[FarmBoy]

Pardon me if this was posted elsewhere on the board. Part of me thinks Irving has got to be playing some sort of a joke with this.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/18710...earth-flat

Apparently it started with a podcast he did with teammates. And then carried on through ASG weekend.

"This is not even a conspiracy theory," Irving told Jefferson and Frye while recording the podcast on an airplane. "The Earth is flat. The Earth is flat. ... It's right in front of our faces. I'm telling you, it's right in front of our faces. They lie to us."

"I've seen a lot of things that my educational system has said that was real that turned out to be completely fake. I don't mind going against the grain in terms of my thoughts."

Let's hear it for Alternative Science. Everyone is welcome to make up their own facts these day.

[FarmBoy]

Pardon me if this was posted elsewhere on the board. Part of me thinks Irving has got to be playing some sort of a joke with this.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/18710...earth-flat

Apparently it started with a podcast he did with teammates. And then carried on through ASG weekend.

"This is not even a conspiracy theory," Irving told Jefferson and Frye while recording the podcast on an airplane. "The Earth is flat. The Earth is flat. ... It's right in front of our faces. I'm telling you, it's right in front of our faces. They lie to us."

"I've seen a lot of things that my educational system has said that was real that turned out to be completely fake. I don't mind going against the grain in terms of my thoughts."

Let's hear it for Alternative Science. Everyone is welcome to make up their own facts these day.

[OutsiderFan]

By definition there is no such thing as a made up fact.  Facts can't be made up. 

I'm pretty sure Irving is well aware of this, and is just trolling everyone to point out the idiocy of saying patently false things as if they are facts.

[OutsiderFan]

By definition there is no such thing as a made up fact.  Facts can't be made up. 

I'm pretty sure Irving is well aware of this, and is just trolling everyone to point out the idiocy of saying patently false things as if they are facts.

[CTcard]

It's okay, he's cleared everything up.

You know, I know the science, I know everything possible -- not everything possible -- but the fact that that actually could be real news, that people are actually asking me that -- 'It's a social phenomenon. What do you think about it? Are you going to try to protect your image?' I mean, it really doesn't matter. It really doesn't matter. The fact that it's a conversation? I'm glad that it got people talking like this: 'Kyrie actually thinks the world is flat.'

[from the ESPN article linked above]

[CTcard]

It's okay, he's cleared everything up.

You know, I know the science, I know everything possible -- not everything possible -- but the fact that that actually could be real news, that people are actually asking me that -- 'It's a social phenomenon. What do you think about it? Are you going to try to protect your image?' I mean, it really doesn't matter. It really doesn't matter. The fact that it's a conversation? I'm glad that it got people talking like this: 'Kyrie actually thinks the world is flat.'

[from the ESPN article linked above]

[OutsiderFan]

I give Kyrie Irving a lot of credit for throwing out his world is flat statement as a social experiment. How it was initiated, covered, and talked about, says quite a lot about society.

[OutsiderFan]

I give Kyrie Irving a lot of credit for throwing out his world is flat statement as a social experiment. How it was initiated, covered, and talked about, says quite a lot about society.

[dabigv13]

Uh, I don't think it was a social experiment. What about that rambling incoherent statement makes you think social experiment?

This flat earth nonsense is not limited to Irving btw, you may recall this rapper B.O.B. and his public spat with Neil deGrasse Tyson last year.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/B.o.B#.2....22_belief

It's another conspiracy theory espoused by New World Order types. If you start looking on YouTube you can really enter a rabbit hole. My upstairs neighbor, an otherwise bright and normal guy, tells me all the time about some crazy thing he saw on YouTube about a banking cabal controlling world events, or how CBD oil cures cancer but pharmaceutical companies are suppressing the evidence, etc.

[dabigv13]

Uh, I don't think it was a social experiment. What about that rambling incoherent statement makes you think social experiment?

This flat earth nonsense is not limited to Irving btw, you may recall this rapper B.O.B. and his public spat with Neil deGrasse Tyson last year.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/B.o.B#.2....22_belief

It's another conspiracy theory espoused by New World Order types. If you start looking on YouTube you can really enter a rabbit hole. My upstairs neighbor, an otherwise bright and normal guy, tells me all the time about some crazy thing he saw on YouTube about a banking cabal controlling world events, or how CBD oil cures cancer but pharmaceutical companies are suppressing the evidence, etc.

[OutsiderFan]

What about that rambling incoherent statement makes you think social experiment?

This part: I'm glad that it got people talking like this: 'Kyrie actually thinks the world is flat.'

[OutsiderFan]

What about that rambling incoherent statement makes you think social experiment?

This part: I'm glad that it got people talking like this: 'Kyrie actually thinks the world is flat.'

[dabigv13]

Seems to me you're giving him more credit than he's due. He doesn't seem to believe in science, and his grasp of the English language is tenuous at best.

[dabigv13]

Seems to me you're giving him more credit than he's due. He doesn't seem to believe in science, and his grasp of the English language is tenuous at best.

[OutsiderFan]

OK, I read the article.  He never says he doesn't believe in science.  He says he has found some things he was told or led to believe, that he found later to be false, and he encouraged people to find out for themselves.

