{"id":1124,"date":"2008-08-14T22:52:42","date_gmt":"2008-08-15T02:52:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/?p=1124"},"modified":"2008-08-14T22:52:42","modified_gmt":"2008-08-15T02:52:42","slug":"i-want-to-believe-flat-earthers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/2008\/08\/14\/i-want-to-believe-flat-earthers\/","title":{"rendered":"I Want to Believe: Flat Earthers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/2\/hi\/uk_news\/magazine\/7540427.stm\">This BBC story<\/a> on the Flat Earth Society brought to mind the Virginia blogosphere &#8211; so many people who hold ridiclous beliefs with apparent sincerity.\u00c2\u00a0 If they&#8217;re sincere, well, I can&#8217;t help but pity them.\u00c2\u00a0 But if they&#8217;re just being intentionally obtuse . . . I sort of want to kick them out of the public conversation entirely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This BBC story on the Flat Earth Society brought to mind the Virginia blogosphere &#8211; so many people who hold ridiclous beliefs with apparent sincerity.\u00c2\u00a0 If they&#8217;re sincere, well, I can&#8217;t help but pity them.\u00c2\u00a0 But if they&#8217;re just being intentionally obtuse . . . I sort of want to kick them out of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":4,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-society","category-virginia"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO 5.0.1 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This BBC story on the Flat Earth Society brought to mind the Virginia blogosphere - so many people who hold ridiclous beliefs with apparent sincerity.\u00c2 If they&#039;re sincere, well, I can&#039;t help but pity them.\u00c2 But if they&#039;re just being intentionally obtuse . . . I sort of want to kick them out of the\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-image-preview:large\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MB\"\/>\n\t<meta name=\"keywords\" content=\"society,virginia\" \/>\n\t<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/2008\/08\/14\/i-want-to-believe-flat-earthers\/\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"generator\" content=\"All in One SEO (AIOSEO) 5.0.1\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blacknell.net | Politics, open government, and safe streets.  And the constant incursion of cycling.\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I Want to Believe: Flat Earthers | Blacknell.net\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This BBC story on the Flat Earth Society brought to mind the Virginia blogosphere - so many people who hold ridiclous beliefs with apparent sincerity.\u00c2 If they&#039;re sincere, well, I can&#039;t help but pity them.\u00c2 But if they&#039;re just being intentionally obtuse . . . I sort of want to kick them out of the\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/2008\/08\/14\/i-want-to-believe-flat-earthers\/\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/IMG_2536.jpg\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image:secure_url\" content=\"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/IMG_2536.jpg\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1170\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1518\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-08-15T02:52:42+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2008-08-15T02:52:42+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Blacknell\/\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Blacknell\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"I Want to Believe: Flat Earthers | Blacknell.net\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"This BBC story on the Flat Earth Society brought to mind the Virginia blogosphere - so many people who hold ridiclous beliefs with apparent sincerity.\u00c2 If they&#039;re sincere, well, I can&#039;t help but pity them.\u00c2 But if they&#039;re just being intentionally obtuse . . . I sort of want to kick them out of the\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Blacknell\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/IMG_2536.jpg\" \/>\n\t\t<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"aioseo-schema\">\n\t\t\t{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blacknell.net\\\/dynamic\\\/2008\\\/08\\\/14\\\/i-want-to-believe-flat-earthers\\\/#article\",\"name\":\"I Want to Believe: Flat Earthers | Blacknell.net\",\"headline\":\"I Want to Believe: Flat Earthers\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blacknell.net\\\/dynamic\\\/author\\\/mb\\\/#author\"},\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blacknell.net\\\/dynamic\\\/#person\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-08-14T22:52:42-04:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2008-08-14T22:52:42-04:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"commentCount\":1,\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blacknell.net\\\/dynamic\\\/2008\\\/08\\\/14\\\/i-want-to-believe-flat-earthers\\\/#webpage\"},\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blacknell.net\\\/dynamic\\\/2008\\\/08\\\/14\\\/i-want-to-believe-flat-earthers\\\/#webpage\"},\"articleSection\":\"Society, Virginia\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blacknell.net\\\/dynamic\\\/2008\\\/08\\\/14\\\/i-want-to-believe-flat-earthers\\\/#breadcrumblist\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blacknell.net\\\/dynamic#listItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blacknell.net\\\/dynamic\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blacknell.net\\\/dynamic\\\/category\\\/society\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Society\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blacknell.net\\\/dynamic\\\/category\\\/society\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Society\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blacknell.net\\\/dynamic\\\/category\\\/society\\\/\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blacknell.net\\\/dynamic\\\/2008\\\/08\\\/14\\\/i-want-to-believe-flat-earthers\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"I