Unless someone has just time-traveled from the Ice Age, the fact is that the Earth is spherical. As early as 3 BC, the Greeks had already figured out the shape of the Earth. It’s, therefore, interesting that people living in the 21st Century would still assume it’s flat, as is the case with The Society of Flat Earthers. Founded in 1956, members share a common belief that pictures of Earth taken from space are a multi-government hoax. While we can outright dismiss Flat Earthers and their beliefs, let’s take some time to reason with them and understand their point of view.
1. Alexander Gleason’s Map of the Flat Earth
In 1892, Alexander Gleason drew a map of a flat earth with all the continents and oceans. However, the Arctic Circle is positioned at the center, and Antarctica marks the “end of the world” surrounded by a 150-foot-tall wall of ice.
According to flat earthers, the wall of ice exists to prevent people from climbing over the edge of the Earth and falling off the disc. Flat earthers also believe that NASA guards this wall to prevent people from finding the truth.
This has been echoed by a renowned flat earth conspiracy theorist, Nathan Thompson, who also claims that he met with a NASA agent in 2017 who confirmed to him that the organization is lying to the masses.
2. It’s How Things Have Always Been
In the past, people always assumed that the Earth was flat. There being zero technology, when a ship set sail for another continent, oftentimes there was no feedback. If they never came back, people would assume they had reached the end of the world.
Back then, transportation was limited, and people lived in small villages. Some weren’t even aware of the existence of other civilizations. Unfortunately, some people have yet to grow away from this narrative. Their assumption is based on what the traditional people believed in.
Long-distance traders and those migrating would always see a straight path ahead of them, thus assuming the Earth was flat.
3. Gravity Is Just an Illusion
The other conspiracy that flat earthers have to support their theory is that there is no gravity; it is just an illusion. Many flat earthers believe objects do not drop from the atmosphere to the ground. Instead, the disc of the Earth moves upwards at a speed of 9.8m/s.
An intriguing bit about their theory is that the force pushing the Earth’s disc is called dark energy and lies beneath the rocks. When questioned about space, because it contributes to Earth’s gravitational pull, flat earthers believe that there is no space. According to them, Earth is just sitting still on its own.
4. The Sun and Moon are Smaller than Portrayed by NASA
Flat earthers are not firm believers in NASA’s publications. To support their claims of a flat earth, they claim that the sun and moon are relatively smaller, typically measuring 32 miles. They also believe that the sun and moon are spheres that move in circles around the flat Earth, which is why we have day and night.
As for eclipses, flat earthers believe in the presence of an unknown celestial body known as the anti-moon. According to them, this blocks the sun and moon in the event of a solar or lunar eclipse. Some members of the flat earth society believe that the moon is transparent.
5. Mistrust in Experts
Experts are not always right, which is why most flat earthers distrust expert organizations such as NASA. In their minds, they believe that NASA is withholding this information for different reasons. It could be to prevent people from reaching the edge of the world and falling off the disc, or it could be to avoid panic.
According to psychologists, most people who believe in the flat earth theory also believe in other conspiracies. To worsen the situation, when these people come together, they reaffirm each other’s beliefs, fueling more mistrust of experts and renowned organizations.
6. Availability of a Flat Earth Ecosystem
Flat earthers are everywhere. Thanks to the massive social media growth, there are flat earth groups on Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Telegram. They sometimes run their hashtags on X and Instagram, too.
That said, YouTube was the birth of most flat-earth conspiracies. As regular people turn to the news for updates, flat earthers head to YouTube to reaffirm their beliefs. Because of YouTube’s algorithms, after watching one video about flat Earth, it will recommend more videos about the same topic. Being part of such an ecosystem gives flat earthers a sense of community and support.
7. It Simplifies the Concept of the Earth
Earth, being a spherical planet that revolves around the sun within the Milky Galaxy, is a very complex concept. To avoid dealing with the complexity of Earth’s nature, some people prefer to assume that it is flat. A flat earth is easy to comprehend, and adding the misconception that gravity is just an illusion makes everything simpler to understand.
From talking to those Flat Earthers I have spoken to and observed, I have concluded that the real reason they believe in a flat earth is because they enjoy arguing, or that they want reality to behave as they prefer instead of accepting reality when it disagrees with their personal choice of beliefs. Sometimes both. Their consistent reliance on refusal to accept any and all evidence against them, no matter what it is or how logical, obvious, factual or proven it is, does not tell me they want to know what is true. And when one of them manages to accidentally prove the Flat Earth theory wrong and changes his mind, the rest turn on him instead of considering the possibility that his conclusion and change of mind (based on factual observations) might be correct. Refusal to consider or accept anything they don’t want to be true is willful ignorance at best, and willful delusion at worst.