Flat Earth: It's Not About the Science

YouTube really wanted me to watch Flat Earth videos, so I did.

I was always fascinated by conspiracy theories. They subtly twist history and science to craft arguments that sound convincing to the uninitiated. They leverage an alluring narrative of powerful people controlling everything from the shadows. And they often root themselves in ancient history and mysticism.

But it’s when I lost a friend to conspiracy theories last year and got to experience first hand how they can affect me indirectly that I started paying attention for real.

So I followed YouTube’s suggestions and started watching Flat Earth videos. The Flat Earth theory, in case you missed it, rejects the idea that the Earth is a sphere. The Earth is, instead, a flat disc, with the North Pole at its centre. The South Pole is not a single point, but an insurmountable wall of ice surrounding the world. Crucially, space travel never took place and photos of Earth seen from space are all fake: there is a worldwide conspiracy to keep everyone from discovering the true shape of the Earth. Science, or rather “scientism”, is declared corrupt.

Pretty soon I got the gist of it and started watching videos debunking this theory, showing how its pseudo-science, based entirely on subjective experience, gets pretty much everything wrong that humanity has known for 5,000 years. Mostly, it was Schadenfreude that kept me watching.

I started imagining myself debating a Flat Earther, formulating unrefutable rebuttals to their typical arguments. It’s a fun and engrossing intellectual exercise, which did occasionally prompt me to review some scientific theory I had forgotten or, more likely, never bothered to learn in the first place—physics was never my strong suit in school.

Eventually, though, learning more about how conspiracy theories work, it became clear to me that physics wasn’t the problem. People don’t suddenly believe the Earth is flat because of the superior science of the Flat Earth model. The pseudo-science is merely a shallow layer, just thick enough to numb the cognitive dissonance that would keep people from buying into the theory in the first place if they thought it was all made up rubbish.

The real reason why people start listening to such arguments, whether from Flat Earth or from any other conspiracy theory, is entirely different. It has to do with regaining agency while offloading responsibility at the same time.

Last summer, my wife and I wanted to buy wood to build some garden furniture. We needed 16 beams, and the hardware store had only 17 left. Lucky us!

It turns out there was a big shortage of wood that summer. Prices were soaring and the entire construction industry slowed down. I later learned that part of the reason for this had to do with international trade. China sells more goods to the EU than the other way around. In order to curb this trade deficit, the EU decided to prevent the Chinese from getting their containers back empty. China said OK, let’s fill them with useful stuff, like construction wood, for the journey back.

And so it came that a strange international trade rule contributed to drying up the supply of construction wood, nearly derailing our garden furniture plans.

For other people, the inscrutable mechanics of globalization have far more dramatic consequences. The world has become unfathomably complex, and globalization is but one factor. Increased regulations, geopolitical crisis, climate change and increasingly liberal societies all force change on us at a dizzying pace.

Some experience this as a loss of agency, no longer feeling in control of their own destiny. And for a fraction of those, things won’t go their way. They may lose their job, face financial stress, separate from their spouse, become ill or see their living environment degrade dramatically for social or environmental reasons.

It’s at this vulnerable stage that the conspiracy theory trap snaps shut: the enticing narrative that someone in the shadows, powerful, greedy and ruthless, is working to harm them, to keep them in poverty and ignorance in order to secure their own dominance.

Now, there is a culprit whom they can blame for everything that has been going wrong, thus evading either the question of their own responsibility or the ruthless, crushing logic of sheer bad luck.

Somewhere inside the rabbit hole, these people find a welcoming community, quick to congratulate them on their awakening. They now know the truth that is being kept from everyone else. They are part of a small but vital group that can now go spread the word and awaken the sleeping masses. By getting involved in such communities, the new proselytes regain agency, the sense of taking matters into their own hands. They conduct “research” online, go to conferences, start talking to their friends, colleagues and families.

Eventually, noticing that no one listens, experiencing rejection, they turn bitter and distance themselves from their social circles to hang out amongst their enlightened peers. That’s how I lost my friend.

Trying to save someone from conspiracy theories is as difficult as trying to help someone with depression. Victims require professional help, which can only work if they realise they actually have a problem. But embracing a conspiracy theory requires believing it’s the rest of the world that has a problem. Paraphrasing Upton Sinclaire, it is difficult to make a person understand something when their new identity is based on their rejecting it.

I wish I could share some useful tips for how to get someone the help they need if they’ve gone too far down the rabbit hole, but I don’t have any.

However, we can all stay vigilant. When someone suddenly and unexpectedly starts spreading such theories, arguing about science, history or politics is the wrong approach. Perversely, the rejection will merely harden their beliefs.

Instead, a more promising approach is to ask them how they are doing. How are things going at the moment? How’s the spouse? Chances are, they are going through rough times and have stumbled upon something that relieves the discomfort of having to face their misfortune.

With a bit of luck, showing genuine interest and extending a helping hand at the right time may well help catch them before they slide too far down the rabbit hole, at the bottom of which not just physics and logic break down, but also social ties and fragile identities.