Summary

The article discusses the author's fascination with conspiracy theories, focusing on the Flat Earth Theory and the challenges of engaging with its passionate proponents.

Abstract

The author expresses a keen interest in conspiracy theories, particularly those that are outlandish and relatively harmless. They recount their experiences interacting with conspiracy theorists, noting the entertainment value but also the potential for hostile reactions. The Flat Earth Theory is highlighted as a prime example of an extreme conspiracy belief, which posits that the Earth is a flat disc surrounded by an ice wall and covered by a dome. Adherents, often fundamentalist Christians, interpret biblical verses literally to support this view. The article critiques the Flat Earth Theory for its anti-science stance, its rejection of established facts like gravity, and the lack of a plausible working model to explain natural phenomena. The author also touches on the broader implications of conspiracy beliefs, including the tendency to embrace multiple conspiracies, potential social isolation, and detrimental health decisions. The piece concludes with the observation that once entrenched in conspiracy theories, individuals are resistant to rational debate and may require a personal desire to change their beliefs.

Opinions

The author finds conspiracy theories, especially the Flat Earth Theory, to be an interesting subject of study and discussion.
Engaging with conspiracy theorists can be both entertaining and frustrating due to their passionate and sometimes aggressive defense of their beliefs.
The Flat Earth Theory is seen as an absurd and anti-scientific stance that defies logic and empirical evidence.
The article suggests that belief in one conspiracy theory often leads to belief in others, which can have negative consequences on an individual's life and decision-making.
The author is critical of the Flat Earth Theory's lack of a viable model to explain the world's operations and the inability of its proponents to provide one.
There is a noted skepticism towards the political leanings of conspiracy theorists, with an observation that American conspiracy theorists tend to support former President Donald Trump.
The author believes that it is difficult to reason with conspiracy theorists and that they typically resort to insults when their beliefs are challenged.
It is implied that for a person to disengage from conspiracy theories, they must have an internal motivation to do so, and external intervention may not be effective without this prerequisite.

The Most Insane Conspiracy Theory I have Ever Encountered

It‘s astounding that people believe this is real

I love a good conspiracy theory. Not the dangerous ones, like the anti-vax conspiracy, but the relatively harmless ones that are just absurd claims.

I’ve always had a fascination with conspiracy theories, and have found myself stepping onto platforms where people discuss these theories. Or where groups of followers of these conspiracies congregate.

I find interacting with them to be entertaining, to a point. Conspiracy theorists are very passionate individuals, and anger quickly. So discussing their conspiracy, or debating with them, can often evolve into an insult slinging match. And this can become repetitive and tedious quite quickly.

So rather than being insulted by conspiracy theorists, I thought it might be fun to write about my favourite conspiracy here on Medium.

The Flat Earth Theory

The flat earth theory is a conspiracy where the followers literally believe that the earth is flat. They believe that the earth is a disc, surrounded by an ice wall and covered by a dome of some type.

Believers in this conspiracy are typically fundamental Christians who believe that what is written in the bible is completely factual and true. In particular, they believe that the following verse from Genesis 1:7 is evidence that the earth is flat:

And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

The above verse gives those, who take the bible literally, the impression that there is a solid dome covering the earth which separates the earth from the “heavens”. This was a common belief in many ancient cultures. Unsurprisingly, it is a belief that doesn’t align well with the advances in science and space exploration that have been made in recent centuries and decades.

The mental gymnastics that a person would have to complete to actually believe there is a solid dome above us would be impressive, if it wasn’t so sad.

Followers of this conspiracy, as with many conspiracy theories, are very anti-authority. In fact, flat earther’s believe that NASA and the world’s governments are deceiving the public by convincing us that the world is a globe. They also believe that:

The moon landing was fake;
All images from or of space are “CGI”;
All footage from space exploration and within space stations are made in film studios;
Satellites are fake;
Gravity is not real; and
The global elite are “hiding” god from “us”.

