My cousin got deep into flat earth theory and it made me rethink how I talk to people about this stuff

A couple years back, my cousin from Cincinnati started sending me these long videos about the flat earth. I used to just laugh and send back a link to a basic science site, thinking that would shut it down. It never did, and we'd just argue. What changed for me was when I actually sat and watched one of his videos with him over the holidays, not to fight, but just to see what he was seeing. I realized he wasn't just ignoring facts, he felt like mainstream sources had lied to him about other things, so why not this? Now, I start by asking why he trusts the people in the video more than, say, a pilot. It's less about the curve of the earth and more about why he feels experts can't be trusted. It takes way more time, but we actually talk now instead of yell. How do you handle it when someone close to you buys into a theory you think is totally out there?

2 comments

2 Comments

kellymurphy2d ago

That's a really smart way to handle it. I try something similar, but I'm curious about one part. You said you ask why he trusts the video over a pilot. In my experience, that can backfire because they'll often say pilots are in on the cover-up too. Do you find that happens, and how do you talk about that next step without it feeling like a dead end?

finleybutler2d ago

Kellymurphy makes a good point, that line of questioning can totally lock up the conversation. You have to agree the cover-up could be huge first, then ask what proof would ever be good enough if even the experts are fake. It moves the goalpost back to them.