseudoscientific ideas and conspiracy theories, including the hypothesis of a flat Earth, reports the Daily Express.
Dawkins, 80, was a professor at Oxford University until 2008.
In addition, he has published several best-selling books and made documentaries about the origins of life, the publication explains.
Dawkins urged higher education institutions to "stand up for scientific truth."
In his opinion, they need to educate students, and not “protect ” the feelings of conspiracy theorists.
“University leaders who think that the ‘ offended feelings ’ of flat-earthers and evolutionists matter more than scientific truth need to go back to university to find out what it ’ s for, ” he wrote on Twitter.
“Defend the scientific truth and the clarity of language.
They do not go to university to feel “safe ” and“ protect feelings. ”
They go there to face challenges and learn to cope with difficulties, ” the professor stressed.
Flat Earth societies exist at many British universities, including York, Nottingham Trent and Cambridge.
According to one popular theory, our planet is a disk that surrounds a 46-meter ice wall that does not allow people to fall from the edge, draws the attention of the Daily Express.
The materials of InoTV contain estimates of exclusively foreign media and do not reflect the position of RT
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How do educational institutions promote ideas such as flat Earth hypothesis?

they are reluctant to debunk pseudoscientific ideas

The thinking of flat-earthers is characterized by a refusal of scientific reasoning, with arguments in support of the theory being based on ignorance and fanaticism.

Title:

Content: "The Lost Earth Truth 1": The level of the earth seems to be the "gold rush" of our time.
Photo Credit: iStock
What we want you to know is
Through the multi-dimensional advanced high-tech "heterogeneous meta-helmet", scientists learned that the earth is full of four-dimensional entrances, the third dimension of the material plane and the fourth dimension of the etheric plane are originally "twins".
Written by Radu Cinama
Tiping said it was the "gold rush" of this era.
Based on a reference to the House of the Cabal, which hides the door to multidimensional interaction, I found an informative note that I had never seen before, floating among dozens of notes on my desk.
In general, I prefer to work in electronic form or wait for notes or files in digital format, but given my particular interest in the Dimension Portal, I decided to check everything on my desk, including the latest events.
I do not know the reasons and methods, but the information I found was ignored.
After reviewing notes and data summaries, I discovered an event called “Ground Floor – References ”, a“ movement ” that I ’ ve heard has made waves among people, but I never thought it would become a theme for our department.
The illusion of this idea is obvious, especially for those who have good judgment and personal experience of our planet from the perspective of outer space.
I was a bit confused and didn ’ t know if I should read a few pages of summaries about the ground floor.
I went to Lieutenant Nikola and asked him about it.
He told me that the information came from the operations department of another SRI division, an acronym for the Romanian Intelligence Agency, which has the status of a second level notice.
The lieutenant made it clear that the only reason this information reached our department was because it triggered an abnormal "phenomenon" in the world, but in our country, the number of "followers" is relatively small and the proportion is reasonable, and the level seems to be the "gold rush" of our time. It makes you speechless, even in a state of “shock. ”
I can understand that the paranoia and other obscure interests of hundreds of years ago amplify the lack of knowledge, which may occupy the minds of a relatively small number of people, but it is unreasonable to allow it to develop to the level of the international movement of the 21st century.
From a heavenly point of view, I wonder if human stupidity can rise above that level, but I don ’ t quite believe in that prospect.
However, even the most bizarre phenomena must be taken into account, at least taking into account the crowd and their opinions, which is one of the Secret Service's tasks.
I did read the summary, which revealed the main points of the problem very clearly, but did not give any conclusions.
Severe retrogression into the Middle Ages
On the same night, I took advantage of Cesar ’ s free time and shared the ground level problem with him, more as a social case than a research direction.
Cesar laughed loudly, talked about the topic for a while, and then suddenly turned to some very interesting questions.
He told me that three or four years ago, the issue was introduced to him and discussed with other colleagues in the intelligence department because there were signs that the idea was trending toward a consensus.
Out of respect for readers, I don ’ t usually include such a discussion in my series.
It requires only a little wisdom and minimal scientific training to understand, and arguments in support of this theory are tantamount to ignorance and fanaticism.
Beyond this, however, Cesar reveals some psychological cues that seem to be of some importance to general knowledge and social experience.
When discussing topping with Cesar, the first point involves a large number of followers.
“The mechanism for this strange theory of increased follower numbers is related to human isolation, ” says Cesar.
“It ’ s as if the population is divided into two distinct categories, but this separation is actually based on each person ’ s level of consciousness, which is directly related to their vibration frequency. ”
“But, ” I replied,“ I don ’ t know what caused this outbreak, and more and more people are insisting on these ‘ arguments ’ without meaning. ”
It's more like a stupid virus. "
“This major shift in thinking patterns is not at the same wavelength as what is commonly understood in the world today.
In other words, such new ideas have nothing to do with the knowledge of our time.
This is an effective method, because the earth is flat, and the idea is strongly supported by mystical factors, as well as by those who are keen to see things stagnant and not progressing.
This is the best way to control it: take people away from reality, let them dream nonsense, support their fantasies, and encourage them to project.
Therefore, it is controlled by imposing on the masses what they want.
Followers of earth thought, firmly believing in it, will seek to meet others, gather, and even separate themselves from others, because they will see others as fools deceived by lies.
In other words, they will be convinced that they are the ones who “discovered ” the truth. While it is sad to hear the news, unfortunately, the situation is quite real. ”
“Although I have this report under my nose, I can ’ t believe it has reached this point.
I feel like this is an ugly dream, as if some people in the world have voluntarily gone back hundreds of years.
That's how I feel.
Incredibly, people ’ s minds today are still influenced by delusions that defy not only decent intelligence but also scientific reasoning, making everything frenzied.
Look at the results! ”
I showed Cesar ’ s estimated numbers and charts.
"I know.
We've talked to other colleagues, "he said.
“Your surprise is evidenced by the huge difference in conceptualization and vibration frequency that people are beginning to feel.
This is a reality that has become increasingly prominent over time and cannot be ignored.
This is part of the isolation I told you about.
In principle, people interact with those who are evolving and those who prefer to stay in purely physical, crude or involuntary groups.
Those in the first category perfect themselves, recognize the changes that are taking place on Earth, and experience certain emotional states and specific sensations.
That ’ s why it ’ s incredible for some people to think about problems in a medieval way, such as followers of the Earth Theory. ”
Cesar saw the astonishment on my face and hurried to prove what he said again.
“Yes, I ’ m not exaggerating.
This is a return to the Middle Ages, because these people cannot evolve; instead, they return to a more archaic state of consciousness, closer to their true level of consciousness. ”
“Why can ’ t they evolve? ” I asked in surprise.
Of course, I know the answer, but it ’ s always a pleasure to capture Cesar ’ s explanation.
In addition, there is always a new element that can enrich my knowledge.
“Because the current state of things they attract has nothing to do with the higher vibrations of the Earth, this feature is becoming more and more apparent. ”
“For the followers of the Earth Plane, their consolation lies in the frenzy of these primitive ideas, which are maintained as free spirits and ideas are blocked.
The same was true during the Inquisition: a set of foolish and erroneous ideas was raised into law, and any violation of those ideas was enforced. ”
When I think about it all, I hope I ’ m wrong.
“Are we back in the Middle Ages? History has set off a wave of extreme ideas.
Ancient people already knew that the earth was round, but the situation deteriorated in the Middle Ages, when there was a revival of modern science, but was this only to take us back to the Middle Ages now? ” (The author undoubtedly refers to the knowledge shared by Pythagoras and Aristotle, who both asserted that the earth is round, and the argument made by Eratonius in ancient Alexandria.)
Cesar calmly replied, “We don ’ t; but for the part that has degraded, yes. ”
Several factors contributed to this.
Followers of the Earth ’ s theory are indignant at their opinionated views, their refusal to think logically or rationally on the basis of real arguments and evidence, their denial of evidence, and their deceitful defense of their position.
In general, this is a kind of missionary covering up fanaticism.
The psychological factor of the earth level, the mind pulls people's distance
We note that whenever fanaticism prevails, society is confronted with a lack of insight and the limitations of personal freedom.
Cesar gave me an example that better explains how this dilemma can be achieved in the context of a relatively developed civilization.
"This phenomenon is the same as in quantum physics.
If there is enough energy, the electrons can jump into higher orbits.
If there is not enough energy, it can be kept at a slightly higher level and relatively stable; but at some point, the remaining energy will be released in the form of photons, and the electron will return to the orbit where it was originally found, back to where it started.
In quantum physics, this is the basic orbit of electrons.
In other words, electrons with these characteristics will return to the level where they have a safe orbit. ” I interjected, clinging to the subject.
“I know that throughout human history, the idea that the earth is flat has long existed in some religions.
Modern astronomy has developed extensively since then.
Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto have only been discovered for about two hundred years.
In this sense, the ground floor is actually not very old, its memory is still fresh.
Perhaps that is why some humans return to the state they once knew. "
“This is another factor, ” Cesar acknowledged,“ in any case, human society is changing from ‘ possessiveness ’ to ‘ feeling ’, that sense of possession, egoism, competition, and violence tends to be gradually replaced by pure and positive emotions and feelings, which are fundamental to love, altruism, and compassion. ”
I have some doubts.
“It ’ s hard to believe, because almost all of us are seeing the spread of these negative manifestations. ”
“At first glance, it might be so.
Remember, however, that most people on Earth are uneducated, and they ‘ resort ’ to this illusion of competition, money, commerce, and lack of spirituality.
A large number of people who are addicted to this dream, tend to oppose those who are guided only by spiritual values and seek a pure life with a clear meaning, and have achieved a balance at this point.
This is what we call isolation. "
In fact, what Cesar wanted to say is that everyone is invited to participate in the great spiritual transformation of humanity and our planet, with the desire and dignity to demand that his life be the germ of light, spirituality and hope that we can enter a bright future.
This is an excellent ideal, but so far too few people have followed this ideal.
Book Introduction
This excerpt is from The Lost Earth Truth 1: The Hidden History of Holographic Time Travel, published by Daxi Culture.
Written by Radu Cinamar
Translated by: Sandra
• momo online bookstore
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Radu Cinamar became famous after revealing an unprecedented and mysterious collaboration between the US and Romanian militaries.
American and Romanian troops have made an expedition under the Romanian Sphinx in the Bucegi Mountains and discovered the greatest archaeological discovery of all time: a mysterious chamber about 50,000 years old, containing a holographic record of human history of the Earth, biological resonance imaging technology, and three mysterious tunnels that lead to secrets deep in the heart of the earth.
Despite the political intrigue, confusion, and restrictions surrounding this great discovery, the expedition leader allowed Radu Sinamar to visit and explore the artifacts.
Since then, Radu ’ s life has been a labyrinthine adventure, filled with strange events, secret connections, and unusual people and things.
This book delves into ancient history in an unprecedented way, through the interaction of advanced technology ’ s “heterogeneous helmets ” with the author ’ s cerebral cortex and intuition, presenting more than 70 stunning images of the scene, the result of which is holographic projection, explaining and illustrating the DNA changes that took place over thousands of years and how humans evolved into what they are today.
Reveals the mystery of how multiple alien civilizations influenced and guided human DNA to evolve to a higher level.
Some of the hot spots in human history, which in the past either remained unknown or were only considered from a mythological point of view, include: Atlantis, Troy, Shambhala, and Huppelburia.
Disrupting the myths of the past, this book provides rich and accurate communications from the actual scene of holographic technology, combining esoteric knowledge and some scientific factors.
Special emphasis is placed on the "intersection" between the physical dimension and the etheric dimension and on the cracks or entrances between the dimensions.
In addition to revealing the ancient history of mankind, this fascinating work also describes a time out to see the origins of humanity and its hope for the future.
Book Features
Time-lapse decoding! The beginning of important human change
Through the multi-dimensional advanced high-tech "heterogeneous meta-helmet", scientists learned that the earth is full of four-dimensional entrances, the third dimension of the material plane and the fourth dimension of the etheric plane are originally "twins".
And you can see the "cosmic record" in the holographic image!
You can also overlook the cross-section of the earth, covering the deep human genetic technology and high-dimensional cosmic civilization, and no book in its amazing history has been exposed so far!
Editor-in-Chief: Weng Shihang
Editor-in-chief: Bohan Pan
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How do flat Earthers perceive themselves?

