My whole flat earth debate fell apart at a family BBQ last weekend

So I was at my cousin's place in Springfield for a cookout, and this guy Mark, who's a pilot, was there. I brought up the flat earth thing as a joke, thinking we'd all laugh. But Mark just looked at me and said, 'You know I fly from Chicago to London, right? The route and fuel make zero sense on a flat map.' He started explaining basic flight paths and time zones, and I had nothing. My usual YouTube arguments about 'hidden NASA contracts' sounded dumb out loud. I just stood there holding a burger, feeling like an idiot. It totally killed my whole bit. Has anyone else had a conspiracy theory they liked just get wrecked by someone with actual real world experience?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_amy14d ago

Yeah I was big into the moon landing hoax stuff until I talked to an old engineer who worked on the radio systems. He explained the simple tech they used and it just clicked for me, all my online research felt silly after that. Sometimes real life experience just cuts through the noise.

matthewperry13h ago

My uncle was a NASA contractor and showed me the actual flight plans, just stacks of paper with pencil notes. Changed my whole view on the "high tech" argument.

perez.phoenix14d ago

What did the engineer say about the radio systems that made it click for you, @the_amy?