25. Is the Earth flat?

Seriously?

Yup. I had no idea until today that there were such people as “Flat Earthers” and there was such a thing as Flat Earth Theory. I was familiar with the idiom, but I had just supposed that we recalling the follies of the Dark Ages. Have I been living in a bubble?

I guess I spend enough time on the internet, learning about other things that fascinate me, that I haven’t dedicated more than a passing thought to conspiracy theories. But I made a Facebook friend recently (I’ll call him Sam) who, I found out when I viewed his timeline, is a Flat Earther. I don’t have many FB friends that I haven’t met in person, but I reached out to this fellow because I have his CD, which I adore. Sam wrote and performed the music on it. It’s gorgeous, and raw, and touching. His music, over the last few months, has become my morning meditation. Little did I know that shortly after perusing my new friend’s posts, I’d be writing to ask him, “WTF??” and then a few hours later, I’d be lost down the rabbit hole on Youtube. By the end of the afternoon, I had to call it quits to sit down and write this post.

So where did this whole thing come from? Who would need to question the validity of the Earth being a beautiful blue (if slightly squished) spinning sphere?

According to Wikipedia, “The flat Earth model is an archaic conception of Earth’s shape as a plane or disk….The idea of a spherical Earth appeared in Greek philosophy with Pythagoras (6th century BC), although most pre-Socratics 6th–5th century BC) retained the flat Earth model. Aristotle provided evidence for the spherical shape of the Earth on empirical grounds by around 330 BC. Knowledge of the spherical Earth gradually began to spread beyond the Hellenistic world from then on.” Since then, figures from Copernicus to Newton to Magellan to the first astronauts have contributed their own proof.

Flat Earth theory was revived— in the 19th century, and again in the mid 50s— with claims that no detectable curvature of the planet can be seen on surfaces of water, nor from a great height in space. Flat Earth proponents on the web show video “evidence” shot from airplanes that show no visible curve. Subject this evidence to rigorous examination and it falls flat (pun intended). This still doesn’t answer the question WHY. Why is Flat Earth even a thing at all?

I don’t think most Flat Earthers get into it from a natural curiosity. I doubt that most of them watched the Earth’s shadow cross the Moon in an eclipse, or water disappearing down a drain, or the shifting horizon from the deck of a boat, or the aurora borealis, and wondered, how is this possible?  I don’t think they decided to exercise their powers of reason and find out for themselves. This may be pure speculation, and even out-and-out prejudice, but it’s very possible they had nothing better to do than to fall down a rabbit hole on Youtube. I’ve done this before when I’m bored (with admittedly lighter fare like Midcentury Modern design) enjoying a certain satisfaction clicking one button after the next, making one comment after another, but it’s ultimately a lost cause. You can find anything you want on the internet, pro or con ANYTHING. For those of us who are prone to obsession, it’s highly flammable kindling!  And for those of us who may live alone, it can be a way to connect with others who share our views, and, ultimately, a way to feel part of a tribe, by separating oneself from those “others” who’ve had the wool pulled over their eyes. I know —this is getting ironic here.

This isn’t about Sam now, but I do in some way feel like there’s something to defend, although I don’t think it’s my job to prove the Earth is spherical. I think that’s part of the Flat Earthers’ schtick; if you try to refute their claims then they demand proof. Of course most of us aren’t as smart as we once were in high school, so we’re left sputtering and getting huffy. Most of us take a spherical earth for granted. So, you’re darn right it’s smart to question things we take for granted. But personally, I have no problems with received wisdom on the matter.

The idea that anyone would take this flat Earth theory seriously, is, to me, disrespecting hundreds of years of tried and true science. It’s disrespecting scientists themselves. I know a few handfuls of them. I am not saying that there are some scientists who, sadly, have become puppets for drug companies and worse, but you’d be hard pressed to find a real scientist who couldn’t disprove any of this Flat Earth stuff quite readily. Real scientists have a passion for uncovering the truth. They make it their business, and a few have gone so far as to risk their careers and sometimes their lives, to do so.

