Space Exploration Deniers

[halcyondays]

My experience of this goes back over fifty years. A family in our neighborhood belonged to a tiny fundamentalist non-denominational Christian church. Because they took the Bible literally they had to deny the physics (the weak nuclear force) of radiometric dating of rock which tells us the Earth is over four billion years old.

Because of that they had to deny almost all other science as well. We had just landed on the Moon and they denied it was real. The whole thing was a studio production. The rocket didn't have any men on board. The fuzzy television video was proof of the spoof. The high qualify film the astronauts brought back was all fake and so on ad nauseam. Oh and no hole in the ozone layer. Guess they didn't want to give up their spray-on deodorant. Turns out they didn't have to because other propellants were substituted.

I felt sorry for their kids whom they homeschooled or sent to Christian schools. Those kids grew up and had kids and grandkids. Last I heard they were all still Christian fundamentalists and young Earth believers. All conservative Republicans.

So much of this crap is on religion. Climate deniers. Covid deniers. Flat Earthers. Conspiracy nuts. I fear there are more of them than ever. Social media is a megaphone for their message. Because most of it is religious it's also political.

A lot of it goes to science illiteracy. When I was in college I was stunned to learn only 5% of us were pure science majors.

It's fine to think critically and question science but how good is one's criticism if one knows little or nothing of the issue?

 

[woodshed775]

Watch falls back on the hands of our political "leaders". Law makers and regulators who consistently ignore education while focusing almost *SOLELY* on what makes money are at fault. They seem to encourage media illiteracy and undereducating average people. Because it makes it that much easier for them to keep their place of power.

Political leaders are almost powerless in the face of the power of social media to destroy traditional journalism and distort public opinion. The unbridled juggernaut of rising social media automatons that profit while they mindlessly lead people off cliffs of irrational thought, heedless racism and selfish xenophobia serve to ruin the centuries of progress gained around the world through representative democracy. Meanwhile the tyrants, dictators and oligarchs gather all the power and wealth.

just my opinion

 

[artur12345]

Why even address this? We all know the world is full bonkers individuals,why give then the oxygen of publicity,its what the little bed-wetters want!

I think it should be addressed in some fashion because the public opion seems skewed toward the idea that any idea/opinion is as valid as another one, there's a definite erosion of the role of experts and erudites in the public arena. I think this wave of anti-intellectualism spreads damage to every part of our society, with ramifications that are not easily predictable but almost invariably damaging.
50 years ago someone spewing such bullshit would have been shut down with a slur of some sort, now it's "an opinion". I feel like society as a whole is forgetting the difference between facts and opinions.
Sorry for the rant but I work in a scientific environment and I'm a little tired with the current worldwide situation of apathy regarding this subject. I noticed this pattern in all the big democracies and it's breaking my heart.

 

[halcyondays]

Last I heard NASA's still looking for signs of intelligent life on Earth.

 

[thirteenbyseven]

As we venture further into the 21st Century, fewer and fewer Americans were alive or recall when Apollo 11 lifted-off in July of 1969. I wouldn't be born for another 10 months-- in May of 1970. Lack of first-hand evidence may account for much of the skepticism. But there are more reasons.

A lack of astronomical curiosity or interest is rampant in America because science and outer space aren't sexy. Give the general public a basic astronomy quiz and they would fail miserably. Jeopardy question: Name a dwarf planet. Who is Billy Barty? Muggsy Bogues? Everyday terrestrial responsibilities like paying the bills are way more important than Pluto or Eris.

Then there is the "America always screws-up theory." Starting with the International Geophysical Year-- which actually lasted from July 1957 though December of 1958-- the U.S. was really-really good at one dubious achievement, getting rockets to explode on the launching pad or wildly steer off-course. Next to the Soviet's big booster rockets our Vanguards looked like the little TWA V-2 at Disneyland. It didn't help NASA public relations when Apollo 1 failed during a test, catching fire with astronauts Grissom, White and Chaffee perishing inside. NASA quickly lay blame to design failures and quality control measures in the basic engineering and production. Loose tools were actually found within the burned capsule. So America's track record to the Moon wasn't littered with glory as it marched toward the end of the 1960s.

