back to article US rapper slams Earth is Round conspiracy in Twitter marathon

A US rapper has embarked on a mammoth tweet fest to correct at least 500 years of misinformation that the world is not flat, slamming amateur and professional astronomers in the process. BoB, also known as Bobby Ray Simmons Jr, has occasionally pontificated on matters astral in the past, but some time on January 24 kicked into …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    At time of writing, BoB was citing Genesis

    Would this be the biblical one or the musical one?

    1. AJ MacLeod

      Re: At time of writing, BoB was citing Genesis

      I'm not aware of either of them supporting his position anyway...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: At time of writing, BoB was citing Genesis

        No me neither. Genesis, in any of it's "phases" didn't seem to say much about the earth being flat or otherwise and I can't remember those who left the band saying anything on the subject in their solo careers.

        As for the Bible I can't think of a reference in the book of Genesis. The only reference I, not a bible scholar, can think of is Isaiah 40:22 which refers to the circle or possibly globe of the earth so I think Mr BoB will have to go it alone on this one.........

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Coat

        Re: At time of writing, BoB was citing Genesis

        I thought Phil Collins might support a flat Earth - just as long as we can live on Both Sides.

        But then does that count as Two Worlds? Maybe if they've got The Same Moon and The Silent Sun...

        1. Sir Runcible Spoon

          Re: At time of writing, BoB was citing Genesis

          I wonder where he thinks our centre of gravity is if the Earth is flat? - Also, why is the moon clearly a sphere?

          1. John G Imrie
            Happy

            Re: At time of writing, BoB was citing Genesis

            You don't need a centre of gravity on a flat earth, down is down, and the moon is round because it's a big balloon, that's why it floats in the sky.

            Sorry, have to go now, the nurse says it's time for my meds.

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: At time of writing, BoB was citing Genesis

            "I wonder where he thinks"

            I'll stop you there - he clearly doesn't. The man is a doped up halfwit.

            1. Ali Um Bongo
              Trollface

              Rapper Thick as Pigshit. Shocker.

              Hold the front page!

          3. Eddy Ito
            Happy

            Re: At time of writing, BoB was citing Genesis

            Also, why is the moon clearly a sphere?

            To be fair, I don't think he said it wasn't a disk. Besides we all know it's turtles all the way down.

          4. starbright

            Re: At time of writing, BoB was citing Genesis

            Are you sure it's a sphere... didn't someone else do a song about the b-side of the moon.

          5. BlackKnight(markb)
            Joke

            Re: At time of writing, BoB was citing Genesis

            clearly its flat and therfore a circle not a sphere. Dont believe the govt man the chem trails are messing with ya mind.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: At time of writing, BoB was citing Genesis

          I thought Phil Collins might support a flat Earth

          I think Thomas Dolby did....

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: At time of writing, BoB was citing Genesis

      B.o.B. = Bunch of Bull

  2. BongoJoe
    Facepalm

    The Levels of Delusion are strong in this one

    He'll be someone who thinks he's a musician too.

    1. BoldMan

      Re: The Levels of Delusion are strong in this one

      In addition, the levels of fuckwittery on display here are astronomical!

    2. TitterYeNot
      Coat

      Re: The Levels of Delusion are strong in this one

      "He'll be someone who thinks he's a musician too."

      Next he'll be saying something like...oooh, I don't know....imagine something completely ridiculous, you know, absolutely totally fuckwitted, like, erm, he's the greatest living rockstar or something...

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: The Levels of Delusion are strong in this one

      "Did I get your attention? Buy my 'music' please!"

      1. BongoJoe

        Re: The Levels of Delusion are strong in this one

        ...which I would have sampled from someone who knows how to play an instrument.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: The Levels of Delusion are strong in this one

        There's a party in my ears.

        Everyones been sick...

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: The Levels of Delusion are strong in this one

      He'll be someone who thinks he's a musician too.

      Ahh yes, Rap music, spelt with an invisible "c".

      1. LaeMing

        Re: The Levels of Delusion are strong in this one

        The 'c' stands for Commercial.

    5. Turtle

      @BongoJoe Re: The Levels of Delusion are strong in this one

      "He'll be someone who thinks he's a musician too."

      Do rappers consider themselves to be musicians? I'm not sure but they might not, based on a statement, if I correctly recall it, from Public Enemy, "we're not musicians and we don't respect musicians."

      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        Re: @BongoJoe The Levels of Delusion are strong in this one

        "Do rappers consider themselves to be musicians?"

        I've heard some them claim to be poets. I didn't believe that either.

  3. Steven Roper

    The thing to do with these kooks

    is to ignore them completely. Giving them exposure and engaging them in debate merely lends a veneer of legitimacy to their woo.

    1. m0rt

      Re: The thing to do with these kooks

      What a great name for a band: Legitimate Woo

      Bagsy.

      1. Sgt_Oddball

        Re: The thing to do with these kooks

        So that'd be the wife then (it's also left the kids with 6 names.... Yeah they're gonna hate us for that one)

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: The thing to do with these kooks

        I think I will suggest "Creating legitimate woo!" as our corporate slogan. It would be so much more meaningful than the current one!

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: The thing to do with these kooks

      I like to use then as ammo for arguments with other kooks (I think there was an xkcd comic along those lines). For instance, when the local member of the tinfoil hat brigade was filling us all in on the Russian soldiers that Obama (whups, sorry "Bama" ) had living in the secret tunnels under the Denver airport, you point out that they couldn't possibly do that because the Ebola that Bama genetically engineered to wipe out 80% of the US population would have killed them.