They believe they know a lot, though their knowledge is minimal

The thinking of flat-earthers is characterized by a refusal to accept scientific reasoning and evidence-based thinking, instead relying on opinionated views and a denial of evidence.

The thinking of flat-earthers is characterized by a refusal of scientific reasoning, leading to the belief in unproven and often absurd ideas.

Title:

Content: Scientists, leave the jokes – they give rise to prejudices
09.01.2022, 18: 34, Miscellaneous
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Do you think the supporters of a flat earth in the shape of a bagel drew this idea from the Old Testament?
As if not so!
It was presented to them by Dr. Rosenpenis in 2008.
On the Flat Earth Theory forum, he jokingly offered a rationale for his theory, writing:
"I used advanced scaled astrophysical professional academic software to create a model of the geoponchik, the most delicious celestial body of our planet Earth, covered with sugar icing."
In short, the doctor “joked ”, and those present were happy to believe that our world has the shape of a massive donut with a giant hole in the middle.
It is not known how the "hypothesis" grew legs, but it widely diverged among supporters of the flat Earth.
To know, the poor people experienced a lack of scientificness in their own worldview.
At the same forum, but already in 2012, another flat-earth proponent named Varaug added to the idea of more science-like.
He seriously argued that our planet is a ring or, to use scientific terminology, a torus.
Say, we can not see the hole in the middle due to the fact that the light bends, following the curve of the torus and making the hole “invisible ”:
“I have a theory that the Earth actually has the shape of a torus (bagel).
But the light is warping, so we can't see it. "
Explaining why no one has ever fallen into this hole, the “theorist ” asks other forum participants to imagine the Earth in the form of a“ donut with jam ”, in the direction of which gravity acts.
According to him, day and night still exist because the Earth in the form of a donut makes a revolution every 24 hours, and the hole is at an angle of 90 degrees to the Sun.
A flat Earth proponent suggests that the torus shape was formed as a result of the gravitational attraction of rocks, dust and pieces of cosmic matter to an orbit without a central focus.
This actually created a ring-shaped planet orbiting the void.
Scientists have disproved this theory, explaining that the Sun could not rise and set as it does if the Earth had a gaping hole in the middle, and we could not see day and night as now.
Oxford professor Dr. Anders Sandberg points out that on a donut shaped Earth, the clouds would be three times higher and pushed by stronger winds.
Well, people living near the hole would see “double seasons ” when summer is replaced by winter and vice versa.
Source of information and images: dailystar.co.uk
Unreliable source: RIA Fognews
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Flat-earthers are characterized by their refusal to accept scientific reasoning, as evidenced by their persistence in believing in a disproven theory despite scientific explanations to the contrary.

The thinking of flat-earthers is characterized by a refusal of scientific reasoning, often driven by selfish interests and a lack of education.