Flat Earthers are not only disrespecting Science, they are disrespecting the majority of people’s lived experience. Virtually everything we take for granted — weather, seasons, day & night, the phases of the moon, air and sea travel, gravity, the tides, satellites crisscrossing the sky, cellphone reception, is possible because the Earth is a globe.

Sam asked if I am open-minded. I certainly think of myself that way. I have spiritual beliefs, based in lived experience, that don’t necessarily fit in with a scientific/materialist view of the Universe. I think that Science just hasn’t developed the tools yet to explain a lot of things. However, Science has developed the tools and methods to explain A LOT, and I am in awe of scientists. What feats, to have solved some of the greatest mysteries of this amazing planet and beyond, and to have invented and built such a myriad of manmade wonders!

I actually believe that anything is possible, but not probable, and that’s the key distinction. The idea that the Earth is flat is highly improbable. There is no evidence of it. That which is being held up as “evidence” is flimsy. It’s anecdotal and pseudoscientfic. However, there’s ample evidence, hundreds of years of experiments and data, and a whole living laboratory of it around us, proving Earth is a globe. From what you can observe in the natural world (the tides!) to what you learn from grade school to grad school, and see in the wonderful videos from NASA, to fun experiments you can do at home with friends, proof is everywhere. But it seems that to Flat Earthers, all this evidence is a hoax. It amazes me that someone could be more inclined to believe that a hoax could be perpetuated on such a massive scale as this, with every government and corporation and school and business in collusion, than believe the elegant proof under our very noses. We don’t know everything about the Universe, by any means, but she what she has revealed to us we have done our utmost to explain, to the best of our abilities, at this time. Science is always in the process of refining its instruments and methods.

Now, if this whole Flat Earth thing is simply a philosophical argument, a device crafted to shake us out of our complacency and lazy thinking, that’s fine. I can go there. They don’t actually seem to be doing much critical thinking themselves, but — philosophically, or spiritually, yes, I agree that everything we experience/ see/ hear/ feel and measure is, in effect, an illusion. But in the material realm, which we live in, and (more or less) agree is “real”, we have proof of Earth as a globe. If you flatten the planet, theoretically, then everything we know about how the Universe works falls apart. OK then. Can a better hypothesis be provided, and testable, measureable proofs? No. If science was doing a lousy job of explaining things, then there would be good reason to seek and offer alternative theories to the globe. But science is doing a splendid job. So why this waste of time?

My FB friend insists that there are pilots, ballistic experts, surveyors, CIA and engineers who support this theory. This is mind-boggling to me. Presumably, they’re university educated, yet they’re buying into this and other conspiracy theories. (Of course, that’s what they’d say about the rest of us.) But I bear in mind that there has always been and always will be a percentage of the population who may be highly intelligent but are also a few coupons short of a toaster oven (as my dear friend Yvette likes to say!)  A few of those nuts, throughout history, have been proven brilliant. Others are just plain nuts. And now, with the Internet, any nut who has the means, and the vocabulary, and knows just enough (remember that phrase: “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing”?) can put him- or herself out there very persuasively and attract followers. It recalls those days before the birth of Christ, when every Joe Blow was proclaiming himself the messiah.

Part of Sam’s defense was to inform me that large numbers of Christians and Muslims believe the Earth is flat. This detracts from his argument, in my view. Many religious people believe things that are patently untrue. We’re in a post-religious period in history, when science has been able to explain things much more precisely than religion. Science is about provable theories and laws that are testable and repeatable and accurate to an incredibly high degree. Much of religion is myth and superstition. This isn’t to say there isn’t a place for it, but that’s not what I am writing about.

