Wrong, But Not Stupid

Flat Earthers and the Salvation of Public Discourse.

Image: cgtrader.com

Sabine Hossenfelder is a heavyweight in the world of theoretical physics. She has the pedigree and the platform that could enable her to unleash her intellectual firepower in any manner that she so chose. It’s for this reason that I find her approach to addressing those with whom she utterly disagrees to be so delightfully refreshing, and I think it could form the basis of a new model for public discourse. 

To date, 1.4 million people have watched her YouTube video addressing the odd but enduring belief that Flat Earthers have. And while there are many videos that demonstrate (what I perceive as) the folly of holding such a view, she not only explains some of the evidence for a round Earth without a hint of snark, she actually takes their position seriously and gives them a certain credit for consistency of thought.

She explains that their philosophy is rooted in the notion that if you cannot perceive something with your own senses, then there is no reason to believe it. Inasmuch as they can’t go to space to observe the globe, and given that the Earth certainly appears to be flat from down here—then it’s flat, and that’s it. (In fairness, they do have a few more arguments than just this). 

Either way, this is a fascinating position and one that obviously opens the door to all kinds of additional potential disbelief in things we can’t see ourselves, like germs, quarks, and dark matter. Come to think of it, we can’t see most things with our eyes—from mathematical formulae to the abstract notions of love, justice, and compassion. How far can this radical empiricism extend, and why don’t they forswear belief in all of these things? Maybe they do.

Sabine Hossenfelder: Image: womenyoushouldknow.net

Furthermore, Dr. Hossenfelder points out that our powers of perception are often faulty. She demonstrates this with one of those optical illusions that convinces you that there is one black and one white square when they are actually the same color. Those are fun, but they also demonstrate a critical truth about reality and our place in it—that, more often than not, we need to rely on our mind’s eye to understand things and not our physical eyes—which only afford us a very fragmented picture of reality.

What I love is that she doesn’t call them morons, or Neanderthals, science deniers, or Hitler. She is patient, open, and generous, and, importantly, she assumes the best intentions on the other side. They also want the truth—maybe more badly than most of us. We are disagreeing over how to go about finding it.

Now, with the important caveat that humans are capable of the full gamut of intentions and can hide evil ones behind a facade of altruistics regardless of their label or group, by and large, what holds for the flat Earth conflict is also the case with the vast majority of disagreements. Capitalists and Socialists want to use money to help people (and disagree on how to do that), Democrats and Republicans want the government to function effectively to protect and provide for the American People (and argue regarding the best policies to enable that) and theists and atheists both want meaningful and happy lives (but don’t see eye to eye on what ultimately generates that).

Let’s consider adopting the Hossenfelder Doctrine in all of our private and public discourse. We’d all be better off for it.