On the stupid continuum Flat Earth dominates over anti-Vaxxer, 9/11 truthers, OJ’s innocent, MJ’s innocent, and even Jesus Dinosaur Cowboy

The only people further on the stupid continuum are WalMart Wolverines and Devin Nunes.

in both cases, a wide body of evidence is largely ignored, to focus on a few discredited or on their face false data points.

It's just that round earth has been a scientific reality longer than vaccines, so it is assumed more difficult to disbelieve. However, for anyone under 70, vaccines have been a reality of life for just as long as a round earth.

Both groups are based on pseudo-science bull shit to help reshape reality to their worldview. But the motivation is different.

For anti vaxxers they didn’t want a needle stuck in their baby 10 times over 5 years. I can at least somewhat relate to that. I can see why they developed a fantasy world where they didn’t have to do that. Not only that, they’re heroes for not doing that, you heroic moms and dads saving your children from autism.

I can’t understand what fantasy flat earth fulfills other than the one where science and learned people are lying to you about absolutely everything you’ve ever been taught. That desire is fucking crazy and weird.

I’m even more ok with Dino riding Jesus because at least then you’re trying to protect your religious fantasy.

Hence the continuum

immunologically-mediated neurological consequences after vaccines is in and of itself insane. It's just that, when it comes to autism and vaccines, there have been several high quality studies published in respected peer-reviewed journals which refute the linkage.

The hypothesis that the earth is flat is bat-shit crazy. If you designed a high quality study refuting the hypothesis that the earth is flat, do you think that study would get published in Science or Nature? No, because the hypothesis itself is one held only by morons.

...one can reject the flat earth notion with one's eyes and ears. If you live in California, get up at sunrise and call up an east cost acquaintance. Ask them when the sun rose. If they answer that rose three hours ago, you have decisive evidence. Alternatively take your binoculars on an ocean cruise and watch a ship disappear over the horizon hull first.

Both flat earthers and anti-vaxers reject the assessments of experts. Unlike the effect of vaccines, the reality of a spherical earth can be observed without expert help.

You can find their answer with a quick google search if you feel like playing along. I didn't spend a lot of time on it, but the gist of it is the concept that things look smaller when they're farther away. The sun is going in a circular pattern above the tropics, which explains why that's the hottest part and the furthest parts from the sun are the edge (Antarctica) and the center (the "North" pole). The reason why you have sunrise and sunset is because the sun is relatively small and close to the earth so it just appears to be closer to the earth's surface as it gets further away (similar to a faraway cloud on the horizon) and eventually disappears from sight like a car driving away on an empty road.

Where it falls apart seems to be:
(a) Unlike the car driving away, the setting sun doesn't appear to shrink. They have some weird justification that I didn't really get. Something about the light coming from the sun causing a magnification effect to offset the shrinkage caused by distance, kind of like how you'll see headlights before you see the car. Whatever.

But where the bubble really bursts is:
(b) If Antarctica is at the perimeter, how do they explain nearly 24 hour days in December and 24 hour nights in June? They don't have an answer - they just say that the video evidence is as fake as the moon landing video.

However, I would posit that you can see the effects of vaccination by simply asking anyone who got measles in this outbreak whether they had the measles vaccine.

Or asking everyone you know if they've ever had polio.

I think anti-vaxers don't usually claim that vaccines don't work. They claim that they have side effects (particularly autism). I could be overgeneralizing, though.

Their girls dance at the same school as mine and are generally normal people. But the husband has a personalized license plate that reads ‘flterth’ with a holder that reads “Flat Earth Society - Look it up”. I honestly thought for a few years it was a joke and that this guy was just taking trolling to a whole new level. At this point, I can assure you that he is entirely honest in his belief in the whole flat earth thing. I bet he’s even donated money for this cruise. It’s so bizarre that I have a tough time getting my head around it.