Title:

Content: 16 +
More news
More surveys
About vaccination, QR codes, education, civil liberties, obscurantism and all that
How we lost our rational thinking and what to do about it
Recently, against the background of an increase in diseases of covid and tightening of restrictive measures, issues related to combating infection have once again worsened.
I also began to receive mass appeals with demands to prevent the adoption of laws on QR codes, to stop the total "vaccination / genocide" of the population, to protect children from "killer scientists", to recognize that the myth of the "crown" was invented for the adoption of amendments to the Constitution... et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
I think it ’ s time to express your opinion – not as a deputy and certainly not as an expert or specialist, but as a simple citizen who is in the same information storm as most compatriots.
About vaccination
I myself and the entire adult part of my family voluntarily underwent a course of vaccination "Sputnik" and revaccination "Light".
Why? Why?
First, I am used to trusting the expert opinion of people who have recognition and respect in a professional environment and can reasonably convey their point of view.
Secondly, I try to analyze information myself and like to dig into “proofs ”.
Third, choosing between a point of view confirmed by the methods of scientific approach and assumptions based on beliefs and faith, I rely on a rational approach.
It is obvious to me that at the moment the strongest weapon of mankind in the fight against infectious diseases is prevention and vaccination.
At the same time, returning to the issue of compulsory vaccination, I am against, at least in the current conditions.
The decision to vaccinate should be conscious and obvious to the person (although this does not exclude the need to necessarily vaccinate representatives of individual professions).
About education
Here we come to the question – where do the myths associated with vaccination come from, and why they are so popular.
I think this is largely due to the fact that education in our country has not been given due attention for a long time.
Probably, it was difficult to imagine that people in the 21st century can seriously return to the ideas of flat earth, treatment by bloodletting, appeals to astrologers and psychics.
If there is a demand for obscurantism, there will be a proposal, which is actively used by charlatans of various stripes, pseudo-academicians and professors of non-existent sciences, mimicking their selfish interests to the achievements of science and medicine.
As a rule, their goal is simple - the selection of funds from the population.
And where there is money, there is also marketing, often aggressive and dull.
Educators are ordinary enthusiasts who have no significant levers for advancing scientific knowledge, except for their own free time.
It is not surprising that in recent decades, communities have formed that believe in “alternative-gifted science and medicine ”, responding to all rational arguments with the stereotypical“ you all lie to us ”.
Questions of faith are difficult to dispute.
Therefore, I am convinced that education needs to be given more attention, including at the state level.
But first of all, a person is responsible for what he “feeds ” his brain.
Feed your brain properly.
QR Codes and Social Restrictions
Of course, I do not like the introduced restrictions and innovations, I am in general in the soul of “digital Luddite ”, but let ’ s be honest – these measures work, and all over the world.
Immediately after the announcement of the introduction of QR codes and more stringent measures to contain the “crown ”, the vaccination curve went up sharply, and three weeks later the incidence curve began to round off.
Obviously, soft measures calling for people to wear masks, get vaccinated, and not to have “covid-parties ” didn ’ t work.
So with all the rejection of the proposed measures, they have to be taken, under two important conditions: the legitimization of all restrictions and the observance of the principle of minimum sufficiency with prompt cancellation as far as possible.
A separate sick issue is business, but I think QR codes are better for it than full lockdowns and dying customers.
Bonus for those who have finished reading – answers to popular questions about the current situation from respected specialists:
– science popularizer Alexey Vodovozov and head of the therapeutic department of Surgut polyclinic No. 1 Alexandra Svitelskaya visiting our project “Ugra scientific and technological initiative ”;
Biologist Alexander Panchin examines the arguments against vaccination against coronavirus.
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The flat Earth theory belongs to the category of conspiracy theories, and research suggests that certain groups, such as Millennials and Trump supporters, are more likely to be open to such beliefs.

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Who's most likely to be open to conspiracy theories? UNH research points to millennials and Trump supporters

Who are the groups most likely to believe in conspiracy theories? That’s the question a University of New Hampshire researcher recently set out to solve.

Sociology professor Lawrence Hamilton looked into national survey data gauging public beliefs in several conspiracy theories, including: "NASA astronauts did not really land on the Moon" and "The Earth is flat, not round."

After digging into that data, Hamilton found "acceptance or openness to conspiracy beliefs was significantly higher among certain subgroups, including Millennials and supporters of ex-president Trump."

NHPR’s Rick Ganley talked with Hamilton about his findings — and the role social media plays in spreading conspiracy theories. Below is a transcript of their conversation, lightly edited for clarity.

Read more about Hamilton's research here.

Transcript

Rick Ganley: It's worth noting that some of these conspiracy theories are old. Some are more recent. But all of them seemingly were given a boost by social media. And it's not hard to find false information, obviously, about topics online. Did you find it used to be much harder to hear about or be convinced of something like this?

Lawrence Hamilton: Well, I've never asked these questions before, so I don't have my own data. There are Gallup polls going back to the late 1990s that seem to find much smaller fractions of people thinking that the moon landings were faked, for example. So there's some kind of indirect evidence. I don't know if anybody tracked it very well. The number of people who've heard about these theories [that's] rising are the people who are drawn into them. And I'm sure that YouTube and social media — people describe it as a rabbit hole, where if you start watching one video [alleging the Earth is flat], they'll recommend another one for you. And pretty soon it seems like the whole world is all about flat Earth.

Rick Ganley: Your research looked into the political leanings of people who responded. What did you find there?

Lawrence Hamilton: We did find a political correlation, and that wasn't a foregone conclusion, because I had specifically chosen conspiracy theories that are not known to have a clear political [connection]. I mean, there's been a lot of research going back really to the 1960s on the paranoid style in American politics that has found conspiracy theories are more popular among conservatives across a range of issues. In the 1950s, it was conspiracies by Communist infiltration in the U.S. government. Now, it may be conspiracies directed at politicians — [alleging without evidence that former President Barack] Obama is a Muslim, or [President Joe] Biden stole the 2020 election — and others that are targeted at scientists, like climate change is a hoax, COVID-19 is a hoax or COVID precautions or vaccines are a hoax. And I chose none of those. I chose things like: ‘The moon landings were fake,’ or ‘Earth is flat,’ ‘Vaccines implant microchips.’ So it was interesting to find that even there, there's a conservative preference.

Rick Ganley: A lot of this does come down to faith in science and academics and what so-called experts have to say. Do you see this as evidence of a decline in faith in institutions?

Lawrence Hamilton: Well, I would say there's a decline — and this is something we do have data on — there's a wide decline in trust in scientists, and it's largely partisan. It's not so much happening among people who self-identify as liberal or moderate. But among people who identify as conservative or very conservative, there's definitely a decline in trust in scientists. The COVID pandemic was an interesting case in point, because we were actually tracking this on surveys, and trust in the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] took an enormous nosedive over space about four months, specifically among conservatives. Other groups didn't change. But the conservative trust in the CDC took this huge dive when [former President] Donald Trump's tweeting turned from praising the CDC to attacking it. And with that flip, conservative trust in the CDC flipped as well, and nobody else has changed much.

Rick Ganley: Your research also highlighted a pattern having to do with age. Respondents who classify themselves as millennials, that is those born between 1981 and 1996, were the most likely to agree with some of the conspiracies that you posed. And Gen Zs, I guess, were also more inclined than older respondents. What did you find there?

Lawrence Hamilton: Well, some of that corresponded to previous surveys. There's a section at the end of our report where we say, well, how does this compare with what other people have found? Just as a reality check. And that's been reported by a number of other studies as well. So millennials in particular, and Gen Z to a slightly lesser extent, were much less skeptical about the conspiracies compared with boomers or older generations. And one explanation that's been offered for that, well, two explanations: Regarding the moon landings, of course, older generations lived through those and remember the national pride and excitement and so forth, whereas [for] younger generations, it's something in the history books. So maybe they don't have that sense of having been there when it happened. But the other thing is that you could expect younger generations to be more engaged with social media, which for some people could take them down these rabbit holes again.

Rick Ganley: Does your research have any suggestions on how to stop people from believing in conspiracy theories?

Lawrence Hamilton: That's a real hard one because there's this tendency to get into information silos where all you hear are the voices that reinforce your prejudices. And a thing about conspiracies is that they will give you a reason to reject anything that contradicts them. People have been seeing [the science behind] climate change for a long time, [and] you can't go in with fact sheets. That doesn't persuade anybody. They'll just become convinced that you're part of the hoax, too. There aren't any simple answers. The strongest recommendation is that scientists stay engaged in public communication through every channel they have, and that they try to make their conclusions understandable or accessible to people from a lot of different walks of life who obviously are not reading the peer review journals.

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The flat Earth theory belongs to the category of conspiracy theories, which are often spread through social media and involve the manipulation of information.

The flat Earth theory belongs to the category of conspiracy theories, as it is often promoted alongside other conspiracy-related content and goes against widely accepted scientific facts.

The flat Earth theory belongs to the category of conspiracy theories, as it rejects scientific evidence and promotes alternative explanations, and is often found alongside other conspiracy theories in online search results.

The flat Earth theory is an example of a conspiracy theory, as evidenced by public figures like Yuri Loza promoting the idea despite overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary.

