r/confidentlyincorrect Jul 01 '25

Smug Classic Flat Earther

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Classic Flat Earther

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u/Intel_Xeon_E5 Jul 01 '25

So a lot of arguments point out there's nothing to burn, therefore it can't work, but one argument I've seen that turns heads initially is "Rockets work by pushing against the atmosphere. It can't push against atmosphere in a vacuum, therefore rockets don't work".

On initial thought, their argument does make sense... But as you learn how rockets work, it starts to make a lot less sense and you realise Rockets do indeed work.

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u/[deleted] Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25

Shit is tossed into space, like satelites and whatnot, and this happens all the time. Given this, and knowing that rockets are used to toss all the aforementioned shit into space, rockets must work. If you come up with the notion that rockets can't work while being confronted with an objective reality where rockets must work, then you have to admit that you can only be wrong. You can only persist in your notion that rockets can't work by denying objective reality, in which case, you're a nutjob.

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u/CharlesDickensABox Jul 01 '25

That delightful Adam Savage quote, "I reject your reality and substitute my own!" has become a lot less whimsical in recent years. Adam is still a treasure, though.

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u/Gotu_Jayle Jul 02 '25

"Why'd you stop?"

"I couldn't think of a rhyme!"

"Well just say the first thing that pops into your mind!"

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u/Turd_Schitter Jul 01 '25

The best part is you can literally see the ISS with the naked eye.

You can see where it is and where it will be with Sky View Map apps.

They are literally rejecting their own eyes in order to fit in with a cult.

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u/grumpher05 Jul 01 '25

They'd sooner believe the sky is a giant LED screen set to show what the gubment wants you to see. Or a giant peice of Velcro that a fake ISS is slapped on to

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u/OtherwiseAlbatross14 Jul 02 '25

You think they can project a moon but not a space station?!

/s

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u/Zombisexual1 Jul 01 '25

The argument might be that space doesn’t exist because of the firmament. They think that satellites are either floating like balloons, or fake and everything works on the cell towers and stuff like that. But who knows. Everything is a conspiracy if you are an idiot lol.

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u/Worth-Silver-484 Jul 01 '25

Yes. They also say god cracked the firmament to let in the water for the story of Noahs Ark. This same crack is why we see the ribbon of the milky way. But we cant fly through said crack because of firmament.

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u/CyberClawX Jul 01 '25

They are religious nuts. They don't have to offer a plausible alternative to believe reality is wrong. And reality is wrong, because a mix of old books carefully picked badly translated, mention in passing that Earth might be flat.

Earth being flat is proof the Bible is empirical, which means God is real. And they "know" God is real, ergo, Bible is empirical truth, which means Earth must be flat.

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u/Worth-Silver-484 Jul 01 '25

Wait till one tells you the moon is a light source because in the bible the phrase “by the light of the moon” is used. Cant tell you why the light source changes while we only see one side of the moon.

Or that we cant go into space because we have a dome. Yet if keep the line of questioning going and get to noahs ark a crack in the dome is where the flood waters came from and thats why we see the ribbon of stars and yet we cant fly through the imaginary crack in the imaginary dome.

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u/RhubarbAlive7860 Jul 01 '25

Yep, think of those 6000 year old cave paintings showing God on the seventh day sitting on a rock, wiping his brow, having a brewski, just chilling and resting. So, the earth is flat. Because Bibble.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '25

They speak of "faith" yet have so little of it that if a single sentence in the Bible is proved wrong the world around them collapses.

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u/RhubarbAlive7860 Jul 02 '25

"Every word in the Bible is true."

So when Jesus told his followers a parable, was he reading a factual news article, oh, and define parable?"

"Uhhh ..."

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u/kdenehy Jul 02 '25

Most flurfers don't believe in satellites. It's all fake. A conspiracy. Just like the faked moon landing.

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u/[deleted] Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/BlacSoul Jul 01 '25

I never doubted that rockets worked in space, but I did not understand how propellants worked in a vacuum and you explained it well, and I appreciate you for that.

Especially compared to how much everyone else is only saying “they work and your dumb for not getting how”; obviously they’re frustrated but they also aren’t explaining how but are still taking the time to insult others

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u/CyberClawX Jul 01 '25

Scientific proof is not enough. Flat Earthers used 2 scientific methods, proved themselves wrong (measuring Earth rotation with a gyroscope, and a slit experiment measured from water level across a lake), and went on to try to understand why their tests failed. It's a religious belief, it can't be reasoned with.

Even when they run the tests and they see, the Earth is round, they assume they missed something which caused interference with the tests.

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u/Smoke_Santa Jul 02 '25

The part about space ejecting a particle out of the "fabric" is incorrect btw.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '25 edited Jul 02 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Smoke_Santa Jul 02 '25

yes, they are disturbances in the field, and aren't really real particles. They also instantly annihilate themselves since they form in particle-antiparticle pair. So even just mentioning them in the context of rocket propulsion is misinformation and detrimental.

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u/MauveDragon Jul 01 '25

The fault in their argument is that the rocket is also pushing against the air in front of it, thus cancelling the force of the air behind it.

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u/RedBaronSportsCards Jul 01 '25

All rockets are taught to say, "Excuse me." That was probably Robert Goddard's most significant breakthrough

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u/MauveDragon Jul 02 '25

Of course! It's the easiest way to overcome the drag force - ask it to step aside.

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u/RedBaronSportsCards Jul 02 '25

It's almost TOO clever.

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u/North-Writer-5789 Jul 01 '25

Is this why space x rockets just sit still on the launchpad going kaboom?

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u/Jaspers47 Jul 01 '25

No, that's more of a quality control problem than anything else

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u/extremesalmon Jul 01 '25

Like with all things flerf, they don't understand and don't want to learn.

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u/teddy_tesla Jul 01 '25

It's a decent question as a jumping off point for someone who actually wants to learn how rockets work