Flat earth
The concept of a flat Earth posits that the planet is not a spherical object but rather a flat disc. Historically, belief in a flat Earth was prevalent among ancient civilizations, including the Egyptians and Babylonians, but was challenged by Greek mathematicians around 500 BCE, who provided evidence of a spherical Earth. During the Dark Ages, some interpretations of biblical texts contributed to a resurgence of flat Earth ideas among certain groups, despite educated individuals largely accepting a round Earth. The Age of Discovery further solidified the round Earth model, yet flat Earth beliefs saw a revival in the early 19th century, particularly among Christian fundamentalist circles who viewed modern science as conspiratorial.
Today, organizations such as the Flat Earth Society perpetuate these beliefs, often drawing on pseudoscientific claims and interpretations of religious texts. Proponents typically argue that gravity is an illusion and suggest that Antarctica acts as an icy barrier surrounding the Earth. Despite overwhelming scientific evidence supporting a spherical Earth, flat Earth conventions and social media platforms have fostered a community for this belief, leading to public debates and controversies. Notable figures from popular culture have also expressed flat Earth views, highlighting the ongoing visibility and discussion surrounding this unconventional perspective.
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Flat earth
The concept of a flat Earth refers to the idea that Earth is not a sphere, but rather a flat object. Ancient Greek mathematicians first discovered compelling evidence that Earth is a sphere about 500 BCE. However, Europeans reverted to the idea of a flat Earth during the Dark Ages, largely due to the spread of Christianity. Although the Bible does not explicitly state that Earth is flat, it does present a cosmological viewpoint that strongly suggests so.
Conceptions of Earth as a flat object were largely pushed from the popular consciousness of European laypeople during the Age of Discovery, which began in the fifteenth century. The subsequent acceptance of heliocentrism, or the idea that the solar system revolves around the sun and not Earth, effectively quashed all but the most zealous beliefs in a flat Earth.
Despite overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary, the idea of a flat Earth was revived in the early nineteenth century. In the twenty-first century, the concept continues to have a very small but highly visible and controversial following.
Background
Belief in a flat Earth was a common phenomenon during the early history of human civilization. Ancient Egyptian and Babylonian cosmology seems to present Earth as a flat object with four corners, bordered by the heavens from above and an underworld from below. It is also likely that ancient cultures in China, India, and the Americas also conceived of Earth as flat.
A succession of ancient Greek mathematicians generated compelling evidence that Earth is round, beginning with Pythagoras around 500 BCE. Pythagoras concluded that Earth was spherical based on detailed observations of lunar phenomena. The idea was further developed by later Greek thinkers, including Aristotle. However, the flat Earth theory returned during the Dark Ages, when Catholic scholars cited passages in the Bible that appeared to support the claim. Examples include references to "the four corners of the Earth" and a mountain summit from which "all the kingdoms of the world" are visible. These statements only make sense if Earth is flat, and at the time, the Bible was interpreted as literal truth.
It is commonly believed that the far-reaching maritime voyages of Christopher Columbus marked the decline of the belief in a flat Earth, but this is not entirely accurate. Although prevailing Catholic dogma aligned with the concept of a flat Earth, educated people held a widespread belief in a round Earth as early as the Middle Ages, owing to the earlier mathematical proofs of Pythagoras, Aristotle, and others. Columbus's discoveries simply popularized the idea of a round Earth to the public, and the rapid development of astronomical science in the ensuing centuries permanently crystallized the concept of Earth as a sphere.
However, the doctrine of a flat Earth made an unexpected reappearance in the early nineteenth century. Largely inspired by Christian fundamentalist acceptance of the Bible as absolute truth, organizations such as the Flat Earth Society were founded. These organizations spread the idea that scientific evidence of a round Earth was part of a conspiracy designed to discredit religion. While such theories were summarily rejected by an overwhelming majority of people, they did go on to achieve a noteworthy following that persists into the present day.