Title:

Content: Arguments of the Week Interview 13 +
Voronezh doctor Alexei Grigoriev: “We have rolled into the 17th century and still believe in the“ seal of the devil ”
, 16: 07, correspondent
In 2019, WHO included mistrust of vaccination in the list of ten global threats to public health.
It is timely, considering that in 2020, when the COVID-19 vaccine was introduced, anti-vaccinators again began large-scale “campaigns ” around the world.
About where such moods come from, how to deal with them, the correspondent of “AN ” spoke with the deputy chief doctor of the Semiluki district hospital Alexei Grigoriev.
- It's hard for me to tell where they come from.
I do not understand the position of these people, I do not understand why they are doing this.
Well, if you have a personal opinion, please use it.
But why promote and impose your opinion on others?
It's kind of incomprehensible to me.
Did education and propaganda work better?
After all, many things have been explained to us since school, including the benefits of vaccinations.
Maybe there was more knowledge?
- Well, knowledge as such, maybe, and then there was no.
But there was some trust.
We knew that our medicine was the best, believed in it, and people did not ask unnecessary questions.
Now society has been democratized, alternative, so to speak, opinions have appeared.
It ’ s not just about vaccination, you can take any phenomenon – the same picture.
- That's for sure.
Not so long ago, I remember, the singer Yuri Loza proved to everyone that the Earth is actually flat.
- Yes, there are plenty of such examples, although maybe you are one of the brightest ones.
But time does not choose.
In our time, we fought to get freedom, we got it.
Do you mean freedom of speech?
- And her, too.
You can treat it differently, good or bad.
But at this point in my life, I don ’ t think it ’ s very good.
It seems to me that it would be much better if people had a single idea, a single goal.
After all, it is thanks to such a single goal that in the post-war years we managed not only to restore the country after the devastation, but also to become world leaders in almost all socio-economic indicators.
“In the USSR, the population was kept in ‘ hedgehog mittens ’.
- But if we go back to our subject...
As far as I know, there was an outbreak of smallpox in Moscow in 1959-1960.
But thanks to the rapid localization of the epidemic was avoided.
Then, probably, antivaxers did not conduct such propaganda as now?!
- It's hard to say.
Because there was no reliable information, it was not brought to us.
As in the same Chernobyl - it is closer to the 90s, but even then we did not immediately know all this.
And when they found out, again, an incomplete picture.
What happened there, at what stage and how large-scale this disaster was, we may still not know.
But then, yes, the population was kept in “hedgehog gloves ” and, perhaps, partly because of this, the smallpox epidemic was prevented.
And now we have what we have – each person has his own opinion.
And he broadcasts it everywhere, absolutely not caring about whether it will bring benefit or harm.
Maybe in order to become famous in this way, maybe money is earned on it, because now we have a consumer society...
Today, unfortunately, there is very little spirituality, few charitable thoughts.
We even have movies about making money.
It's a measure of your success.
- Do you think that anti-vaxers, spreading information, pursue this goal?
- Maybe.
Because I don't know what else to pursue, replicating at least unverified data.
There are official studies, official literature, where articles are checked for reliability – we, doctors, are guided by it, in fact.
Well, you don't get vaccinated, it's your choice.
But why would the rest of us lie?
It's just that we probably missed the moment when people started asking a lot of questions.
And as a result, they stopped responding to our exhortations, requests and recommendations.
Do you think there is an omission in that too?
I mean the medical community as a whole.
That is, if you did not give any answers in time, clear, adequate, informational emptiness was immediately occupied by all sorts of pop stars, politicians of different stripes and doctors, sometimes with a very dubious reputation?
And yes, some of the blame is on the doctors.
And, unfortunately, it is very rare to see and hear on television the speeches of some doctors of science, infectious diseases and so on.
I mean, we hear everybody except the doctors.
Doctors, of course, also act, but mostly those who have some political ambitions, and in Russia such people do not trust too much.
But after all, we have various institutes that are engaged in virology, there are microbiologists - why not provide ether to them?!
Maybe if there was more information, people wouldn't believe it.
“People love black.
- What scares you more?
When they talk nonsense like the introduction of microchips with a vaccine, in which a sane person will never believe, or when they write supposedly scientific articles in which they cite evidence of their anti-Vaxer theory?
- It's hard to say what's more dangerous.
Any information is directed to its category of population.
That is, if the level of education does not allow you to evaluate the words, for example, a doctor of science, of course, he will believe in chips.
But what is not clear to me is when people with higher education begin to believe in all sorts of nonsense.
A friend of mine was vaccinated.
When she came to work, colleagues asked her to pass the refrigerator - whether she would be magnetized or not.
- Are you kidding me?
- No, it's a real case.
And we are talking about a law firm, which employs people with higher education!
- Listen, Alexei Leonidovich, but this is a kind of dreadful thing!
In the 18th century, Catherine the Great, when she learned about the death of the French king Louis from smallpox, was surprised by such ignorance.
Because she was vaccinated herself, instilled her family and inner circle.
At some point at court it became even fashionable to vaccinate against smallpox.
The 21st century is in the yard, and we still have some cave-thinking left!
- Unfortunately, there is ignorance, and now we have rolled into the 17th century, when we began to make the first vaccinations, which were called by the people "the seal of the devil".
Then, too, there was a wave of this rejection, misunderstanding.
You see, people love "black", and anti-vaxers give it more than.
Moreover, they quite successfully know how to play on human psychocomplexes.
- I, for example, would love to see how on all kinds of talk shows discussed the issues of pandemic and vaccination instead of shaking out dirty laundry to the public!
Although what am I talking about... who the stars have slept with is probably more interesting...
- I agree, there is a deficit in the necessary, correct information.
For example, when COVID-19 just appeared, our chief pulmonologist Natalia Kostina often performed on Voronezh television.
She explained many things, including, for example, why you need to wear masks, if the virus is much smaller than the mask membrane.
Natalia Eduardovna then explained in quite accessible language that the virus does not fly by itself, it attaches to dust particles, saliva, and therefore, when wearing a mask, if it enters the body, the viral load will be much less, and the body will easily get rid of it.
But that ’ s just one example, as you know.
Natalia Eduardovna then answered many other questions in an accessible and understandable language.
So why not reopen the airwaves?
“Is it just natural selection? ”
One of your colleagues told me how the anti-Vaxer movement in Sweden led to a wave of whooping cough in the late 1970s.
I looked for information and realized that this was not an isolated case.
Similar situations were in the UK, the Netherlands, Ireland, Nigeria, Afghanistan – everywhere a sharp jump in the incidence was recorded after the governments of countries heeded the calls of antivaxers.
Does history teach us nothing?
- Apparently not, if things like that happen.
Of course, they catch up later, but at the cost of how many lives do you have to pay for such lessons?!
Or is it just natural selection?
Well, in the sense that if a person does not want to listen to the voice of reason, then he will drop out naturally?
It sounds harsh, but I ’ m starting to get more and more inclined to this opinion.
You may be right, as painful as it is to admit it.
But how did China manage to cope?
Despite the fact that from there all this pandemic began, now he is somewhere on the margins of the world ranking for morbidity.
But in the leaderboards - on vaccination...
I can ’ t say for sure because I haven ’ t been to China.
But it seems to me that the Asian countries are a little different.
Maybe the Chinese are taking tougher measures.
As soon as the focus is identified, everything is immediately isolated.
Maybe it ’ s because their economy is on the rise.
Some shopping centers, hospitals will be closed, and no one will be harmed.
Are you for or against compulsory vaccination?
- More like a "yes."
Because the vaccine really works, and we see it in our patients.
It really saves lives, including those people who could not avoid COVID-19 even after vaccination.
I am in favor of the introduction of quarter-codes, for masks, after all.
In general, for all those measures that help bring the epidemiological situation to a normal state.
- I mean, if you take two extremes...
The first is not to convince anyone, let natural selection weed out.
The second is to fight the anti-vaxers, to catch up even with fools, and – as I like this expression – to do good.
From what I understand, are you in favor of the second?
- Lena, I'm a doctor.
Of course, I am for the second extreme (smile. – approx. ed.).
So I will try and catch up, and cause, as you say, good.
Because I understand that many people may not have enough education, some knowledge to make the right choice.
“The debate about antibodies is largely far-fetched. ”
- Many complain that they checked the level of antibodies - it turned out to be high, and they still need to be vaccinated, because they work, for example, in the social sphere...
You know, I think the debate about antibodies is pretty much far-fetched.
It ’ s not just COVID-19.
There are many others.
Why doesn't anyone run to measure the level of antibodies for measles, for example?
Or polio (by the way, a very terrible disease from which either died or remained deeply disabled until the vaccine was invented)?
Why is it that none of the anti-vaxers run to resent the rabies injections, if suddenly the dog bites?
Or tetanus?
Does someone measure antibodies to these diseases?
No. No.
- And what do you think, maybe anti-Vaxer sentiments, or rather, their support among the population, is a certain opportunity to "let off steam"?
In the sense that the law severely restricts us not to gather in a public place in order to convey to the authorities their opinion, their discontent more than two people.
And here it is, the opportunity to express everything that boils down, the good that while the law of social networks is not yet too controlled...
- As a doctor, I would like people to dump steam in other ways.
No wonder my Moscow colleagues invited antivaxers to come on an excursion to the kovid department.
You were there, by the way.
And not just in the department, but in the intensive care unit.
Do you want to let off steam after that?
- I wanted to.
Only in a different way.
Not like anti-vaxers, most of whom, I'm sure, have never been there.
When I got out of intensive care, I sat on a bench near the hospital and cried.
I wanted to write about the fact that people did not meet the enemy, that is, in this case, the virus, unarmed.
And, you know, at that moment I thought that in the “prosperity ” of the anti-vaxers there is also our fault, the journalists.
I think we need to talk more, explain...
- I agree.
It is necessary to tell and transmit reliable information as much as possible.
More positive information is needed in general.
I ’ ve been looking at posts recently on VK.
Someone was raped, killed, eaten...
Endless flow of information.
And then once... information about a girl who survived the tragedy at Xiam Lake.
She saved other children.
She worked with four psychologists after the tragedy.
Today she is 13 years old.
But I hope you understand what I mean – this information is not negative, it, on the contrary, tells about a heroic child who in a stressful situation not only survived himself, but also managed to help others.
Well, why do we discuss in the same “Let them talk ” Diana Shurygin and others with her?
Why not make this 13-year-old girl the heroine of the program, who became famous not for sleeping with someone - at her will or without - but for saving her peers?!
Or, for example, why not tell that some dog was rescued from the zhivodёrs?
By the way, as far as vaccination is concerned, there are also a lot of positive examples, but journalists for some reason prefer not to talk about them.
Are there any such examples in the area as well?
- Yes, of course.
We had an outbreak of coronavirus in Zemlyansk, in the nursing ward.
Initially, we had all the patients there.
But still there was a virus, six people got sick.
No one died.
Although it would seem that serious patients, age, I severe concomitant pathology - they can not even serve themselves, nevertheless, none of them died, everything ended well.
Why don ’ t you have a topic for publication?!
“Anti-vaxers should be subject to some kind of sanctions. ”
- How, in your opinion, can you deal with anti-vaxers?
- Only alternative, truthful, verified information.
I want as much as possible materials, videos with scientists, bacteriologists, immunologists, virologists, with honored doctors who have been serving the medical cause for many years.
- I got it.
And what about those antivaxers who also have diplomas of a doctor?
One of your Voronezh colleagues, I recall, called for such doctors to be deprived of their licenses.
Do you support this call?
- Yeah, I think I'll back it up.
Such doctors should be subject to some sanctions.
Because, for example, I believe that this is highly unprofessional.
Tell me where and when did the COVID-19 vaccine die!?
That someone got sick or something.
If there are such cases, let ’ s all get together, we will discuss.
In our district, we have already made more than 35 thousand vaccinations - the offices work daily, there were no complications and there are no.
As for what's next...
It is difficult to track: a person, for example, died of a heart attack.
Only what does vaccination have to do with it, if the patient had coronary heart disease for several years?!
I recently spoke to a very educated man of my age.
Said my wife and I were getting vaccinated.
Just a barrage of negativity hit: what are you doing, you are doctors!
The arguments were the video from the votsapp: see, they say, it is written right here.
I replied that there were a lot of things written in the votsapp, including the fact that the winter holidays were decided to extend almost until the end of February.
“But we, I say, treat it with a certain degree of skepticism, because we know that it is unlikely to happen.
So why do we believe this dubious information? ”
Now, you know, I ’ ve partially understood why this is happening.
Remember, in the film “Young Russia ” Vladyka Afanasiy said to the officer:“ Where is the truth against Krivda?!
Have you seen a lot of things that you have seen so far? ”
And you know, I think I understand why you doctors are losing to the anti-vaxers.
You use generally accepted methods.
Antivaxers, on the contrary, use falsification of facts, sometimes petty cheating - in short, something that does not allow you to use official medicine...
And these methods are more effective, you know?
- Maybe you're right.
But let the calls against vaccinations remain on the conscience of those who promote them.
There are many examples of the fact that convinced anti-vaxers bloggers eventually changed their minds when faced with a disease.
But it's not about them.
The fact is that each of us sooner or later will meet with a virus - someone in one degree of severity, someone in another.
We are not going anywhere from COVID, we will have to live together.
It doesn ’ t make much sense for the virus to kill us.
Because he has to live somewhere.
But our body needs to be ready for this meeting, and the vaccine allows us to do this.
- Do you mean that the vaccine is assigned the role of a "negotiator" between the virus and our immunity?
- Well said.
Yes, it is.
The vaccine prepares the body for the meeting, which means that it will be fully armed when a viral attack occurs.
That is, the vaccine allows us to make friends to some extent, learn to coexist together.
- To be honest, I would have long ago rejected us, people, like a dog of fleas - how many nasty things we do to our planet.
Maybe the coronavirus is one of the tools of the planet?
- Maybe.
Perhaps it periodically shakes off the excess population, causing us some cataclysms, epidemics and wars.
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Which Russian celebrities support the flat Earth theory?

