Hard to blame the education system. I mean, I'm sure it's far from perfect - but when was it ever so? Are people really less able to think critically or logically than they were in the past? Or are we just more aware and more exposed to our fellow humans' lack of intelligence and discernment?
That is a really good question. My general feeling is people aren't taught to think critically or logically. I see this kind of argument a lot:
A: "Smoking is really bad for you"
B: "My granddad smoked 20 a day from the age of 14 and didn't die till he was 90!"
B, you're an idiot. That is not a counter-argument. Yes, it is
possible to do something very bad for you and live to a ripe old age, that doesn't mean it is
probable to do so or that A's assertion is wrong. The old mixing up of possible and probably is a logical error which annoys me a lot!
I'm interested at flat earthers who are not religious. I don't agree with Dither's interpretation of scripture at all, I don't believe it should be understood scientifically. But I understand that he has a basis for believing a flat earth and that believing that the earth is special and set apart which we are increasingly coming to realise that from a cosmology point of view, it really isn't.
But if you don't believe that then I'm struggling to understand the mindset which would lead someone to reject all of modern science and think that there is a massive worldwide conspiracy to pretend that the ISS exists and space travel is real etc. etc. If you're not religious then what reason would you have for thinking the earth is different to any other planet? Yes there is life here but in many other regards it is the same to other planets with days and seasons and poles and mountains and geologic activity. We happen to be in the right position relative to our sun that life could develop here but otherwise there is nothing special about the earth at all. If you're not religious then why would you think there is?