I'll admit I had not heard of the zetetic method before I read of it here. The way it appears to be used does differ from the definition given here, though.
FE zetetics seem more in the vein of not actually doing any experimentation, cherry picking, and avoiding questions and evidence of anything that is in conflict with their beliefs.
My take on
FE zeteticism goes like this:
Zeteticism means "proceed by enquiry". So
You enquire "What shape is the earth?",
so as
Space CowGirl and others say, "Look out the window, the earth looks flat!", so "The earth must be flat".
So, your "proceeding by enquiry" has led you to know that
THE TRUTH is that "The earth is flat".
Now that you know that this is
THE TRUTH,
- any conflicting observation (such as sunrises and sunsets) must, if possible be explained away by perspective, bendy light, refraction, finite visibility through the atmoplane, etc.
- any conflicting observation that cannot be explained away this way (such as stars rotating about the South Celestial Pole), is deemed fabricated and those that claim to observe such fabrications are called liars.
Yes, I have been call a liar for simply claiming that I have seen
stars that rotate about the South Celestial Pole.
If you think that I am exaggerating see
THE FLAT EARTH Wiki, Place of the Conspiracy in FET. That clearly states "
The FET (Flat Earth Theory) is an obvious truth" and
"If personally unverifiable evidence
contradicts an obvious truth then the evidence is fabricated".