Flat Earth and the Search for Belonging

Conspiracy Theories, Power & Accountability: Part 3

When the Wheels Come off

Just as surely as there exist conspiracy theories tied to real-life conspiracies, countless baseless examples flood the collective domain of ideas. While much conspiratorial thinking could win prizes for creativity, hyperbole and outright paranoia, it predictably comes up short in the areas of fact and logic. For these reasons, it doesn’t take much pulling at the strings of logic to unravel shoddily tangled constructions. Why then, in spite of debunking, do they persist?

In the following pages we’ll explore a prominent example to help us uncover key tells that a conspiracy theory is more an expression of unmet emotional needs than a representation of reality. Our goal, ultimately, is to awaken our curiosity about reasons why conspiracy theories might resonate powerfully with people, rather than to dismiss or ridicule those who engage with them.

Flat Earth

There’s a rapidly growing number of people around the globe who subscribe to a belief that the Earth is flat. The vast amounts of data that confirm the spherical form of our planet have little effect upon believers. Thousands of photographs and videos from satellites, spacecraft and astronauts are dismissed as “fakes” – artefacts of an elaborate conspiracy perpetrated by NASA and the scientific community to misrepresent the true nature of the planet we call home. 

It’s the mission of the Flat Earth movement to uncover the truth, long suppressed by a powerful cabal bent on indoctrinating society into a materialist ideology that reduces the emergence of all life to mere chance – a random cosmic accident. The truth that Flat Earthers seek comes at a heavy price - social ridicule. But it’s a sacrifice worth making in the pursuit of a narrative that places human life on the pedestal that it deserves. 

What is the truth as Flat Earthers define it? Structurally, the planet is a stationary circular disk, the edge of which is composed of an ice wall rim - the actual form of Antarctica. The disc is covered by a high dome that encases Flat Earth in the way that a glass cake dome covers a cake, rendering it a closed system. Within the dome, the sun, moon and stars, also on a plane, rotate above the Earth’s circle like the hands of a clock. Rather than emerging as a random consequence of the Big Bang, Flat Earth is Divine creation – God’s “footstool.” 

Believers cite their lived experiences of observing level horizons and traversing flat landscapes while walking or driving, as compelling evidence. The photographs and videos of Earth taken from outer space that show the curving arc of the planet’s spherical form are dismissed as camera lens distortion, composites of images and high-end productions that are being pushed on an unwitting public by NASA and complicit scientific institutions. 

As Flat Earther Stephen Knox puts it, “Everything that proves the Earth is round is something we cannot prove for ourselves.” “If you can’t trust the source of all your information,” he continues, “you have to go back and get the information for yourself.” Knox’s stance points to a key phenomenon at the foundation of conspiracy theories generally: lack of trust in expert knowledge.

Knowledge is Power

The internet opens the gates to a wide variety of perspectives and information being shared by any number of individuals who can clear a very low bar: access to a device connected to the world wide web. The result is the democratisation of ideas, minus the gatekeeping. This means that people can turn to blogs, vlogs and TikTok videos for their information just as easily as they can to research that has undergone fact-checking or peer review. The consequence is the elevation of non-expert points-of-view relative to scientific ways of knowing that can be perceived by many people as alienating, elitist, or even arrogant. 

When it comes to critiques of well established scientific knowledge by doggedly persistent Flat Earthers, scientists can be pretty brutal. Rather than meeting the conspiracy theorists at eye level and patiently listening to their questions and concerns, they’re dismissed, mocked, or humiliated.

Physicist Spyros Michalakis acknowledges the limitations that result from treating Flat Earthers with contempt:

“The problem I see is actually not from the side of the conspiracy theorists. It is actually from our side, from the side of science. Very often it is difficult not to look down….My friend said, ‘Sometimes the only way to change somebody’s mind is to shame them.’ And I say, I don’t think that is the last resort, ever.” – Behind the Curve

It’s worth acknowledging that within the confines of the Flat Earth movement, a believer is thrust into the empowered position of independent investigator, with the self-proclaimed authority to determine their own conclusions. Their lived experiences and individual perspectives are taken seriously by movement leaders like Mark Sargent who admonish them: “Do your own research. And ask questions.”