But if the goal of the United States was to fool the Soviet Union and its own citizens, why would our country devote so much time, effort and expense to build an entire aerospace industry in Southern California along with a Marshall Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama and a Johnson Space Center in Houston? On July 16, 1969 as 7.5 million pounds of Saturn 5 thrust shook the earth around Cape Canaveral, do you really think Werner von Braun was elbowing his closest confidents around him: "Ya, a rocket to the Moon. That's just what they'll be expecting us to do." Tee-hee.

 

[seventiesdemon]

75 years ago the War Of The Worlds radio broadcast started a panic when people believed we were being invaded by creatures from Mars. Now they don't believe facts. Earth people, weird on any planet

The only thing I'll say is that I hope the rush into space by so many governments now, private entities as well...does not end badly and wrecks it for future exploration and generations. I just have an uneasy feeling about it being like nascar........racing around the track at full throttle then all of a sudden..................

I think we'll find other ways to explore the Universe in years to come.

The Chickens can have Mars

 

[T_Lurch]

Lordy!... Spacecraft from several countries are exploring the universe, the known planets and asteroids, and planning to bring back to Earth soil and rock samples from them very soon. How much longer are these idiotic "Science Deniers" going to have a voice on social media when they are exposed as the frauds that they are?

A/B

They could always arrange for the soil and rock samples, collected en masse, to be delivered on the doorsteps of the deniers. Preferably with a front end loader.

Of course, then they'd probably just claim it's from Arizona, given Martian soil's similarity in appearance.

 

[Scarletbegonia]

They could always arrange for the soil and rock samples, collected en masse, to be delivered on the doorsteps of the deniers. Preferably with a front end loader.

Of course, then they'd probably just claim it's from Arizona, given Martian soil's similarity in appearance.

Well, my experiences in Arizona have been otherworldly and had a strong vibe of “many locals are from another planet.”

 

[T_Lurch]

Not the deniers I was talking about, but those guys are ridiculous as well. Do I have another convert?

 

[T_Lurch]

With the surge in anti science homeschooling (I know there are families that do have strong science in their homeschooling core, but I fear they are the exception), I think this will get worse.

I asked on another forum if denial mentality could be connected to mental illness (and I should also have added mental deficiency) due to its reliance on magical thinking.

It certainly seems plausible.

In going back to the OP's request for rebuttal from deniers, I think more than likely they'll be afraid to show themselves on here for fear of a lambasting. Not that it isn't warranted, mind you.

 

[Calboner]

In going back to the OP's request for rebuttal from deniers, I think more than likely they'll be afraid to show themselves on here for fear of a lambasting. Not that it isn't warranted, mind you.

I had only a slender hope that some might poke their heads out, for the very reason that you give.

 

[tasty9]

For the last few years, space exploration has been the main thing giving me hope for our future. So of course these fools want to fuck that up too. No one will respond to the OP to defend science denialism, because they can't defend it outside of their flat earth echo chamber. I think they are all just bitter that some people want to build a better world, while they want to make a world that feels better by silencing the people who point out that there is room for progress.

You can't have a rational argument with a fool. The best you can do is make fun of them until they go away.

 

[Barbarian73]

Someone mentioned flat-Earthers. Why?! Even a single reference to them can cause them to emerge like hornets from a struck nest if they are around. If even one of them is here on LPSG finds this thread we'll have to deal with a Mons Olympus sized avalanche of babbling incoherently without end, LOL!

 

[Tight_N_Juicy]

A failure of the public education system. That’s it. That’s all there is to it. The problem begins and ends there. A member of a well educated populace would never come to this conclusion.

Watch falls back on the hands of our political "leaders". Law makers and regulators who consistently ignore education while focusing almost *SOLELY* on what makes money are at fault. They seem to encourage media illiteracy and undereducating average people. Because it makes it that much easier for them to keep their place of power.

