See: Flatter Day Saints: Flat Earthers Declare New Church; Scientists Stand With the Sphere by Loren Bienvenu / Santa Fe Reporter Marcy 11-27, 2020
Amanda Truitt, PhD, astrophysicist at Santa Fe Community College, formulates how scientific process produces believable conclusions: the earth is a sphere due to “very good evidence that we’ve systematically curated over a long time.” This is her way of answering the stance of the Church of the Flat Earth.
Here is a quote from Loren Bienveun’s report. “Her (Dr. Truitt) takeaway of the movement is more nuanced. She calls Flat Earthers ‘free thinkers,’ and concedes that is is important to question why we believe something to be true. [How fare minded this is of Dr. Truitt.] However, she says,’It’s almost like they’re so open-minded [Again, how fare minded of Dr. Truitt.] that everything is equal. At the surface level, that’s good, you shouldn’t just omit an idea because you don’t agree with it for whatever biased reason. But you need a way to systematically rule things out. I think where the Flat Earth movement gets sort of tripped up is that they ignore very good evidence that we’ve systematically curated over a long time.” p.11
The last sentence is the best way of saying how science works. It does not pronounce absolute truth. Science proposes good evidence that has been systematically curated by honorable scholars over a long time.
I would say this is the response that can also be offered to those who doubt evolution. Granted evolution feels deliriously strange. But the theory is being proposed on the basis of reasonable evidence that is being progressively, systematically curated over a long time, offered from a whole range of sciences.
Regarding the good intentioned convictions of the Church of the Flat Earth to open people’s minds, Dr. Truitt “wants to open people’s minds [too], but without proselytizing.” p 13
” ‘The same physical principles extend throughout the universe,'” Truitt concludes. ‘Why should we be any different, is kind of my thinking. It comes back to wishful thinking that somehow Earth is special or we are special or something. But I don’t really subscribe to that idea.’ ” p. 12
Neither do I. (A. Panaro)