Want to Believe: Flat Earthers\"},\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blacknell.net\\\/dynamic#listItem\",\"name\":\"Home\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blacknell.net\\\/dynamic\\\/2008\\\/08\\\/14\\\/i-want-to-believe-flat-earthers\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"I Want to Believe: Flat Earthers\",\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blacknell.net\\\/dynamic\\\/category\\\/society\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Society\"}}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blacknell.net\\\/dynamic\\\/#person\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blacknell.net\\\/dynamic\\\/author\\\/mb\\\/#author\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blacknell.net\\\/dynamic\\\/author\\\/mb\\\/\",\"name\":\"MB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blacknell.net\\\/dynamic\\\/2008\\\/08\\\/14\\\/i-want-to-believe-flat-earthers\\\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blacknell.net\\\/dynamic\\\/2008\\\/08\\\/14\\\/i-want-to-believe-flat-earthers\\\/\",\"name\":\"I Want to Believe: Flat Earthers | Blacknell.net\",\"description\":\"This BBC story on the Flat Earth Society brought to mind the Virginia blogosphere - so many people who hold ridiclous beliefs with apparent sincerity.\\u00c2 If they're sincere, well, I can't help but pity them.\\u00c2 But if they're just being intentionally obtuse . . . I sort of want to kick them out of the\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blacknell.net\\\/dynamic\\\/#website\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blacknell.net\\\/dynamic\\\/2008\\\/08\\\/14\\\/i-want-to-believe-flat-earthers\\\/#breadcrumblist\"},\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blacknell.net\\\/dynamic\\\/author\\\/mb\\\/#author\"},\"creator\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blacknell.net\\\/dynamic\\\/author\\\/mb\\\/#author\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-08-14T22:52:42-04:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2008-08-14T22:52:42-04:00\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blacknell.net\\\/dynamic\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blacknell.net\\\/dynamic\\\/\",\"name\":\"Blacknell.net\",\"description\":\"Politics, open government, and safe streets.  And the constant incursion of cycling.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blacknell.net\\\/dynamic\\\/#person\"}}]}\n\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO -->\n\n","aioseo_head_json":{"title":"I Want to Believe: Flat Earthers | Blacknell.net","description":"This BBC story on the Flat Earth Society brought to mind the Virginia blogosphere - so many people who hold ridiclous beliefs with apparent sincerity.\u00c2 If they're sincere, well, I can't help but pity them.\u00c2 But if they're just being intentionally obtuse . . . I sort of want to kick them out of the","canonical_url":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/2008\/08\/14\/i-want-to-believe-flat-earthers\/","robots":"max-image-preview:large","keywords":"society,virginia","webmasterTools":{"miscellaneous":""},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/2008\/08\/14\/i-want-to-believe-flat-earthers\/#article","name":"I Want to Believe: Flat Earthers | Blacknell.net","headline":"I Want to Believe: Flat Earthers","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/author\/mb\/#author"},"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/#person"},"datePublished":"2008-08-14T22:52:42-04:00","dateModified":"2008-08-14T22:52:42-04:00","inLanguage":"en-US","commentCount":1,"mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/2008\/08\/14\/i-want-to-believe-flat-earthers\/#webpage"},"isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/2008\/08\/14\/i-want-to-believe-flat-earthers\/#webpage"},"articleSection":"Society, Virginia"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/2008\/08\/14\/i-want-to-believe-flat-earthers\/#breadcrumblist","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic#listItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/category\/society\/#listItem","name":"Society"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/category\/society\/#listItem","position":2,"name":"Society","item":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/category\/society\/","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/2008\/08\/14\/i-want-to-believe-flat-earthers\/#listItem","name":"I Want to Believe: Flat Earthers"},"previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic#listItem","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/2008\/08\/14\/i-want-to-believe-flat-earthers\/#listItem","position":3,"name":"I Want to Believe: Flat Earthers","previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/category\/society\/#listItem","name":"Society"}}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/#person"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/author\/mb\/#author","url":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/author\/mb\/","name":"MB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/2008\/08\/14\/i-want-to-believe-flat-earthers\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/2008\/08\/14\/i-want-to-believe-flat-earthers\/","name":"I Want to Believe: Flat Earthers | Blacknell.net","description":"This BBC story on the Flat Earth Society brought to mind the Virginia blogosphere - so many people who hold ridiclous beliefs with apparent sincerity.