[OutsiderFan]

OK, I read the article.  He never says he doesn't believe in science.  He says he has found some things he was told or led to believe, that he found later to be false, and he encouraged people to find out for themselves.

[FarmBoy]

I give Kyrie Irving a lot of credit for throwing out his world is flat statement as a social experiment. How it was initiated, covered, and talked about, says quite a lot about society.

Please expand on this. What does it say about society? What it says to me is that there are some really dumb people in our society but that we've gotten to a point of "anything goes" when it comes to the facts, that we don't bother calling them out anymore. We'll smirk and shake our heads in shock/disgust/sadness (your pick) but move on because we know an educated rebuttal will only be seen as confirmation to the ignoramus's view that the establishment is trying to suppress alternative viewpoints.

I hold out slim out that Irving is just having a laugh about this, but I had the same reaction as others that the incoherence of his statements make it unlikely he's able to contrive this con.

[FarmBoy]

I give Kyrie Irving a lot of credit for throwing out his world is flat statement as a social experiment. How it was initiated, covered, and talked about, says quite a lot about society.

Please expand on this. What does it say about society? What it says to me is that there are some really dumb people in our society but that we've gotten to a point of "anything goes" when it comes to the facts, that we don't bother calling them out anymore. We'll smirk and shake our heads in shock/disgust/sadness (your pick) but move on because we know an educated rebuttal will only be seen as confirmation to the ignoramus's view that the establishment is trying to suppress alternative viewpoints.

I hold out slim out that Irving is just having a laugh about this, but I had the same reaction as others that the incoherence of his statements make it unlikely he's able to contrive this con.

[OutsiderFan]

OK, I'll bite...

First of all, what does it say about society, when someone can even dream up the idea of claiming the Earth is flat, let alone actually say it out loud?  IMO, it is such an outrageously absurd statement, that nobody should even pay attention to the fact Irving said it.  One of the reasons he said it was just to see if it would be taken seriously.  Judging by the reactions, it was.  That's just pitiful. Even LeBron James didn't say something like "Kyrie says all kinds of things, but anyone who thinks he believes the world is flat has their own issues they better be concerned about."  He said "if that's what he wants to believe," which is a total bullshit response.

It also says something about our celebrity-obsessed culture.  Why on Earth should the fact someone is an NBA All-Star mean they should be given a platform to comment on things like this?  Who the F*** cares what Kyrie Irving has to say about this topic anyway?  What gives him any credibility to have his words conveyed and taken any more seriously than anyone else?

The fact we can't as a society discern who is a credible commentator based on their actual knowledge or experience on a topic, is as tragic as it is pathetic and embarrassing.  Kyrie Irving's comments - and the mediasphere reaction to them - drive home all of these points.

[OutsiderFan]

OK, I'll bite...

First of all, what does it say about society, when someone can even dream up the idea of claiming the Earth is flat, let alone actually say it out loud?  IMO, it is such an outrageously absurd statement, that nobody should even pay attention to the fact Irving said it.  One of the reasons he said it was just to see if it would be taken seriously.  Judging by the reactions, it was.  That's just pitiful. Even LeBron James didn't say something like "Kyrie says all kinds of things, but anyone who thinks he believes the world is flat has their own issues they better be concerned about."  He said "if that's what he wants to believe," which is a total bullshit response.

It also says something about our celebrity-obsessed culture.  Why on Earth should the fact someone is an NBA All-Star mean they should be given a platform to comment on things like this?  Who the F*** cares what Kyrie Irving has to say about this topic anyway?  What gives him any credibility to have his words conveyed and taken any more seriously than anyone else?

The fact we can't as a society discern who is a credible commentator based on their actual knowledge or experience on a topic, is as tragic as it is pathetic and embarrassing.  Kyrie Irving's comments - and the mediasphere reaction to them - drive home all of these points.

[Redrum]

Gawd.  I hate the offseason.  Football, that is.  Real manly stuff.

[Redrum]

Gawd.  I hate the offseason.  Football, that is.  Real manly stuff.

[dabigv13]

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/news/so-app...13782.html

[dabigv13]

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/news/so-app...13782.html

[ThePassionOfTheChryst]

Perhaps I'm just a pessimist, but I find simple ignorance to be a far more feasible explanation than some great collective trolling. Kyrie Irving, Draymond Green, Shaquille O'Neal, etc. tell me they think the earth is flat? Who am I to tell them they're lying?

As a side note, the above quote from Shaq betrays such a profound ignorance of several different fields that it's almost impressive.

[ThePassionOfTheChryst]

Perhaps I'm just a pessimist, but I find simple ignorance to be a far more feasible explanation than some great collective trolling. Kyrie Irving, Draymond Green, Shaquille O'Neal, etc. tell me they think the earth is flat? Who am I to tell them they're lying?

As a side note, the above quote from Shaq betrays such a profound ignorance of several different fields that it's almost impressive.

[fullmetal]

Are we sure that Shaq isn't saying these things because he wants some publicity?  It appears the Big Aristotle has some Aristotelian-era beliefs... :(

[fullmetal]

Are we sure that Shaq isn't saying these things because he wants some publicity?  It appears the Big Aristotle has some Aristotelian-era beliefs... :(