Lede
A single paragraph tried to explain the universe and revealed how loud human noise can be.
Hermit Off Script
In the grand scheme of things, our lives are tiny specks. Some people stare at galaxies and push physics so hard that old religions start to wobble. Others argue about nonsense, from flat earth to whatever the latest unverifiable trend is. Machines already spit out confident rubbish, but at least their work can be checked against data and experiments. The real joke is that humans have built tools that can test reality better than we do, yet we still cling to comforting hallucinations. One day, the maths and the measurements will be unforgiving. The only ones left babbling stories will be us.
What does not make sense
- Cosmic philosophy delivered in fragments that jump like loose wiring.
- Science as a magic wand instead of a method with data.
- Flat earth theories placed next to physics as if they share a table.
- AI painted as future guardian of truth while known to hallucinate.
- Big statements about humans learning nothing without a single number.
Sense check / The numbers
- Around 3% of UK adults say the Earth is flat or “probably” flat. [YouGov]
- Hallucination rates vary widely; some tools in law showed 17-33%, some benchmarks show 50%+. [Stanford dHO paper]
- About 13.9% of UK households were food insecure in Jan 2025. [UK Parliament Commons Library]
- The UK government announced £20.4 billion for R&D in 2025-26. [GOV.UK]
- Studies show “most people trust science”, and empirical data do not support a broad crisis of trust. [Nature]
The sketch
Scene 1
A lone figure stares at a star map.
FIGURE: The universe is everywhere.
VOICE: So are typos.
Scene 2
Two people argue in a queue.
PERSON A: Gravity is a rumour.
PERSON B: Show it on the stairs.
Scene 3
A robot claims it solved physics.
ROBOT: Verify one equation.
SCIENTIST: Thinking. Still thinking.
What to watch, not the show
- The gap between cosmic talk and tested science.
- Rising confidence without evidence.
- AI praised as future oracle without checking its limits.
- People pulled into simple stories when life gets hard.
- Claims about intelligence used to shame, not to teach.
The Hermit take
Scale does not equal wisdom.
Truth stays quiet until you count something.
Keep or toss
Keep the idea about human scale.
Toss the cosmic certainty and the cleanup crew fantasy for AI.
Sources
Yahoo News (YouGov) – https://uk.news.yahoo.com/three-in-100-britons-think-the-earth-is-flat-143259242.html
UK Parliament Commons Library – https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9209/
GOV.UK – https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-backs-uk-rd-with-record-204-billion-investment-at-autumn-budget
Nature – https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-024-02090-5
Stanford dHO paper – https://dho.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/Legal_RAG_Hallucinations.pdf