      1. Turtle

        Why? Re: The thing to do with these kooks

        "The thing to do with these kooks... I like to use them as ammo for arguments with other kooks"

        Whether flat-earthers or 9-11 Truthers, creationists or "alternative-medicine" enthusiasts, they aren't going to change their minds, and you aren't change their minds for them. So why do you bother?

        1. Fungus Bob
          Devil

          Re: Why? Re: The thing to do with these kooks

          "So why do you bother?"

          Everybody needs a hobby. Some people play tennis for fuck's sake!

          1. Turtle

            @Fungus Bob Re: Why? The thing to do with these kooks

            "'[... they aren't going to change their minds, and you aren't change their minds for them.] So why do you bother?' Everybody needs a hobby."

            That's a shitty excuse. It's scarcely better than having gone to see Wesley Willis perform, or going to a David Icke lecture. And you end up being... not too different from them.

            Find a better way to reinforce your self-esteem.

            1. Fungus Bob
              Thumb Up

              Re: @Turtle Why? The thing to do with these kooks

              "That's a shitty excuse. "

              At least he ain't playin' tennis!

    3. YARR
      Black Helicopters

      Re: The thing to do with these kooks

      Attack the idea, not the person.

      He's probably part of the master conspiracy which includes creating false conspiracies to divert attention from the true ones. You're not one of those gullible people who believe there are no conspiracies are you?

      1. Steven Roper

        Re: The thing to do with these kooks

        "You're not one of those gullible people who believe there are no conspiracies are you?"

        Obviously there are conspiracies - the word wouldn't exist without the concept. What do you think PRISM and TIA and Ed Snowden's whistleblowing was all about? Those were real conspiracies.

        But like many other things they run the gamut from the real to the ridiculous. There's the proven ones, like the NSA spying regime and the corruption of tax-evading corporate cartels; then there's the unprovable but questionably plausible ones like the CIA being behind Kennedy's assassination and the Bush administration knowing about 9/11 before it happened but doing nothing about it; and finally there's the outright Stan Deyo-level woo, such as the world being secretly ruled by chemtrail-spraying reptoids and NASA covering up evidence of polar holes leading to a hollow-world Agharti.

        How far up that tree you want to carry your beliefs is entirely up to you of course, but if you want to retain any degree of credibility I recommend looking up the 7 warning signs of bogus science as a starting point to establish whether a given conspiracy is feasible or not.

        1. Jonathan Richards 1
          Thumb Up

          Re: The thing to do with these kooks

          +1 for the link to Dr Park's "Seven Signs". My hobby now: posting that link on a metric shedload of kooky YouTube videos :)

          More seriously, a proper sociologist could have a field day with conspiracy theorization [1]. Why are such ideas so attractive to certain individuals, and so enduring? It must be something to do with the gloating pleasure that the believer gets from feeling superior to the "sheeple". The very existence of that word is a data point. It would be interesting to know how many people believe in two or more scientifically unrelated conspiracy theories.

          [1] Pedant warning: may not be a real word

          1. John H Woods Silver badge

            Re: The thing to do with these kooks

            "Why are such ideas so attractive to certain individuals" -- Jonathan Richards 1

            Best answer I've seen (on FB recently) was that "conspiracy theories help dumb people feel they are smart"

  4. Lamont Cranston

    there's wind on the moon ?

    have u been to the moon ? or is that what your science book told you

    1. dotdavid

      Re: there's wind on the moon ?

      There is no moon. I saw a documentary about a war in space where that was proven.

      1. Gazareth

        Re: there's wind on the moon ?

        That's no moon.

        1. Fungus Bob

          Re: That's no moon.

          It's Kim Kardashian's ass :0

      2. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

        Re: there's wind on the moon ?

        We know that the Moon disappeared, after a vast explosion in 1999. What we now see, is merely a projection, put there in order to reassure us. Done by NASA in conjunction with Roscosmos, ESA and I'm sure that the Lizard-Person himself, Brian Cox, is also involved.

    2. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

      Re: there's wind on the moon ?

      There used to be, occasionally, albeit some 45 years ago. Depended on the astronaut's rations.

  5. wolfetone Silver badge

    To Be Honest

    Who the hell cares?

    1. Turtle

      @wolfetone: An Excellent Question Re: To Be Honest

      "Who the hell cares?"

      That is an excellent question.

      Although a few of these comments are genuinely funny, when some of these people see someone with Down's Syndrome, for example, do they then go home and point out to their friends and family how much smarter they are?

      1. Kurt Meyer
        Thumb Down

        Re: @Turtle:@wolfetone: An Excellent Question To Be Honest

        Good job trying to conflate birthers, flat earthers and conspiracy nutters with those suffering from Down's Syndrome.

        Have a down vote.

    2. Mark 85

      Re: To Be Honest

      Maybe not about this clown but about all the ones who will listen and agree. We've raised a couple generations of ignorant people and it's paying off. Just look at the crowd running for president and who they're actually playing to.

  6. hi_robb

    Hmm

    For someone who thinks the earth is flat, this guy sure gets around....

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    PR stunt

    You've been PRaped

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    > A US rapper has embarked on a mammoth tweet fest to correct at least 500 years of misinformation that the world is not flat.

    "Come again?!" - Eratosthenes

    1. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

      AC, thanks for pointing this out. (I forgot the guy's name, but could not be asked to dig it up.)

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