This conspiracy is so anti-science, anti- establishment and anti-reality that it makes most other conspiracy theories seem somewhat rational by comparison. To provide an example, here’s a comment (unedited) from Reddit by a firm believer in this conspiracy:

…all governments are working together, creating “disagreements” that you believe are real. Making wars you believe have some sort of merit. You also assume that money even means anything to government.. it doesn’t.. money is only a means to control the slaves. Government does not have to worry about money. They created it. The Jesuit elite have rules to follow and if you follow you are rewarded via “money” lots of it. The lie is kept in check by the prisoners themselves “you” by convincing them that thinking that way is a “conspiracy theory”.. the fact you even ask the question “why would they lie” means you are still plugged into the system and can’t even comprehend a lie so vast that literally every country is in on it. They are hiding creation from you. It’s that simple.

The followers of this conspiracy are incredibly passionate individuals, with the perfect example being Mike Hughes. Mike was a very prominent flat earther, who sadly died while attempting to launch himself to 5000 feet in a home made rocket ship. He was attempting to get to a height where he could observe (and ultimately prove) that the earth is flat.

The saddest part of Mike Hughe’s attempt at proving his conspiracy? The standard height that a person sky dive’s from is 10,000 feet. He could have jumped out of a plane with a parachute and viewed the curvature of the earth with his own eyes (at twice the height that he was attempting to reach). He could have done this while safely attached to a professional sky diver as part of a tandem jump.

Personally, I have jumped out of three perfectly serviceable planes. I have seen the curvature of the earth with my own eyes at least 3 times.

Does a working flat earth model exist?

For the flat earth theory to be even remotely plausible, a working model must be created. Unsurprisingly, however, no flat earther has ever produced a working model. Flat earther’s cannot effectively explain how seasons work, they cannot explain how tides operate on a flat earth, and they cannot effectively explain how the sun transmits light across the planet.

There have been attempts to create a working model, but these were/are laughable at best. Here’s an example of how flat earther’s think the sun and moon move across the dome (and how day and night work):

Source: https://wiki.tfes.org/images/7/70/SunAnimation.gif

I greatly doubt I need to explain the many issues with this “model”.

Our children build simple but working models of our (globe) earth as science projects at school, much like the model displayed in this video:

Given how effectively and efficiently we can describe how our planet operates, it stuns me that people continue to believe in a flat earth to this day.

If you believe in one conspiracy, you’re likely to believe in many

Sadly, once a person starts believing in one conspiracy theory, they are more prone to believing in others.

If you spend any time with conspiracy theorists, you’ll not doubt quickly identify that these people believe in and promote many conspiracy theories. And this is where believing in any conspiracy theory can be dangerous. Conspiracy theories can lead people to:

Become isolated from friends and family; and
Make poor health and life choices (here’s a sad example of someone who died because of their belief in conspiracies).

The individual from Reddit who I quoted above is an anti-vaxxer, a flat earther, and believes in an illuminati related conspiracy that has strong links to the flat earth theory. There’s probably more, but I didn’t want to delve too deeply into his profile.

Conspiracy theorists, in America at least, tend to lean hard right when it comes to politics. Every single American conspiracy theorist that I have interacted with has been a die hard Trump supporter. Why? Probably because many flat earthers also believe in the Q-Anon conspiracy which promotes Trump as their lord and saviour (insane, I know), and Trump tends to pander to those who are anti-government/ anti-establishment.

Closing thoughts

Once a person has fallen down a conspiracy theory rabbit hole, it is very hard to bring them out of said rabbit hole.

There is no rational debate with conspiracy theorists. I have tried, many times. A conspiracy theorist will not respond to logical and well thought out arguments. They do not debate, they mostly hurl insults when they feel you are challenging their beliefs.

There is guidance available which describes how you might talk with a conspiracy theorist in an attempt to guide them away from their dangerous beliefs. If this interests you, you can find an example of this type of material here.

It’s important to note though, that someone who believes in a conspiracy more than likely will need to want to move away from the conspiracy before your intervention will be successful.