A Bad Joke: Credibility and the Flat Earth Society

 Written for ENGL 1130 /Douglas College/Noelle Phillips, PhD

 

A Bad Joke: Credibility and the Flat Earth Society

The Flat Earth Society (FES) has taken pains to appear on their website as a credible, science-based organization. In the ‘about’ column on the front page of the site, they purport to be “a place for free thinkers and the intellectual exchange of ideas” (The Flat Earth Society 2020). The visually appealing and easily navigable page links to an incredibly detailed Wiki, where curious first-time viewers are encouraged to begin their exploration of FES theories and “evidence.” Everything within the wiki appears to be well written and with plenty of citations, just as one would expect in a reputable mainstream site. On the surface, nothing serves to immediately trigger one to the fact that they have stumbled onto anything less than completely legitimate.

Once one takes the time to analyse the content of the site in depth, however, it becomes clear that the FES is disguising wildly irrational, unsubstantiated theories as meriting the same consideration as those with actual legitimacy. Throughout the writings available on the FES website, there is a noted focus on scientific theory and empirical evidence. Flat Earth believers are described as scientific thinkers who simply follow a different method of scientific investigation than the widely accepted standard. They believe in what they experience rather than what science has proven, hence the focus on empiricism. Rather than accepting empirical evidence as merely an important fragment of the scientific method, they emphasize empiricism as its entirety. This misrepresentation of scientific theory and methodology affords a degree of acceptability to research that simply does not warrant being accepted.

 To the uncritical mind, the FES take on scientific thinking might well be wholly appealing. Physics and complex mathematics are vast, confusing subjects to the average individual. To even begin to fully understand the body of evidence that conclusively proves a spherical Earth, said average individual would need to devote themself to potential hours of reading and critical analysis of available research. While this is not an impossible task, it is one that most people are unlikely to undertake. As Adam Garfinkle examines in his article “The Erosion of Deep Literacy,” the easy packaging and accessibility of information that has developed with the advent of internet has come with an unintended consequence: a loss of the ability to concentrate at length on in-depth material (Garfinkle 2020). We accept that the Earth is round not because we have spent hours reading about the subject, but because it is a widely accepted fact. The FES takes advantage of this by offering up their own easily packaged and accessible information in support of a flat earth. Their facts are digestible and concise. The language is easy to understand, and all claims are backed up with links to further evidence. In short, the information they provide is palatable.

Unfortunately, palatable though it may be, The FES’ body of evidence is dangerously lacking in any sort of credibility.  No experiments described have been subjected to rigorous testing from independent sources. No studies have been peer-reviewed. And perhaps most damning, all citations link either to other pages on the FES site or YouTube videos. The entirety of the research available on the subject appears to come internally, from an organization that has a clearly stated agenda. There is an absolute lack of evidence from neutral sources. The reason for this is, of course, that no such evidence exists. According to the Society, however, all evidence demonstrating a spherical Earth is either forged or misinterpreted. They are very careful to note that while most believe in a NASA-led liberal conspiracy of scientists and politicians are behind the round earth “hoax,” they do not officially endorse the conspiracy theory as an organization. There is no alternative explanation offered, however, and so this non-endorsement of a conspiracy theory serves as a kind of gateway to even more irrational and unbelievable theories.

And therein lies the danger of organizations like the Flat Earth Society: that irrational but otherwise ostensibly innocuous fringe movements can serve as Trojan horses for potentially dangerous rhetoric. As Kevin Roose described reformed alt-right personality Caleb Cain as having been lured down the “rabbit hole” from a jumping point of Stefan Molyneux’s purported self help videos (Roose 2018. 4), there is a clear correlation between Flat Earther theories and a belief in widespread liberal conspiracy. Once one is willing to accept a source as sympathetic and trustworthy on a harmless subject, one is more easily led to accept the same source when it comes to subjects such as racial supremacy.

The Flat Earth Society is often dismissed as nothing more than a joke to those critical thinkers who fail to consider them as a credible threat to the average individual. A look at the FES website, however, demonstrates that the Society is well organized, well spoken, and very proficient at providing just enough evidence to lure their audience. Considering how we understand radicalization to occur, it’s time we stopped laughing and paid attention.