Social media has played a significant role in the decentralization of information, contributing to the spread of conspiracy theories, including those related to the flat Earth movement.

Social media has contributed to the decentralization of information, allowing misinformation like the flat Earth theory to spread through online platforms.

Social media has contributed to the decentralization of information, making it easier for people to access and share a wide range of ideas, including conspiracy theories.

Social media has contributed to the decentralization of information and has been used as a platform for flat Earth proponents to share and discuss their ideas.

Social media has contributed to the decentralization of information, allowing for a wider range of voices and ideas to be shared and disseminated, including conspiracy theories and fringe views.

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‘No evidence of aliens,’ Pentagon tells a disbelieving public

Insights from The New York Times, The Hill, and The Washington Post

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The News

A new report from the Pentagon found no evidence of alien spacecraft — or that the government has covered up evidence of such technology.

The Department of Defense said it went into the congressionally mandated inquiry with an open mind, but simply found nothing indicating the existence of extraterrestrials or secret programs about them.

“All investigative efforts, at all levels of classification, concluded that most sightings were ordinary objects and phenomena and the result of misidentification,” a DoD spokesperson said in a statement.

Many reports of so-called Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena remain unresolved, but the government took pains to tell the public these sightings are not alien spacecraft, something it has been reluctant to say overtly in the past.

SIGNALS

Semafor Signals: Global insights on today's biggest stories.

Interest in unexplained sightings is growing

Sources:
The Pentagon, The Hill, Gallup

Public interest in UFOs is greater than ever before, the report found, attributing the increase to the increased availability of information, like purported sightings, via the internet and popular culture references to aliens.

The percentage of Americans who think UFO sightings are likely proof of alien life has risen over the last few decades, from 20% in 1996 to 34% in 2022. A 2019 Gallup poll found that 68% of Americans believe the U.S. government knows “more about UFOs than it is telling us.” However, 60% think reported sightings are explainable without stepping into extraterrestrial territory.

Report unlikely to dispel alien theories multiplying online

Sources:
The New York Times, The Pentagon, The Washington Post

“Amid widespread distrust of the government, the report is unlikely to calm a growing obsession with aliens,” The New York Times reported. “The report will not be the last word.”

The report’s investigators seemed to anticipate that their work would reach a skeptical audience, The Washington Post reported, and tried to get ahead of the inevitable naysayers by explaining why so many people believe the government is hiding proof of extraterrestrial life — and why those views are misguided.

