I can't speak for the whole talkorigins team, but I think most of us are not actually that gullible
. The people involved in talkorigins are a very loosely knit and diverse mob. I'm one of them, in a small way.
For my own part, I am skeptical about flat earthers being out there, and stand by my comments above without any modification. I do think I speak for the talkorigins team in saying that we would love to hear of any serious flat earther. As far as I know, the last was Charles Johnson, and he died in 2001. He was the author of the flyer in the talkorigins FAQ.
I think there are some people on the periphery of talkorigins who might continue to claim that there might still be flat earthers around; but noone has been able to give an example of one, as far as I know.
The talkorigins FAQ that is cited above has a bit of a history.
We have had to disable the feedback link from that page, and place a prominent disclaimer, to try and prevent people sending us feedback to say we were idiots for believing in a flat earth. Check out what happens when you hit the feedback button on that page. (Answer: nothing.)
We still get a few feedbacks of that kind, but not many; and I harbour a sneaking suspicion that someoone aware of the history of talkorigins involvement on this topic is yanking our collective chain.
In my opinion, the FAQ is badly out of date. At the time it was written, Charles Johnson was still alive, and so the claim in the FAQ which reads as follows:
"... there are still real people who interpret the Bible so literally that they think Earth is flat." was technically correct at the time it was written. I do not think it is correct any more.
So thanks for reminding me of this; it might be an idea to add an epilogue to the page. I'll suggest it.
I know about the fixed earth people; they
are for real. I know about the current flat earth society. They
are not for real; but the more people who think they are for real the happier they will be.
So there is a point to satire about the flat earth. It raises the question: how do you refute someone who insists that flat earth is a valid scientific perspective? It's like trying to slam a revolving door. It's like trying to shepherd a cat in a given direction. It's like trying to argue with a young earth creationist. My only quibble is that I don't think we can claim the flat earthers are for real; not since the loss of Charles Johnson.
Cheers -- Sylas