In essence, we should ask not if FET is dangerous, but rather if RET is dangerous. An ongoing lie can do so much more damage than the truth could ever hope to accomplish. How many innocents continue to believe sweet fictions like Neil Armstrong hobbling about on the moon after climbing out of a capsule made of tin foil? Surely these sweet lies are the real danger to our society, not any sort of danger surrounding FET itself.
This is interesting because it's the same argument RE uses against FE. I disagree both ways.
I am proposing that if FE is flat out wrong, and I believe it anyway, it really doesn't harm me.
Likewise if the moon landings 40 years ago are totally fake, but I believe them anyway, it really doesn't harm me.
Rejection of objective facts is all over our political spectrum now, and it's very dangerous. If we're willing to throw away facts and just believe whatever we want, the future is doomed.
I agree with this. We should all avoid presenting false data as fact. The best of us are open minded enough to shift our beliefs to correct data when we recognize it, but not everyone can. I believe that enough of us do.
If the flat earth theory comes along with rejecting standard units of measurement, cartography, moon rotation, navigation, satellites, laws of physics, astronomy, trigonometry, flights etc then I would say yes.
I don't see this happening with FE. The members of this forum use all these things in daily life and use them in discussions on this site. Even those who don't believe in satellites orbiting a round earth pull out their phones and follow the navigation prompts as they drive.
The dangers of FE essentially become most prevalent if it loses it's core, loses it's 'way' as it were. If it becomes less about learning and exploring things for yourself, and more about simply anti-establishment. Some fringes are starting to appear this way, but for the most part I believe it's still holding steady to that core ideal.
I agree this is true about anything. Look for truth in another framework: good. Anti-establishment: bad.
Asking a question isn't dangerous - but making up answers, especially if those answers breed distrust of the scientific method, is dangerous. I don't have a problem with people making arguments in good faith, or even just-for-fun but based on real data. I have a problem with people deliberately lying.
I like this. This sums it up to me for both sides. "I must not tell lies"
-Harry Potter ootp