“The proliferation of television programs, books, movies, and the vast amount of internet and social media consent centered on UAP-related topics most likely has influenced the public conversation on this topic, and reinforced these beliefs,” the report read. The Pentagon noted that it’s now more difficult to rebut claims of extraterrestrial life and technology, which are spreading faster than ever thanks to social media.

UFO ‘truthers’ could be normalizing other conspiracy theories

Sources:
Duke University, The Pentagon

A 2021 study found that when the government partly validates a conspiracy theory — for example, by launching a serious inquiry into the existence of UFOs — people view conspiracy theorists on the whole more positively. “When government leaders publicly walk back a long-held consensus that a particular issue is not worth serious consideration, they may cause people to feel more favorable toward those perceived to hold other fringe views,” the Duke University study found.

The Pentagon report went to lengths to affirm that there are large sections of the population who truly believe they’ve seen alien spacecraft, saying “many people sincerely hold versions of these beliefs which are based on their perception of past experiences, the experiences of others whom they trust, or media and online outlets they believe to be sources of credible and verifiable information.”

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According to the provided information, Radu Cinamar's concept of regression experienced by flat-earthers is related to a severe retrogression into the Middle Ages, implying a significant backward step in societal or intellectual development.

Flat-earthers experience a medieval regression, returning to a more archaic state of consciousness, as they cannot evolve and instead revert to a more primitive state.

Mike Johnson adheres to young-Earth creationist beliefs, which include the idea that the Earth is approximately 6,000 years old.

Title:

Content: How Mike Johnson’s creationist beliefs clash with climate facts: ‘He just wasn’t interested’

Mike Johnson was a few months away from assuming elected office in late 2014 when he was confronted with an impassioned appeal by the man he would later pay tribute to in his first speech as House speaker: his father Patrick.

The elder Johnson, a former firefighter in the Louisiana city of Shreveport, had survived a near fatal industrial explosion when Mike was 12 years old, a defining event in both men’s lives. He had just joined a local community environmental group, working to fight against US government plans to burn – in the open air – over 15m pounds of toxic munitions. It had thrust Patrick and his future wife Janis Gabriel onto the frontlines of Louisiana environmental advocacy.

As authorities were on the brink of approving the “open burn”, which would have sent vast quantities of known carcinogens into the air, Patrick and Janis turned to the most influential person they knew.

Then an ambitious, rightwing constitutional lawyer, Mike Johnson would in a matter of weeks fill the vacancy for Louisiana’s eighth state legislative district – whose borders are just 20 miles from Camp Minden, a military base where the illegal munitions dump – the largest in US history - was located. A small amount of the munitions had spontaneously exploded two years before, causing a 4-mile blast radius.

The pair drove to Mike Johnson’s legal offices in the late morning, Gabriel recalled, and Patrick Johnson explained to his son the immediate environmental and health dangers the toxic dump posed, not only to residents in the immediate vicinity but to members of the Johnson family living in the region.

“His father and I went to him and said: ‘Mike you need to get involved in this, this is really important. Your family really lives at ground zero,’” Gabriel said in an interview with the Guardian. “We basically begged him to say something, to someone, somewhere.”

A terse back and forth followed, she said.

“He just wasn’t interested,” Gabriel said. “He had other things to do. He was never interested in environmental things.”

The couple left deeply disappointed.

“It just blew my mind that he wouldn’t give five minutes of his time to the effort,” she said. “He basically shut us down.”

A spokeswoman for Johnson said he “disputes this characterization as described” but did not respond to an invitation to elaborate further.

Gabriel, 72, has thought about this failed appeal to Johnson repeatedly in recent months, ever since he was thrust from relative obscurity to the US house speakership in October.

A denier of climate science, Mike Johnson has spoken about how his evangelical faith has shaped his political worldview. According to a broad examination of his past statements, Johnson’s anti-climate advocacy often bears the hallmarks of a Christian fundamentalism linked to creationism.

Louisiana’s fourth congressional district, which includes Camp Minden, has long voted staunchly Republican, but many residents still hold deep concerns about pollution and the climate crisis. In a year the district experienced record heat and a number of climate related disasters, some say their representative in Washington, who is now second in line to the presidency, is fundamentally failing them.

* * *

Mike Johnson’s views on climate change became publicly apparent in 2017, just five months into his first term in the US Congress. Asked how he felt about the climate crisis by a constituent at a rowdy town hall meeting in Shreveport, Johnson launched into a critique of climate change data, saying he had also seen “the data on the other side”.

“The climate is changing, but the question is: is the climate changing because of the natural cycles of the atmosphere over the span of history, or is it changing because we drive SUVs?

“I don’t believe in the latter. I don’t think that’s the primary driver.”

Some attendees booed.

Two years later, Johnson – who has received almost $350,000 in political donations from the oil and gas industry since his election in 2016 – led the Republican Study Committee as it lobbied against progressive Democratic efforts to implement a Green New Deal. Johnson denounced the sweeping federal blueprint for climate action as a “guise to usher in the principles of socialism” and create a system of “full government control”.

In Louisiana, which is economically dependent on the oil and gas industry, the remarks were consistent with the Republican party’s support for fossil fuels.

But to experts who study the Christian fundamentalist movement of creationism, the comments revealed a worldview that falls far outside traditional Republican pro-industry norms. They see the remarks, and Johnson’s rejection of climate science, as evidence of Johnson’s adherence to young-Earth creationist beliefs, including the presumption that the Earth is just 6,000 years old.

Johnson has been closely associated with the creationist movement since 2014 – before his entry into politics – when he became a vocal supporter and lawyer for Answers in Genesis (AiG), a global fundamentalist Christian organization that built a gigantic Noah’s Ark replica and amusement park in Kentucky. Following a headline-grabbing legal battle, Johnson ultimately helped the group secure taxpayer incentives for the project.

“Creationists can just wave away all of the geologic evidence of climate change because they are convinced that all rock layers were laid down in a global flood about 4,400 years ago,” said David MacMillan, a former Christian fundamentalist who has left the movement.

MacMillan grew up attending creationist conferences, had posts published on AiG’s website, and helped raise money for the establishment of AiG’s first creationist museum near Cincinnati, earning him a spot on a donor wall and a lifetime pass to attend. Now – having left his fundamentalist views behind – he is speaking out about the dangers of science denial.

“They will tell you that hundreds of thousands of annual ice core layers are just a bunch of snow that formed while the Earth was cooling off after Noah’s flood. They believe climate scientists are sifting through meaningless noise to try and find patterns that will get them noticed and promote narratives that please the global elite who want to control us.”

What’s more, MacMillan added, most fundamentalists argue that even if the climate is changing, it should make no difference because they also expect the imminent, apocalyptic, final judgment of the world.

Johnson forged a close relationship with AiG founder Ken Ham, an Australian Christian fundamentalist who has argued that humans “don’t need to fear that man will destroy the planet, as God wouldn’t let that happen anyway”.

MacMillan, who knows Ham, said the AiG founder pioneered a technique of trying to sow doubts about science by presenting scientific consensus as merely a belief system, much like religion.

In a video interview with the Canadian psychologist and alt-right provocateur Jordan Peterson in November last year, Johnson drew directly from this creationist strategy when asked why Democrats pursue policies to address the climate crisis.

“They regard the climate agenda as part of their religion,” Johnson said. “I don’t know any other way to explain it. They pursue it with religious zeal. And they care not what type of pain these policies inflict upon the people that they are supposed to be serving because they’re not serving the people, they’re serving the planet.”

While many media reports have highlighted Johnson’s controversial relationship with Ham, MacMillan said Johnson’s close association with the group – his bio appears on its website, he has written blog posts for the group, and spoken at an AiG event in Kentucky – means Johnson would likely have had to agree to the group’s statement of faith, which includes the assertion that the Bible is “factually true” and that its authority is not limited to spiritual or redemptive themes, but also history and science.

According to the group’s website: “All persons employed by the AiG ministry in any capacity, or who serve as volunteers, should abide by and agree to our Statement of Faith and conduct themselves accordingly.”

An AiG editorial review board regularly reviews all articles, books and other materials produced or distributed by the group to make sure they are in line with AiG values and that there “is not mission drift”.

In a speech delivered at Ham’s Ark Encounter conference center last year, Johnson raised the apocalypse and Christ’s second coming.