What I find perhaps the most disturbing is why these people, who clearly have the passion and the time, aren’t spending it more productively —ending poverty, building renewable energy sources (but of course that involves the sun and weather patterns, and if the Earth is flat, then those things are also called into question!) Of course “productivity” is a subjective thing, so I am sorry to have sounded judgmental there. But it’s just so sad to me that these motives seem so good but the target is off.  Skepticism, the urge to search for the truth, the drive to right wrongs, the impulse to get people to question commonly held beliefs— these are all good things. But it’s a shame all this energy isn’t being channeled differently. But perhaps the Flat Earthers are just part of the Big Picture; maybe we need a certain contingent of fringe-thinkers, and they’re doing what they’re meant to be doing, if there is such a thing. To every season….

If there is any conspiracy at all (and this is just a fun thought!) perhaps it’s that these Flat Earthers are actually being used by the government, or the corporations, or aliens, in a gigantic red herring to distract the rest of us from what’s really going on, whatever that is. I do believe that humans are being brainwashed, but in different ways than Sam does, I guess. By corporate interests who are simply exercising their greed, who are training us to rely on them to meet our needs, and to think we can’t live without the latest smart phone or lipstick.

What is it in us humans that causes a need to believe in conspiracies? Here is my theory, after only a few hours of contemptation. I think it manifests from restlessness that in itself is masking greater disturbance. Many of us, myself included, have lost the ability simply to enjoy silence, to sit alone, in nature, or in our homes. We are driven to keep ourselves occupied. And for many of us, the internet fits that bill. But dig a little deeper and—why can’t we sit still?  Sit long enough in silence and it’s painful. Not just for your body but for your mind. We all suffer, as humans, to some degree, with ill health, with poverty, with loneliness, challenges at work and in relationships, and with seeing a world at war and an environment in decline. Who wouldn’t want to spend time doing what feels much better, instead of focusing on our problems? It’s natural. For some, the distractions are innocuous pastimes, like reading or stamp collecting; for others it’s more adventurous like skydiving. Nothing wrong with this! For others though, it gets more addictive, with alcohol, video games, or gambling. Anything can become addictive. We want a panacea that does not exist. So, we may seek a villain to blame, or a conspiracy of villains. That’s a lot more palatable than looking at our own crap. And then, when we find the monsters, or the wizard of Oz, and draw back the curtains to expose the fraud, will a rainbow will appear and reveal a pot of gold, relieving us of our woes? Do we all wish to be saved, in some way?

My diversion, today, was Flat Earth. But what total strangers on the internet have to say is really not actually important to me. But there was value in this day. Though I am not, by nature, much of an arguer, this was a good exercise for me in articulating my thoughts and beliefs. In the past I probably would just have not bothered to write this. Who am I to try and persuade anyone of anything? Why does my opinion count? I realize I don’t have to change anyone’s mind. But I do owe it to myself to explain my views, which matter as much as anyone else’s. And, I believe so firmly in the inherent good of people that I think Sam deserves more than to be just brushed off. I’ve invited him to read this post, but he’s already informed me he won’t read it. I actually admire the guts he must have to share his views, considering how against the grain they are!

To finish, I must be clear that my point here has not been to poke fun at Sam, or those with similar views. I guess it is more personal than that. The thing is, I am puzzled and sad, because I have no idea how I can be actual friends with this person. I am not saying it’s impossible, but it does stretch my imagination!  I respect his right to believe what he wants, but I don’t respect his actual beliefs. And they seem to be a big part of his life —a part I’m not interested in, and a part that could throw the rest of his character into question for me. It’s always good to connect with others who have varying viewpoints, and I am interested to know how the guy who wrote that music can be the same guy who holds these beliefs, but then I have to think about I want to invest my time. I still love his music and I’m happy to keep listening to his CD, as I listen to other music and watch films by people whose work I love but whose beliefs and/or actions I find distasteful (Michael Jackson, Kevin Spacey and Roman Polanski come to mind). I sincerely wish Sam all the best, and that he finds what he is looking for. Perhaps our paths shall cross in real life, and perhaps this is the end of that particular road.