 

[Tight_N_Juicy]

Why Florida Man should be America Man:

 

[T_Lurch]

Watch falls back on the hands of our political "leaders". Law makers and regulators who consistently ignore education while focusing almost *SOLELY* on what makes money are at fault. They seem to encourage media illiteracy and undereducating average people. Because it makes it that much easier for them to keep their place of power.

THIS. ^^

So very true. I've come to believe it's that way by design. George Carlin once said that the system wants people who are just smart enough to turn the knobs and flip switches, but not smart enough to think deeply and realize how badly they're being screwed. Ignorance by design. He was really on to something.

Of course, it's now coming back to bite them in the ass; when stupidity proliferates and thrives it creates new problems.

 

[Scarletbegonia]

There's strange behavior everywhere of course; all kidding aside I know Florida doesn't have a monopoly on it. Humans are bizarre creatures in general.

It does seem like a disproportionate amount of it occurs here though. It could also be because of the high number of transplants to the state. I'd say roughly half of Floridians are locals born and raised and the rest emigrated here. It could be we attract a large number of restless and eccentric types.

A friend has a line in a song about Homer, Alaska
Sometimes you have to go to the edge of the earth / just to turn yourself around.

I saw this in Northern California, too. (Coast and mountains)
Any coast is the edge.
Florida gets three, Atlantic, Gulf and the keys.
It’s the southern end of the nation. It sits on the eastern edge and has its own west coast.
It is at once both landing and jumping off point.

 

[T_Lurch]

For the last few years, space exploration has been the main thing giving me hope for our future. So of course these fools want to fuck that up too. No one will respond to the OP to defend science denialism, because they can't defend it outside of their flat earth echo chamber. I think they are all just bitter that some people want to build a better world, while they want to make a world that feels better by silencing the people who point out that there is room for progress.

You can't have a rational argument with a fool. The best you can do is make fun of them until they go away.

More than you know.

I firmly believe space travel and colonization of extraplanetary worlds are the only hope humanity has. The population is approaching a Malthusian collapse; there will come a point where there's not enough room for everyone on this world and not enough resources and food. At that point nature may step in and intervene with severe plagues. When you factor in rising tensions and political conflict, it makes spreading out the species much more essential.

 

[Calboner]

The stupid gets worse:

Some People Think Australia Doesn't Exist — Here's Why

The conspiracy theory that Australia doesn’t exist has gone viral over the past week, breathing new life into an old meme that has circulated on the internet since Napster and MySpace were still a thing. It was way back in 2006 that the Flat Earth Society exposed an “imaginary land” enforced by “really secret government agents”, and the conspiracy has raised its head again this month, causing great surprise, amusement and outrage among the 25 million people who’ve been told that the place they live is totally make-believe.

The author of the theory is a Swedish Facebook user named Shelley Floryd, whose exposé attracted more than 20,000 social media shares. Shelley called out “one of the biggest hoaxes ever created”, which is an extraordinary statement in itself—if the fabrication of the sixth-largest nation on Earth isn’t the biggest hoax ever created, the No.1 ruse must be an absolute whopper.

The basic theory is that Britain invented the convict colony of Australia as an excuse to execute tens of thousands of prisoners—162,000, to be precise—under the guise of transporting them to this faraway territory. Today, everyone is in on the prank, right down to the airline pilots ferrying tourists to decoy islands and the actors playing the part, like some real-life version of The Truman Show.

“All things you call ‘proof’ are actually well fabricated lies and documents made by the leading governments of the world. Your Australian friends? They’re all actors and computer generated personas, part of the plot to trick the world,” wrote Shelley, in what could possibly be the most trailblazing geographical discovery since Aristotle proved the Earth was round.

“If you think you’ve ever been to Australia, you’re terribly wrong. The plane pilots are all in on this, and have in all actuality only flown you to islands close nearby–or in some cases, parts of South America, where they have cleared space and hired actors to act out as real Australians.”​

One wonders how these people are able to tie their shoes without accidentally strangling themselves.

​

 

[ActionBuddy]

Or chew food without choking.
Where can I turn in my membership to the human race?

You would have to turn in your Gay Card, first.