Who Started the Flat Earth Conspiracy Theory, How Many Believe This, and What Do They Believe?

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I saw a meme stating if the world was flat cats would have already knocked everything off the edge. That's irrefutable logic right there.

“It’s hard to win an argument with a smart person, its impossible to win an argument with a stupid person” -Bill Murray

I have a neighbor that’s a flat earther He watches videos on it, does his research… and has the balls to laugh at people for thinking the earth is round. He literally says that “people would know it’s flat, if they just had a little basic understanding of science” These people are fascinatingly stupid.

"Only believe in things you can see for yourself. Also, there's an ice wall around the disc that no-one has ever seen for themselves, but trust me bro."

The only thing to fear is sphere itself.

A flat-earther's greatest fear is... Sphere itself.

The Netflix documentary Around the Curve has my favorite example of flat earthers They came up with a surprisingly scientific experiment involving a gyroscope to measure the actual curvature of the earth. They laid out the explanation for what evidence would prove that the earth is round, and what would prove the earth is flat It proved the earth is round Their conclusion: magical sky beams interfered with their measurements

I read a fascinating comment by a psychologist who has a policy of refusing to treat any patient that claims the earth is flat: he has found that they usually have underlying mental health issues and symptoms that need psychiatric care and perhaps medication. He therefore refers those prospective patients to a higher level medical professional. While this is not a causation situation, there is correlation between the firmly held belief in a flat earth belief and symptoms of larger problems.

One of my favourite Flat-Earther statements is that they have thousands of members around the globe.

Come on. Everyone knows ships disapear because of being outside of the render distance.

I remember watching a documentary not that long ago that followed a group of flat earthers who set out to confirm that the Earth was flat, and basically, after every experiment that proved them wrong they simply changed the narrative to suit the results. In a nutshell, they were wrong and could not prove the Earth was flat.

The refutation of all the evidence which contradicts their theory reminds me of what it was like to try to convince my mother that the voices only she could hear were a result of psychosis…

"Never argue with a stupid person. First they'll drag you down to their level, then they'll beat you with experience." Mark Twain

The fact we are discussing this in the 21st century is worrying.

Like all cult beliefs, some people need to believe they have secret knowledge that only they and their in-group possesses, to make them feel whole.

Here are five undeniable scientific facts that make flat earth theory an impossible model. 1. Size of the sun observed in the sky: When observed the sun takes up the same “degrees of space” in the observable sky. This is only possible for a very large object being very far away. In all flat earth theories the sun is a small object moving relatively close to earth shining a spotlight of “day time” upon the surface of the earth. The relatively observed ”degrees of space” taken up by the sun should start as very small at sun rise, be observed to be 3x-5x times larger in the sky at Noon (based on theorized size of the sun and distance from the earth’s surface proposed in the various versions of flat earth models). The sun would then get smaller and smaller in the sky as it approaches sunset. 2. The pattern of the tides. The double low and high tide patterns as seen on earth are only possible if the moon is rotating around a spherical earth. No math models in any flat earth theory can explain the observed tide cycle. 3. Sky Rotation changing. From time lapse studies, we know from the observable sky at night what appears to be a sky rotating counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere. This is only possible on a rotating globe. In fact in flat earth models, the sun and northern star (Polaris) should ALWAYS be visible at night. 4. Shadow angles at Noon. Put two tall sticks in the ground 100 yards apart. Watch what happens at Noon. In a flat earth model there should be a time when the shadows cast by the sticks are pointing in opposite directions as the small relatively close sun passes over head. This doesn’t occur the shadows are cast at always the same angle of projection. This is only possible with a globe rotating to reveal a very large very far away sun. 5. Sundials move “clockwise” north of the equator. Sundials move “counter clockwise” south of the equator. This cannot happen on a flat earth with a small sun flying through the sky.

Remember when we thought it was the lack of access to information that was holding people back? It's not. It's not that at all.

6:04 You could run a survey in which the only question is "Are you currently taking a survey?" and 5% of people will still answer "Not sure"

If the curvature of the earth as viewed from an airliner is due to the shape of the windows, why doesn't the terminal building look curved when you're on the runway.