Flat-Out Denial

Many of the observations and intuitions expressed by Flat Earthers can be easily explained by the effects of gravity and refraction. While individuals like SciManDan dedicate significant time and energy to presenting straight-forward scientific arguments to debunk the Flat Earth belief system, such explanations fail to convince movement members. In fact, during the filming of the 2018 documentary “Behind the Curve,” Bob Knodel and Jeran Campenella disprove the flatness of the Earth by means of experiments designed and executed by movement members that succeeded to demonstrate the curvature of the planet. Remarkably, these results didn’t compel their conversion to the globe model. Instead, the Flat Earthers dug in their heels and steeled their resolve to find alternative experiments that might produce their desired results. 

Once again, Michalakis’ words bring us to the heart of the matter:

“The difference between being sceptical about something and being in denial is very subtle, but very important, right? Someone who is sceptical is willing to test their own hypothesis, their own assumptions. They are actually looking for the truth, even if it turns out that they were wrong.” – Behind the Curve

So if empirical evidence is not required to sustain belief in the movement, then what is? Let’s explore the emotional needs that Flat Earth potentially satisfies in its believers, focusing on two main avenues. On the one hand we have the emotional benefits experienced by Flat Earthers through their participation in the movement. On the other hand, we have the emotional impact of the tenets of the belief system itself.

I Am Mark Sargent

The biggest name in Flat Earth is Mark Sargent. The former software analyst, competitive gamer and one time virtual pinball champion rose to prominence through his 14-part Youtube series Flat Earth Clues, which has accumulated over 2 million views. Friendly and mild-mannered, Sargent comes across as approachable and likeable. Single and living with his Mom in Washington State, you might not assume that in certain circles he has devoted fans who regard him as a celebrity. It makes me wonder about the kind of life Mark Sargent would be living without Flat Earth. My intuition is that without the movement, he might walk the Earth entirely unnoticed. Invisible even. 

These days he can be spotted sporting his own merch, like the black and white T-shirt he wears, prominently declaring “I am Mark Sargent.” Amongst movement members, Mark Sargent’s existence means something. People flock to him, doling out praise and gratitude for his many contributions to the movement and to their individual lives. 

Sargent didn’t need any degrees, or certifications to qualify for his position as an esteemed content creator, ambassador and recruiter for the Flat Earth community. His curiosity for the subject and passion to share his findings with other like minded individuals was all that was required. 

Similarly, the bar for entry into the Flat Earth movement is equally low. Anyone and everyone is welcome, their perspectives and opinions encouraged and valued. Under the dome of this closed system, believers are validated and empowered in their shared quest to question authority and unravel the globe-conspiracy for the greater good.

How might the special status afforded to movement members clash with their social positioning in the world outside the dome? What possible social consequences await believers prepared to come out of the ‘Flat Earth closet’? Excommunication by family members, the termination of friendships, lost job opportunities – social exile resulting not from crime, or deviant behaviour, but based on a set of fringe beliefs. 

It doesn’t take mental gymnastics to recognize that orbiting society’s fringes as an outcast is painful and lonely. Or that enjoying membership in a community of like-minded individuals who value your unpopular point-of-view is flat-out preferable. It’s simply a matter of belonging.

Battlefield Earth

What about the principles and goals of the Flat Earth movement itself? As much a religious movement as it is an anti-establishment revolt against scientific ways of knowing, Flat Earth represents an ideological battle. While ostensibly, the shape and structure of the Earth represents the battleground, the true fight is against a mechanistic worldview. On one side, we have the Flat Earthers, believers in God who value the importance of individual, lived experience. On the other side stands the scientific community, indoctrinated into a materialistic ideology that distils the beauty and mystery of existence into cold, hard fact, divorced from spirituality and meaning. The only object worthy of worship in its cult, expert knowledge.

To illustrate the materialist framework, consider the Big Bang, science’s answer to Earth’s cosmology – the emergence of the universe and all life on Earth reduced to randomness, chaotic conditions and undirected processes occurring over vast spans of time. Rather than inspiring awe, such a worldview instills sharp awareness of humanity’s puniness, meaninglessness and susceptibility to chaotic processes and randomness. Had conditions played out any differently, we wouldn’t exist. 