\u00c2 If they're sincere, well, I can't help but pity them.\u00c2 But if they're just being intentionally obtuse . . . I sort of want to kick them out of the","inLanguage":"en-US","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/#website"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/2008\/08\/14\/i-want-to-believe-flat-earthers\/#breadcrumblist"},"author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/author\/mb\/#author"},"creator":{"@id":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/author\/mb\/#author"},"datePublished":"2008-08-14T22:52:42-04:00","dateModified":"2008-08-14T22:52:42-04:00"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/","name":"Blacknell.net","description":"Politics, open government, and safe streets.  And the constant incursion of cycling.","inLanguage":"en-US","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/#person"}}]},"og:locale":"en_US","og:site_name":"Blacknell.net | Politics, open government, and safe streets.  And the constant incursion of cycling.","og:type":"article","og:title":"I Want to Believe: Flat Earthers | Blacknell.net","og:description":"This BBC story on the Flat Earth Society brought to mind the Virginia blogosphere - so many people who hold ridiclous beliefs with apparent sincerity.\u00c2 If they're sincere, well, I can't help but pity them.\u00c2 But if they're just being intentionally obtuse . . . I sort of want to kick them out of the","og:url":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/2008\/08\/14\/i-want-to-believe-flat-earthers\/","og:image":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/IMG_2536.jpg","og:image:secure_url":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/IMG_2536.jpg","og:image:width":1170,"og:image:height":1518,"article:published_time":"2008-08-15T02:52:42+00:00","article:modified_time":"2008-08-15T02:52:42+00:00","article:publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Blacknell\/","twitter:card":"summary","twitter:site":"@Blacknell","twitter:title":"I Want to Believe: Flat Earthers | Blacknell.net","twitter:description":"This BBC story on the Flat Earth Society brought to mind the Virginia blogosphere - so many people who hold ridiclous beliefs with apparent sincerity.\u00c2 If they're sincere, well, I can't help but pity them.\u00c2 But if they're just being intentionally obtuse . . . I sort of want to kick them out of the","twitter:creator":"@Blacknell","twitter:image":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/IMG_2536.jpg"},"aioseo_meta_data":{"post_id":"1124","title":null,"description":null,"keywords":null,"keyphrases":null,"primary_term":null,"canonical_url":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"og_object_type":"default","og_image_type":"default","og_image_url":null,"og_image_width":null,"og_image_height":null,"og_image_custom_url":null,"og_image_custom_fields":null,"og_video":null,"og_custom_url":null,"og_article_section":null,"og_article_tags":null,"twitter_use_og":false,"twitter_card":"default","twitter_image_type":"default","twitter_image_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_fields":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"schema":{"blockGraphs":[],"customGraphs":[],"default":{"data":{"Article":[],"Course":[],"Dataset":[],"FAQPage":[],"Movie":[],"Person":[],"Product":[],"ProductReview":[],"Car":[],"Recipe":[],"Service":[],"SoftwareApplication":[],"WebPage":[]},"graphName":"","isEnabled":true},"graphs":[]},"schema_type":null,"schema_type_options":null,"pillar_content":false,"robots_default":true,"robots_noindex":false,"robots_noarchive":false,"robots_nosnippet":false,"robots_nofollow":false,"robots_noimageindex":false,"robots_noodp":false,"robots_notranslate":false,"robots_max_snippet":null,"robots_max_videopreview":null,"robots_max_imagepreview":"large","priority":null,"frequency":null,"location":null,"local_seo":null,"breadcrumb_settings":null,"limit_modified_date":false,"ai":null,"created":"2021-02-04 15:09:57","updated":"2025-12-10 01:27:26","seo_analyzer_scan_date":null,"focus_keyword":null,"additional_keywords":null,"truseo_locale":null},"aioseo_breadcrumb":"<div class=\"aioseo-breadcrumbs\"><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\" title=\"Home\">Home<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">&raquo;<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/category\/society\/\" title=\"Society\">Society<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">&raquo;<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\tI Want to Believe: Flat Earthers\n\t\t<\/span><\/div>","aioseo_breadcrumb_json":[{"label":"Home","link":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic"},{"label":"Society","link":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/category\/society\/"},{"label":"I Want to Believe: Flat Earthers","link":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/2008\/08\/14\/i-want-to-believe-flat-earthers\/"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1124\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}