by Lucas Nuzzo
Flat earthers believe that the earth is not a sphere but that it is actually flat. They believe that the world wide scientific community and the Government doesn’t want the public to know that the earth is flat and is protected by a barrier called “the firmament” 1. Flat earthers report that in order to keep the truth hidden from the public the government creates fake agencies, like NASA ,to provide “evidence” and to keep the general public fooled 1. The flat earth theory is becoming more popular among celebrities, one such celebrity is an NBA star named Kyrie Irving or rapper B.o.B. This belief is extraordinary because there is a large body of scientific evidence that shows the earth is not flat and this belief requires an incredibly high level of cognitive dissonance to accept that the flat earth theory is true.Flat earthers believe that the earth is not a sphere but that it is actually flat. They believe that the world wide scientific community and the Government doesn’t want the public to know that the earth is flat and is protected by a barrier called “the firmament” 1. Flat earthers report that in order to keep the truth hidden from the public the government creates fake agencies, like NASA ,to provide “evidence” and to keep the general public fooled 1. The flat earth theory is becoming more popular among celebrities, one such celebrity is an NBA star named Kyrie Irving or rapper B.o.B. This belief is extraordinary because there is a large body of scientific evidence that shows the earth is not flat and this belief requires an incredibly high level of cognitive dissonance to accept that the flat earth theory is true.
The flat earthers believe that everything is a government conspiracy. I have had conversations with flat earthers and they have justified the flat earth theory by stating that if the government can keep this big secret under their control they can also control the people of the world. The evidence for this theory is very hard to find because one must accept numerous bizarre beliefs that make up the foundation of the flat earth theory. You must believe the government is lying about the shape of the earth, that the government has created fake agencies to fool the general public, gravity is not real, and the earth is always moving 9.8 meters per second upwards through space. The evidence that the earth is not flat is substantial and you can tune into NASA’s 24/7 broadcast of the earth from the ISS, you can view the earth from footage of the moon missions and you can believe that gravity is real by simply dropping an object and watching as it falls to the ground.
There have been numerous attempts at trying to figure out why people believe in conspiracy theories. Some research suggests that individuals who are already ostracized from society are more likely to buy into conspiracy theories. There is also some evidence that states people turn to conspiracy theories when they feel they are powerless or have a lack of sociopolitical control. Belief in these theories, especially within online communities, may also offer a sense a belonging to those individuals who have already been alienated. Another reason people may believe in conspiracy theories such as flat earth may be because there several instances in history where the government has hidden information from the general public, this may contribute to the skepticism and paranoia flat earthers have towards the government and its agencies 2. The vast majority of flat earthers are people who distrust the government, this is demonstrated by the fact that they believe the government has created fake agencies to produce false evidence to show the earth is not flat. Flat earthers are also people who distrust established narratives, have already been alienated from society,and have found a community that shares their “reality”. In my experience the communities that harbor flat earthers are mainly conspiracy driven groups or are heavily religious organizations. The conspiracy theory groups love the flat earth movement because it plays into their narrative of the government is hiding something, while religious groups believe the flat earth movement because of bible verses that declare the earth as flat and the center of the universe.The most prominent social influence helping to sustain the belief of flat earth theory is celebrities. Celebrities who believe in flat earth theory often results in news agencies will cover their statements on this belief which in turn allows more people to be exposed to the flat earth theory.
In order to believe in flat earth theory, one must be already skeptical or paranoid about the government, be alienated from society and/or be a part of a very conservative religious group. The belief in flat earth theory may give the individual a sense of power and a sense of wonder in the normal day to day life, it may also give them a sense of belonging to be a part of a community that shares the same reality as themselves. It may be empowering for flat earthers to believe that they are on the cutting edge of science or that they are outsmarting the scientific community and government by not believing their supposed lies. Celebrities believing in flat earth theory allows for more and more individuals to be exposed to the flat earth theory as well as people who don’t do their research may just take the celebrities word at face value and cause this belief system to continue to exist. All of these factors combined may explain why flat earth is a popular conspiracy theory and assist in better understand the individuals who buy into conspiracy theories as a hole.
Sources:
1 https://blackbag.gawker.com/the-earth-is-flat-explained-17550025342 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0963721417718261
I find the Flat Earth theory completely appalling and I am so shocked to know that people, such Kyrie Irving and B.o.B. believe this theory. My uncle works for NASA and it is comical to me that people think NASA and all the research that goes on there is a fraud and government controlled. I think many people do not like structure in their lives and are bothered by certain parts of the government. Because of this, they come up with crazy theories and conspiracies that often are connected back to the government involvement and control.
a. When I found out that celebrities were subscribing to the notion that the earth is flat, it blew my mind. People like Kyrie Irving and B.o.B. are incredibly famous and have huge platforms, so it’s terrible that they are contributing to spreading false information to their impressionable fans. It does seem, however, that most people think these two are crazy for what they’re saying, but there’s also no doubt that they are influencing people to think this way as well. As you said, a big part in the explanation from flat-earthers is that the government is hiding information from us to control us. This is the basis for a multitude of conspiracy theories and is incredibly vague with no real evidence supporting that claim.
Hey Lucas,
Something that jumped out to me immediately was “1. Flat earthers report that in order to keep the truth hidden from the public the government creates fake agencies, like NASA ,to provide “evidence” and to keep the general public fooled.” If there were the case, what would the government be benefitting from flat earth theory. What do these believers believe is the benefit to a flat earth, as opposed to a sphere.
Charlie
Lucas, I enjoyed reading your post. I thought you made some really interesting comments about the reasons behind why people believe the earth is flat and how it all relates back to government conspiracy. Aside from the flat earth theory, are there any conspiracy theories that you believe in?
It’s crazy to me that people actually belief the earth is flat when there is so much evidence against it and for the earth being round. I usually find conspiracy theories very interesting to read about but this one is just extra ridiculous. It’s interesting that flat-earth believers think that the government is trying to hide it from people, because I don’t understand why of all things to hide why would they hide something like this? There doesn’t seem to be a point in creating all these fake agencies like NASA which cost billions of dollars to run and to hire all these physicians and scientists just to hide the fact that the earth is flat, what would the government gain from that? I can understand if the government wants to hide things like aliens because they don’t want to incite panic, but the shape of the earth?
I have always found this extraordinary belief to be interesting. It amazes me that with so much proof about the world we live in that people still believe it is flat. I actually feel quite bad for people who believe in things like this because of their thoughts on government conspiracies. It must be hard living your life when you believe that the government is constantly trying to conspire against people.
If I had no information coming from space, I would probably assume the world was flat as well. If I really had an issue with NASA (or the government, or whoever is perceived to be in control) and thought they had some ulterior motive to tell people the world is round, I honestly could see myself being a flat-earther. After all, no matter how far away I look at the horizon, it always appears straight, I see no curve. I know the flat-earthers get a terrible rep, but as far as extraordinary beliefs go, this one doesn’t seem so crazy to me. If I were a flat-earther, the only thing that would consistently bother me would be stars. One thing I really don’t understand though, what do they get by tricking people into believing the world is round? At worst they are conspiring to have people fall off the end of the earth?
Hey Lucas! I also wrote about the flat earth theory. I found it almost frustrating to read about. How can people really believe such a thing? It is such a massive thing to think is a conspiracy. One of my favorite reasons as to why one flat earther believed the earth was flat was because when she looked out over the ocean, the horizon was straight, not curved.