It’s interesting to explore the possible psychological impacts of such a framework upon human beings, who in addition to engaging with reality through logic, also experience it emotionally, intuitively and spiritually.

Professor of clinical psychology Mattias Desmet (not a Flat Earther) explores the limits of materialistic ideology in the following words:  

“This is the narrative of mechanistic science, in which man is reduced to a biological organism. A narrative that ignores the psychological, spiritual, and ethical dimensions of human beings and thereby has a devastating effect at the level of human relationships. Something in this narrative causes man to become isolated from his fellow man, and from nature. Something in it causes man to stop resonating with the world around him. Something in it turns human beings into atomized subjects.” 

What core qualities make up the ideology that props up Flat Earth? A belief in God and the divine origins of all life, reverence for human beings and an emphasis on the significance of personal, lived experience.

Mark Sargent encapsulates the Flat Earth ideology in the following words: 

“You’re not on a tiny little speck of rock just flying through this endless, incomprehensible universe and you are not small…. It was built just for you. All the world is a stage and you’re in it. You are on a ride. Part stage, part terrarium, part planetarium. Whatever it is, it is very deliberate.”

Under the dome, humans are elevated to divine creations inhabiting an environment defined by intention - not randomness. The mystery of life and creation shrouding existence remains intact. Chaos has no place here. Human life is endowed with meaning.

Rather than feeling tiny and insignificant in an incomprehensibly massive universe, Flat Earthers are afforded emotional security simply by being granted a place to live within the divinely built domed disk. All the fearfulness, insecurity and anonymity tied to existing in a mechanistic system where randomness and chaos reign, dissolves into an experience of emotional ease. Just as flat Earthers enjoy feelings of empowerment from socially participating in the flat Earth movement, so too do they derive empowerment from the tenets of the ideology itself. 

This sense of empowerment is precisely what’s at stake in the battle against Flat Earth. Bob Knodel summarises the scientific agenda as follows: 

“They want to dissuade you from the idea of a God…. Beyond that, as a way to control your mind. They want us to think that we aren’t special, but we are.”

The widespread humiliation that Flat Earthers endure while campaigning for their cause only reaffirms their beliefs - the shaming and mockery serving as evidence of the conspiracy. As the metaphor goes: ‘the flak is always heaviest over the target.’ Moreover, any abuse targeting Flat Earthers solidifies an ‘us versus them’ dynamic between believers and the scientific community. Flat Earthers, heavily invested in narratives that serve to empower and emphasize their significance, readily assume the archetypal position of underdog besieged by the powerful elite. It’s a David and Goliath matchup of cosmic proportions. Knodel spells it out for us: 

“We’re literally in a battle for humanity…. That may sound grandiose, but that’s what it comes down to. And that’s why flat Earth is so heavily ridiculed.”

Mic drop. No, wait… gravity?!

So where do we go from here?

If there’s anything that we can learn from Flat Earthers, it’s the importance of self-esteem built on a foundation of human connection and faith in the meaningfulness of our own existence. When the scientific worldview strips lived experience of its inherent beauty, mysticism and mystery, some people will feel alienated and divorce themselves from such a framework. Just as likely, these people will be rejected by any society that holds the mechanistic worldview as gospel, only to wind up orbiting its outermost edges. From the fringes, these misfits will seek out alternative narratives and frameworks that satisfy their deeper longing for meaning. And they will look for friendship and acceptance amongst fellow seekers.

Reflection questions:

• How, if at all, has your view of die-hard conspiracy theorists like Flat Earthers changed after exploring the potential emotional and psychosocial motivations behind such fringe beliefs?

• What potential strategies might help foster connection and open dialogue with believers, so as to avoid dismissing them and pushing them deeper into fringe movements?

• Is it possible to create a society that makes all people feel valued, included and empowered so they don't need to turn to fringe beliefs to elevate their sense of importance? Why or Why not?

• What steps can we take to cultivate an educational system and media environment that promotes critical thinking while still making people feel their voices and subjective experiences matter?

Recommended Reading / Watching:

Pierre, J. (2017, February 19). Flat Earthers: Belief, Skepticism, and Denialism: When people reject facts, what do they really believe? Psychology Today. 

Behind the Curve. (2018). [Documentary]. Directed by Daniel J. Clark. Delta-v Productions.