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The Flat Earth Society adopted a system known as Zetetic Astronomy, developed by its founder, Samuel Rowbotham. According to Zetetic Astronomy, Earth is held to be a flat disk, bordered at its top and bottom edges by icy regions that correspond to the North and South Poles. Celestial bodies including the sun, moon, planets, and stars are all thought to reside in an airy space that extends only a relatively short distance above Earth's surface. Rowbotham's followers founded an organization known as the Universal Zetetic Society after his death, spreading his ideas beyond Europe into the United States.
Drawing on the teachings of the Universal Zetetic Society, a religious English researcher named Samuel Shenton revived the Flat Earth Society in 1956, founding a new organization known as the International Flat Earth Society. At its peak, the International Flat Earth Society had a membership of more than three thousand people. However, it remained overshadowed by ridicule, and in 1995, a fire destroyed the society's archives, membership records, and library. The society lapsed into inactivity before relaunching in 2004 under its original name and reopening its doors to new members in 2009.
A large majority of those who publicly support the concept of a flat Earth do so on religious grounds, believing that the Bible's account of a continuous expanse of land suspended beneath the firmament is unquestionable truth handed down to humankind by God. Flat Earth doctrines have drawn on pseudoscientific hypotheses in an ongoing effort to account for contemporary developments. Today, one of the leading such theories posits that Earth is a flat disk-shaped object with the Arctic Circle filling in the middle and a continuous border of ice, Antarctica, surrounding its rim. Gravity is said to be an illusion, and some supporters even go as far as to suggest that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) actively works to prevent the public from learning the truth by guarding the Antarctic rim to prevent people from falling over the planetary edge. Proponents of these ideas have no universally accepted explanation for what lies beneath Earth, although many hold that the planet resides atop a bed of rock. Photographs of Earth taken from space, and even space programs themselves, are dismissed as part of an ongoing conspiracy to hide the truth.
In November 2017, the first US convention dedicated to the belief in a flat Earth was held in North Carolina. The Flat Earth International Conference was reportedly sold out, with hundreds of people attending the two-day event offering presentations and discussions on the topic. The following year, a similar conference was held for the first time in the United Kingdom, and a second iteration of the US convention took place in Colorado.
Public figures including the reality TV star Tila Tequila and rap artist B.o.B. have voiced their belief in a flat Earth in the media. Such incidents have sparked controversies, with the astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson taking to the social media platform Twitter to challenge B.o.B. on his views. Social media in the 2020s made it easier for people who believe in a flat Earth to connect and misinformation. Numerous channels on the popular video-sharing website YouTube promote flat Earth ideas; however, such theories have drawn a great deal of mockery and scorn from those who subscribe to the mainstream, scientifically supported view of a round Earth.
Bibliography
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Burdick, Alan. "Looking for Life on a Flat Earth." The New Yorker, 30 May 2018, www.newyorker.com/science/elements/looking-for-life-on-a-flat-earth. Accessed 24 Oct. 2024.
Campbell, Andy. "Flat Earth Theory Is Still a Thing." HuffPost, 21 Jan. 2016, www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/flat-earth-truthers-tila-tequila‗us‗56a0f23ae4b076aadcc55c6c. Accessed 24 Oct. 2024.
Garwood, Christine. Flat Earth: The History of an Infamous Idea. Thomas Dunne, 2008.
Lewis, Danny. "The Curious History of the International Flat Earth Society." Smithsonian, 29 Jan. 2016, www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/curious-history-international-flat-earth-society-180957969/. Accessed 24 Oct. 2024.
Lukowich, Ed. Trillion Years Universe Theory. Jepko Publishing, 2015, pp. 23–26.
Pappas, Stephanie. "Flat Earth ‘Theory’: Why Do Some People Think the Earth Is Flat?" Live Science, 27 Jan. 2023, www.livescience.com/24310-flat-earth-belief.html. Accessed 24 Oct. 2024.
Stern, David P. "The Round Earth and Christopher Columbus." National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 31 Mar. 2014, pwg.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/Scolumb.htm. Accessed 24 Oct. 2024.