“We are hopeful people because we know how the book ends … God wins,” he said in an address that was met with a standing ovation. “The charge is for us, it’s not yet determined. We’re going to be here until the Lord tarries, when the Lord comes back. And maybe that’s soon, because we’re seeing a lot of signs.”

Mike Johnson and his wife are due to speak at an AiG conference event in April next year, entitled: “Reclaim: overcoming the war on women for the glory of God.”

“There is no doubt that Mike Johnson demonstrated to AiG’s satisfaction that he agrees with every aspect of that statement of faith,” MacMillan said.

A short biography of Johnson is included on AiG’s contributor’s page. A review of the 267 biographies on the AiG site indicates he is one of only two elected officials to post on the fundamentalist group’s website. The other is Tony Perkins, a former Louisiana state representative and the current president of the Family Research Council, a far-right evangelical lobby group. Perkins, one of Johnson’s political mentors, once said he believed floods were sent by God to punish homosexuality and regularly cites the Bible to deny solutions to the climate crisis.

When asked by the Guardian if Johnson had ever endorsed the AiG statement of faith, or if he shared Ham’s views on climate or if he believed the earth was 6,000 years-old, a spokeswoman said: “The Speaker is not responsible for the views of others” and did not respond to an invitation to elaborate.

AiG did not respond to specific questions about Johnson and the group’s statement of faith and instead commented on his legal work for the organization. “Mr Johnson served the ministry very effectively and professionally in the matter and Answers in Genesis was very pleased and grateful for his services,” said spokesman A Larry Ross.

Janis Gabriel pointed to Mike Johnson’s hardline faith and political pragmatism when explaining her interpretation of why he had brushed aside his father’s appeals to help with the air pollution crisis at Camp Minden.

“It speaks to those religious beliefs,” said Gabriel. “‘Don’t take care of the environment because we have a finite amount of time here and God will take care of you.’ It’s crazy.”

Gabriel, who was discussing her relationship with the House speaker for the first time publicly, said she was disclosing details of private conversations because Johnson now holds a position of immense power. She wanted to further public understanding of “what and who he is and how that will affect the job he’s doing for us.”

“That is the important conversation,” she said.

* * *

In his 2022 interview with Peterson, Mike Johnson couched his critique of those seeking climate solutions around conversations he was having with residents in his district.

“When I’m in Louisiana I try to explain to our folks, listen: ‘They have effectively replaced father God with mother Earth. . . . They believe we owe fealty to Mother Earth.”

Even as the speaker rejects concerns about the climate crisis, Louisiana’s fourth congressional district is already experiencing new extremes tied to global heating.

In a year almost certain to become the hottest on record, the city of Shreveport endured back-to-back days of record heat in August as temperatures soared to 110F .

Louisiana, too, endured months of devastating drought, which contributed to a water crisis in the south-east, and hundreds of wildfires in America’s wettest state. The largest wildfire in Louisiana’s history occurred this year in Johnson’s district, scorching a staggering 33,000 acres and decimating the local economy. The heat and drought combined cost Louisiana’s agriculture industry $1.69bn alone this year.

The state also logged a record number of heat-related deaths over the summer, according to a spokesman for the Louisiana health department [LDH], with 69 people dying between June and September this year. This was almost double the death toll of any in the past six years, according to data released to the Guardian by LDH.

A report published this year, which examined all occupational heat related illnesses between 2010-2020 found that the highest rates of illness occurred in Louisiana’s north-west, which has some of the largest rates of poverty in the state and is entirely covered by Johnson’s district.

“Heat exposure is intensifying as the frequency, severity, and duration of extreme heat events increases due to climate change,” the government report acknowledges.

In Shreveport, six people died from extreme heat this year alone – a record year, according to Todd Thoma, who has served as coroner in the Shreveport area for 16 years. “This was an exceptional year to me,” Dr Thoma said, as he combed through each case file in his office, pointing to a combination of prolonged extreme heat, high poverty rates and power outages that contributed to the increased risks for the city’s most vulnerable residents.

A 62-year-old woman who died in June after a tornado knocked out power to her home, leaving her with no air conditioning. A 49-year-old man, found collapsed on the sidewalk just four days later. And, on 13 July, 34-year-old Ted Boykin, a father of one who was found dead inside a trailer home, with no air conditioning, that was used by Shreveport’s unhoused community.

The ambient air temperature inside was 98F, according to the coroner’s report. Boykin’s internal temperature was 107.9F.

In an interview Boykin’s sister, Sandy Boykin-Hays, said she considered her brother a victim of the climate crisis and chastised her congressman and others for a failure to accept science.

“He was let down by the system,” said Boykin-Hays. “And to them [in Washington], I’m sure they wouldn’t believe, even if it [climate change] was staring them in the face, because they’re rich. They have money. They don’t have to worry about air conditioning or where your next meal is coming from.”

Boykin-Hays, who works as a food delivery driver and volunteers with homeless outreach, was forced to take out a $3,000 loan to pay for her brother’s funeral.

“They’re ignoring the true issue because it doesn’t affect them,” she said.

In Washington, where Johnson now holds the power to bring legislation to the House floor, the speaker has not yet expressed a position on a bill introduced by California Democrat Judy Chu, to protect workers from excessive heat, despite it receiving some bipartisan support in committee.

“The denial of the climate crisis by Maga extremists like the Speaker isn’t just a danger to the health of his constituents during summer months,” said Chu. “It’s a danger to the long-term well being of future generations in America and around the world.”

* * *

Both Janis Gabriel and Patrick Johnson became board members of the Citizens Advisory Group set up to engage with the EPA over community concerns at Camp Minden, according to meeting minutes reviewed by the Guardian and interviews with two other board members.

Johnson even co-wrote, recorded and performed an original song to help the “stop the burn” efforts, which eventually helped force the EPA into a course change by approving use of a cleaner alternative to dispose of the waste throughout 2016 and 2017.

“Take a stand against the poison, protect our future children’s lives,” Patrick Johnson sings.

The former firefighter had become a national advocate for hazardous material safety after surviving a fiery explosion caused by leaking ammonia at a cold storage facility. Another firefighter died in the 1984 accident. The near-death experience, said Gabriel, changed his spiritual outlook. The couple met in 2013 when Johnson attended Gabriel’s Daoist center as a student in Shreveport to practice tai chi and qigong martial arts. The pair married in October 2016, shortly before Johnson’s death from cancer in December that year.

The elder Johnson, said Gabriel, clearly accepted climate science and was “acutely aware of the environment”. While he “certainly didn’t agree” with Mike Johnson’s “extremist stance” on Christianity, he accepted it. The pair disagreed over support for Donald Trump, Gabriel said.

Mike Johnson has described his father’s survival in the 1984 explosion as an “actual miracle” that “made me a person of very deep faith”. His campaign literature still references the accident and, in his first speech as speaker, Johnson described how his father’s near death “changed all of our life trajectories”.

But from January 2015, when he formally entered politics, Johnson appeared to display little interest in the Camp Minden issue that his father was campaigning on. It was a period described by three organizers as the start of heightened advocacy.

He was given invitations to attend citizens meetings as local campaigning ramped up, according to the board’s chairman Ron Hagar, but did not attend.

“He stayed as far away from it as possible,” said Hagar, a close friend of Patrick Johnson’s. “He had no sense of responsibility to stand up for the people he’s representing.”

A search of public records did not indicate Mike Johnson had spoken on the issue at the time although he was listed as a co-sponsor of a minor 2015 state house resolution to stop the facility from accepting further waste explosives. Photographs show Johnson was also present at a December 2015 press conference at the site, but according to a senior organizer in attendance, Johnson did not speak and the state representative is not quoted in local media.

The issue was championed by a Democratic state representative for the 10th district, which includes Minden, named Gene Reynolds. Reynolds, who is now retired, did not return multiple calls for comment.

A spokeswoman for Johnson pointed to public activity cited by the Guardian and “other activities” to dispute claims he had not been involved in the matter.

Johnson’s short tenure in the state legislature was spent focused on far-right policy initiatives tied to his Biblical worldview, including introducing legislation to push back against same sex marriage, and a continued focus on his non-profit law practice, including work with Ham’s Ark Encounter.

