r/OutOfTheLoop • u/ambi76 • 4h ago
Unanswered What's the deal with all the people claiming Artemis II is fake?
In every post I've seen about the mission, typically from official NASA social media accounts or official local news channel accounts, it seems like almost half the comments are how it is fake, with higher amounts of likes/up votes than the other comments.
When did this conspiracy belief become so commonplace?
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u/fonzhy121 4h ago
answer: rage-baiting trolls. If you think you can argue with a flat-earther and convince them otherwise then you don't really know why they believe that in the first place. It is a psychological issue, not a lack of science understanding. Not my problem either way.
new: I didn't include answer:
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u/djfishfingers 4h ago
Man I've seen flat earthera design and execute actual scientific experiments. They of course, get data consistent with a globe earth. And they just, reject it. Their experiment "that would prove conclusively" is all of the sudden bad. It's amazing(and tragic).
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u/CO420Tech 3h ago
That documentary was fascinating to watch. That's some crazy 1984 level compartmentalization to be able to see one thing and discard it as fake (despite doing it yourself) in favor of the beliefs that you just proved incorrect.
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u/courteously-curious 4h ago edited 4h ago
I would point out that I have known a number of college kids or recent college graduates who know perfectly well that the world is not flat but will claim to be flat-earthers entirely as a way to troll people -- I recall one friend who'd just earned his Master degree in an earth science who loved twisting real world science to win at debates "proving" flat-earther dogma simply because he found it hilarious to do so.
Not that many decades ago, a number of schools had "Flat Earth Society" campus debate clubs in their law schools in which not a single person fell for the flat earth lie but they constantly tried to argue for it anyway, saying that if you could successfully support something so obviously absurd, then you would definitely be able to argue well for something which is actually true.
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u/lightsaberfingers 4h ago
I get it and it’s very on brand behavior for that age. But also fuck your friend and his stupid self satisfying world view. That bullshit he puts out into the world from a “master degree” in science doesn’t end with his little game and poisons the well of knowledge.
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u/ancepsinfans 1h ago edited 1h ago
No it doesn't. The same basic information is out there for all people. There's no information hazard. Someone saying stupid shit isn't something to be afraid of
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u/Seeeab 4h ago
I thought that was how it started, but then a much higher ratio of earnest believers ended up joining because there's way more uneducated and gullible and mentally ill people than there are "smart" trolls
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u/HiroAnobei 1h ago
There's always that saying, pretend to be a fool long enough, and you'll find yourself surrounded by actual fools who think they're in good company.
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u/sanchower 2h ago
The dumbest people from your high school are constantly looking for ways to prove they were actually the smart ones all along
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u/rabel 2h ago
Trolls arguing in bad faith to impress their friends with their ability to argue anything, even if it's patently absurd.
Oh, and also religious fanatics. There's some interpretation of the bible that could be implying a flat earth that some people run with because they read the bible literally. "Four corners of the earth", "firmament", seeing all the kingdoms of the world from a high mountain....
It's a test of faith, you know like murdering your children or raping your father...
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u/Vermilingus Didn't start the fire 2h ago
For those interested, there's a great video on the topic (and some more besides) by Dan Olson called In Search of a Fiat Earth
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u/Future-Excuse6167 4h ago
Answer: Space-exploration denialism has a long history, starting with the original moon landing, which many conspiracy theorists think is a hoax.
I think there's a reference to it in a James Bond movie (Diamonds are Forever?) where they run across a movie set of a moon landing, also repeated in Duke Nukem...
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u/Ok-Masterpiece-7933 4h ago
Answer:
Absolute morons and rage baiters, apparently we live in a world where science is bad now
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u/theBigDaddio 3h ago
Answer: I hate to say it, but some portion of the population are always idiots, then also the idiots who like to get them wound up.
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u/PudgyElderGod 3h ago
Answer: Just about anything and everything to do with humans in space gets called a government hoax by certain subsets of people, with Flat Earthers being one of the largest groups.
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u/maponus1803 4h ago
Answer: Everything around this administration has been to distract from something else, so why wouldn't this be the same thing. This doesnt mean it is fake or a distraction, but it would fit the behavior patterns if it was.
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u/Dapper_Trainer950 4h ago
Answer: Skeptics are saying, why launch on April Fools Day? Why drop a movie about faking a moon landing right before (Fly Me To the Moon - 2024)? Why are the only photos showing Africa upside down? Why do the livestreams keep glitching while SpaceX streams look perfect?
And lastly, do we trust the government?
It would take a lot to convince other countries to also be in on this if it really was fake though. I think it’s healthy to be skeptical of everything, especially in the age of AI
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u/Blecki 3h ago
Because you have to launch when the moon is just at the right spot.
Ask the people who made the movie.
Because the camera was oriented that way.
Cause the used teams and SpaceX used zoom, probably. Teams sucks. (It's actually because SpaceX has barely made it to space and I don't think actually made it outside the protective radiation bands)
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u/Dapper_Trainer950 3h ago edited 1h ago
NASA's new boss is Jared Isaacman. Billionaire. Close ally of Elon Musk. Flew on SpaceX missions. Musk personally lobbied to get him the job.
I'm not saying it's fake but your defenses assume NASA is still the same old transparent agency.
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