Unearthing Flat Earth

By Quinn Sahlgren

The Flat Earth theory is a mass belief that, well, the Earth is flat. Basically, people really believe that the Earth is a huge fl.at disc with a dome for an atmosphere flying through space. "Flat Earthers" (Flat Earth believers) think that the government is lying to us about Earth's shape. Their theory usually includes other conspiracies like the moon landing hoax and space being fake. Now, It's okay people think the way they think, they have their reasons. But the mass spread of this misinformation harms the science community.

Most Flat Earthers are part of the "Flat Earth society" which was spearheaded by a man named Mark Sargent (we'll talk about him later). Flat Earth society seems to have collective ideas about how Earth "really" looks and operates as flat. They believe the sun and moon are giant lights that hang above the firmament, or the sky dome, and give us daylight and moonlight.

Even though most of them are part of this society, almost all of them have different "facts" about Flat Earth. Like that there is or isn't more land beyond the ice wall surrounding the Flat Earth or that God did or didn't create it all.

Basic knowledge of physics, gravity, and science is the mortal enemy of Flat Earthers. The popular Flat Earth model isn't physically possible. The huge, thin disc of Earth would be crushed under its own gravity and eventually formed into a sphere. That's why every celestial body is a sphere, because that's how gravity works. No one has proven the Flat Earth theory wrong more than Flat Earthers. There have been tons of tests, and even documentaries (Behind The Curve) about said tests, of Flat Earthers trying to prove the Earth is flat. They buy expensive high-tech laser gyroscopes which are able to actually track the Earth's rotation. They have done light tests at sea level which proved Earth's curvature. Some have sent balloons and even rockets into space to observe the curvature of the Earth. Many times, blaming their findings on a faulty or fish-eye camera lens, distortion caused by the "firmament," or just completely ignoring what they see.

Some come from a religious perspective. So they aren't as crazy as I'm portraying these other Flat Earthers to be. Some religions say the Earth is flat, some say it's a globe. The Bible does not clearly state the shape of the Earth, which leads many people to believe Christianity supports the Flat Earth theory. Since the common Flat Earth model is a flat map-like Earth with a dome around it, many assume that this is something created by god(s) and is used to keep us on here.

People who believe in Flat Earth aren't necessarily uneducated too, it's sometimes a simple distrust of authorities like our government. The propaganda about Flat Earth is almost entirely spread on line. People looking for answers, counterpoints, or a place to belong can easily "fall for" Flat Earth theories. This is fueled by search engines like Google which send you down rabbit holes of falsehoods. "Beyond these habits with 'conventional media,' [popular news outlets like the New York Times, or NBC] what we see on the internet is not what everyone sees. Algorithms drive that winnowing, often creating what has been termed a "filter bubble" (Sinatra 33). The internet can easily snare uneducated people into these false beliefs; the internet also manipulates educated people because they see false information like this spread so much. It's human nature to want to feel part of something, to feel like you are right. With all this out there, there is always someone behind the wheel.

Mark Sargent is a famous person in the Flat Earth movement. He is one of the first people (in modern times) to revive the belief and spread it all over the internet. So naturally lots of Flat Earthers treat him like a leader. People like Mark Sargent produce videos and talks which spread the message about Flat Earth like wildfire. In "How to talk to a science denier," Lee McIntyre found: "In the process of trying to prove that Flat Earth was a fraud, usually after watching a series of YouTube videos, many had instead convinced themselves that it must be true" (4). You can fall into Flat Earth rabbit holes from any direction—pro or con Flat Earth—and still get convinced of the falsehoods in the end. People who spread this stuff on the internet almost always use the government lying to everyone as their crutch.

Every Flat Earther distrusts the government, which is reasonable. News sites across the globe publish hundreds of stories a day about why you shouldn't trust your authority figure and how they're lying to you. Lots of which are fake news, which not everyone can easily realize, but sometimes they aren't fake news. The United States government has had numerous conspiracies about them be proven true, and even have Presidents blatantly lie to their citizens on live TV. So it makes sense why people distrust governments. American Flat Earth is rooted in NASA supposedly lying about everything. Some people would rather invent ways to say the government is lying to them, then to believe trusted, real-scientists.

The Flat Earth "theory" is definitely a ridiculous one. Their "truths" are some of the most debunkable on the planet yet they still have thousands of occult followers all across the globe. Is every "Flat Earther" just stupid? Tempting as it is to say so, it's not always the case. There are lots of victims of the Flat Earth theory, and it isn't their fault. Deep rooted beliefs, modern movements, religion, or just plain misinformation are things that the Flat Earth theory loves to latch onto in good people. Overall, it is interesting how common science deniers like Flat Earthers are—it's so easy for anyone you know to turn into one.