Following her husband’s death, Gabriel moved out of state. She began to lose touch with Johnson, although the pair exchanged occasional cordial text messages.

In one May 2019 exchange, seen by the Guardian, Johnson contacted Gabriel to wish her a happy Mother’s Day. Gabriel told him she had left Shreveport permanently and moved to a different state.

“Don’t blame you one bit for staying there! Shreveport is really going downhill now and it’s sad to watch,” Johnson replied.

Gabriel then explained that her decision to leave had come on Patrick’s advice, partly due to his prediction of “worsening environmental problems”. She also told Johnson that his father would be proud of his “love and devotion and support” of his own children.

“Dad was right about the environmental problems in Shreveport. Those and other issues are mounting,” Johnson replied. But in the same message, he moved quickly to update her on his rapid rise in Congress: “I’ve been advanced in leadership in record time (currently the 10th ranked Republican!), and God continues to affirm that we are doing what He has called us to do, so that keeps us encouraged.”

Kyrie Irving's unconventional beliefs and behaviors, including his flat Earth theory, have been subject to exaggeration and scrutiny.

Title:

Content: Kyrie Irving’s Flat Earth Theory Revisited: How Did Scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson React to It?

Tonoy Sengupta
|Sun Oct 16 2022

Kyrie Irving has some rather interesting theory on the planet we live on

Kyrie Irving sure is an interesting guy.

Of course, his ability on the basketball is a sight to behold. However, his thoughts and ideologies off it are something the NBA community has had its eye on for a long time too.

Over the years, he has come to be known as the man who is absent from the team for about half the year tending to one cause or another. Though it must be noted that there is a massive amount of exaggeration at play in all the conversations regarding them.

But frankly, his tendency to take holidays off work isn’t exactly weak either.

However, this is Kyrie during his most recent years in the league, a stark contrast to how he was at the start of his career. But it had to have started somewhere, right?

Well, apparently it did. And frankly, fans should’ve known the kind of person they were in for after this little incident was revealed.

Also Read: When Dennis Rodman teared up after his friend North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un met with former US President Donald Trump

Kyrie Irving once believed the Earth is Flat

There are shockingly a whole bunch of Flat Earthers on this planet of ours to this day. And apparently, Kyrie Irving was once a part of that army.

Now admittedly, the original clip of him admitting he believes in the Flat Earth theory can no longer be found. However, there are several clips of him justifying his stance on the matter, one of which is right here, below.

There are also clips of him claiming that he was only joking when he spoke about believing the flat earth theory, so frankly, he may deserve to be cut some slack here. Furthermore, even if he believed it several years ago, there is a strong chance that his beliefs have changed completely.

However, if the man still believes in the theory, that is quite something, isn’t it?

At this point, even most scientists would probably just find themselves chuckling on the matter, rather than be exasperated.

But until Irving announces his current beliefs, one can only speculate.

Neil deGrasse Tyson once shared his thoughts on Kyrie Irving’s backing of the Flat Earth theory

When it comes to scientists, Neil deGrasse Tyson is probably the most well-liked one out there, on the face of this planet.

Whenever he is brought on a show of any kind, he has been asked questions about space, aliens, and even some questions on theoretical physics concepts, such as the Multiverse theory.

But never had he been asked to react to a basketball player in any kind of way. Or at least, that wasn’t the case, until the Kyrie Irving incident.

And here was his reaction.

While he does seem to be speaking facts, and trying to go about this in a logical manner, he does seem a tad bit snarkier than usual.

We can’t imagine Kyrie Irving being the biggest fan of that.

Also Read: Michael Jordan, Who Refused to Back Black Political Candidates, Appreciated ‘Bishop of Brixton’ Jimmy Rogers’ Communal Work

About the author

Tonoy Sengupta

I've always been someone surrounded by sports. At 15 though, Basketball was brought to my attention, and I absolutely fell in love with it. At 21 now, I look to share the joy I feel with the world through my articles.

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What NBA star claimed that the earth is flat?

Kyrie Irving's past belief in the Flat Earth theory is an example of his unconventional beliefs and behaviors, which have been subject to exaggeration and scrutiny.

What NBA star claimed that the earth is flat?

"Kyrie Irving has faced scrutiny for his unconventional beliefs, including his support for the Flat Earth theory, with public figures like Neil deGrasse Tyson commenting on his views."

What NBA star claimed that the earth is flat?

Kyrie Irving, a well-known NBA player, has been scrutinized for his unconventional beliefs, including his claim that the earth is flat, which is a key aspect of the contemporary flat Earth movement.

Title:

Content: “Everyone Gets Hit in the Head”: Travis and Jason Kelce Boldly Claim 20% NFL Players Are Flat-Earthers

Samnur Reza
Published

Eight-time NBA All-Star and Mavericks point guard, Kyrie Irving, has time and time again claimed that the earth is flat. Sadly, this belief is widely held around the globe. When discussing the same and if there are NFL players who also call themselves flat-earthers behind closed doors, Jason Kelce and his brother Travis boldly claimed that a good chunk of the NFL locker room actually believes the earth to be flat.

During a recent episode of the New Heights podcast with comedian Andrew Santino at the discussion table, the younger Kelce said, “We’ve mentioned on the show that conspiracy theories help bring NFL locker rooms together,” before asking the guest, “What are your conspiracy theories?”

Without skipping a beat, Santino posed the question about what percentage of NFL players actually believe in the Flat Earth theory. In response, Travis claimed that at least 10 to 15 athletes in every locker room are flat-earthers. Jason Kelce, however, added that if someone were to conduct an anonymous poll about it, the number of flat-earth believers could potentially jump up to 20%, equating to approximately 11 players out of a 53-man roster.

“Dude, honestly, there are at least 10 to 15 guys in every locker room; I would imagine,” Travis remarked, followed by Jason adding, “If you took an anonymous poll like nobody had to disclose their name or anything like that, you’re over 15% of an NFL locker room… Maybe over 20.”

This revelation baffled the Ricky Stanicky actor, but Travis consoled him by jokingly saying, “Dude, everyone gets hit in the head.” Nevertheless, while the Kelce duo’s numbers may be somewhat exaggerated, there have been some instances when NFL players have openly admitted believing in the earth being flat.

Darius Slay, Sammy Watkins, and Others Are Flat-Earthers

As per Sports Illustrated, free agent wide receiver Sammy Watkins claimed back in 2017 that the earth is flat. But he isn’t the only NFL athlete on that list, as Eagles CB Darius Slay told Tori Petry of DetroitLions.com back in 2018 that the earth is flat.

“I mean, I think it is (flat), we’re walking flat, so how is it round?,” claimed the All-Pro cornerback.

Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen followed suit just last year and claimed the same thing. “PSA,” Queen wrote in a tweet. “Earth is flat. Thank you. Carry on!!”

The list goes on! Former Texas Tech safety, Tyler Owens, apparently told reporters at the Scouting Combine that he doesn’t believe in space or any other planets. Thus, he finds the Flat Earth Theory ‘interesting’ and ‘valid’.

“Nah, I don’t believe in space…. like, you know, I’m religious, so I think like… we’re on our own right now. I don’t think there’s, like, other planets, and stuff like that. I don’t know,” Owens said, as per DailyMail.

Even Seahawks QB Geno Smith has claimed that the whole thing is still up for debate. Moreover, Jason Kelce once revealed that, out of curiosity, he had asked one of his coaches about the Flat Earth Theory and if anyone believed in it. Right there and then, an athlete nearby said, “I mean how you know it isn’t?”

Despite its absurdity, the debate will rage on till the end of time, it seems. However, there are simple experiments that can be conducted in front of a flat-earther to convince them otherwise, as perfectly demonstrated by Wired.

About the author

Samnur Reza

Samnur Reza, or "Rocky," is an NFL editor for the SportsRush. Although his love for football began with Tom Brady, he’s now a devoted fan of Jalen Hurts and is keeping his fingers crossed for the first ring. When asked how he remains loyal to the Eagles, he channels his inner Jim from The Office and responds, 'On a wing and a prayer.' Much like his love for football, Rocky is a dedicated cinephile with an impressive amount of screen time. He’s also fond of cats and has a furry friend named ‘Eva’.

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