Cover Letter

In the subculture essay I intend for readers to get an understanding of the beliefs of the people who belong to the flat earth culture. Furthermore, I intend for readers to understand and become aware of the flat earth’s subcultures beliefs on society overall. I also intend for readers to look at this subculture with an unbiased opinion, and focus less on the content of what they believe and rather why and how they believe facts that go against proven scientific evidence that the Earth is round. When speaking of these intended aims when writing my essay, I am referring to the readers as Professor Buno as well as my other peers.

To begin this essay I looked at the Wikipedia list of subcultures. From there I noticed Flat earthers were among the list of groups on the website. I recalled my experience of seeing conspiracy videos about the flat earth on Youtube as a child. From there I decided it would be interesting to investigate this further. I was particularly interested in how one could become convinced of such a fact that has been disproven by centuries of science. I was also interested in the larger implications of such suspicious thinking and what impacts this thinking has had and will have on society in the future. From there I saw the subculture’s practices a representation of a larger problem which is the lack of trust in modern day institutions that regulate society’s knowledge, such as NASA.

Some challenges I faced when researching this topic, was that it was hard to find sources that were objective in describing the flat Earth community. Most articles were a biased piece

trying to disprove their beliefs, or attacking the personal credibility of flat Earthers. To combat this I used various different sources and culminated the information to get an overview of the subculture.

When working on this essay I learned that when writing I often look for connections to a larger meaning rather than just describe. That being said, I was more interested in discovering and highlighting the impacts and substance behind the flat Earth subculture rather than just describing it. Therefore, I learned that as a writer/researcher I often like to take a stance and explore it through a more narrow lens.

I enjoyed the entirety of this assignment. I think it was a very unique experience and opportunity to get to focus on a particular subculture and look at it from a researcher perspective. It was eye opening and a great way to practice research based writing. Something that helped in the process of writing this essay was class discussions about sources, as it helped inform me about how to incorporate scholarly sources into my piece.

A course learning objective I worked on through writing this essay was “formulate and articulate a stance through and in your writing”. I believe I was able to work on this skill through my decision to take a stance/argument within researching and describing the flat Earth subculture. I also developed this skill through my research process. In the research process I was looking for information to not only describe the subculture, but inform my stance regarding the subculture as well.

Flat Earthers: A Culture That’s Anything But Flat

The flat Earthers are a subculture that is made up of people that hold the belief that the Earth is flat, despite the world believing in the universal truth that the Earth is spherical. Flat Earthers have grown in numbers and prominence, as time has gone on, so much so that organizations and conferences have been held in support of flat Earth ideology. An organization that is most notable and is home to many flat Earthers is called The Flat Earth Society. Their beliefs can be disproven with simple science that has been proven for centuries. Despite this, flat Earthers stay grounded in their subculture through their adamance that institutions have lied to the public about the Earth’s shape. In discovering the adamance of the people that belong to this subculture, I wanted to know what was compelling them to so strongly believe in this cause, and what impact the beliefs of this subculture have on society overall. I also propose the research question of whether flat Earthers believe the Earth is flat due to lack of trust in institutions or lack of trust in science, in order to guide my observations.

The History

According to Britannica, at one point in time it was a universal truth that the Earth was flat, until around 3rd century BC when evidence would suggest that the Earth was round. Even before science caught up, early Greek philosophers such as Plato, were able to confirm the Earth was spherical through observation alone. Science would be brought into the equation around the time of the middle ages. The introduction of such scientific evidence made it so that believing the Earth was round was a universal and grounded fact. Something worth noting is the role of secularization in this shift in thinking about the Earth’s shape. The secularization of society started to pick up during the middle ages, in tangent with science becoming more developed. The

idea of the Earth being flat was rooted in religious beliefs, that we were created by one God, and that we were the center of the universe. With secularization people started turning away from this being strong enough evidence to suggest the Earth is flat. Thus, as people were becoming less religious they were more susceptible to believe scientific facts surfacing at the time that proved the Earth was in fact round.

Development of Flat Earth Ideology Today

It is interesting to see how this subculture of flat Earthers has developed in a time where science is better and more reliable than ever. What is the driving force behind making flat Earthers convinced to not believe an established scientific fact? In researching this subculture I also began to want to find connections between the flat Earth subculture, and the overall trend that has been accruing, in the public not believing in science. That being said, this could suggest the flat Earth subculture is the representation of a larger problem that is developing within the United States, which is the distrust in science and institutions.

According to a PhysicsWorld article, the flat Earth subculture really began to take off in early 2020. The ideas were gaining traction after a famous rapper B.O.B expressed his belief that the Earth was flat and his mission to send a satellite into space to prove his conviction. Since then the theory has taken off, and has particularly stuck with those who are susceptible to believing in conspiracies, and ideas that express distrust in government. Despite the flat Earth ideology being referred to as a conspiracy, flat Earthers do not claim their ideology as a conspiracy theory, but rather a belief.

The Evidence

What’s captivating about flat Earthers is the evidence that informs their beliefs. Most of their evidence, as noted by scientists, can be easily refuted. Since the evidence is weak, it is worth questioning what about the evidence, is making a group of people assimilate into this subculture and adopt these beliefs?

A major piece of evidence that flat Earthers claim to have is that all the photos of the Earth have been photoshopped. Flat Earthers believe any NASA visual documentation displaying Earth’s spherical shape is falsified and cannot be trusted. They believe all information from NASA is false let alone the pictures they provide showing the Earth’s shape. Furthermore, flat Earthers believe if NASA were to take an actual picture of the Earth it wouldn’t look like a floating disk, rather flat Earthers don’t believe space exists at all. Adding on to this belief is their assertion that the moon landing was faked. This idea that space does not exist stems from religious ideology, as religious ideology often centers around the idea that we as humans are the center of the universe and were put here by a creator to live out a purpose. Believing in space discredits this assumption, because it rids the idea that humans and Earth are the center of the universe.

Most people approach flat Earthers and will say “If the Earth was flat wouldn’t we fall off the edge?” In response a flat Earther would tell you that Antarctica is an ice wall that surrounds the entire Earth that acts as a barrier protecting us from falling off the Earth. Flat Earthers believe that this has been hidden from society, at the orders of “higher ups.” Flat Earthers mainly center their beliefs around the fact that they believe NASA is a driving force in making the public believe the Earth is round.

A Sign of a Larger Problem

(Photo: The Washington Post)

A significant observation is that when researching the flat Earth subculture there is a lack of diverse perspectives. Therefore, finding an article that was not holding a bias in trying to disprove flat Earthers was hard to come by. Most of the search feed was filled with anti-flat Earth articles, and articles that work to criticize the subculture of people. This could suggest that interests such as the government are working towards decreasing the spread of this subculture and its beliefs, as they see this way of thinking threatening to their own credibility. This in itself reveals something greater about the flat Earth subculture.

It is not simply just the idea that the Earth is flat that is dangerous, but it is the methods and way of believing such a truth that reveal a greater problem. The thought process in believing the Earth is flat comes from an irrational place based on conspiracy and distrust rather than science. The science showing the Earth is indeed round is very basic, as claimed by NASA scientists who write fact sheets for fifth graders that demonstrate why the Earth is round. Despite

the science being fairly simple to understand it is not probable that it is just a lack of scientific literacy that is the cause, but rather the cause of rejecting such scientific beliefs comes from the distrust in the institutions and governments that provide such information. When looking at the subculture, their beliefs and the way in which they relay those beliefs it becomes clear that their main driving motivation for believing the Earth is flat comes from this idea that institutions and governments are hiding something from them. Therefore, it’s not the scientific fact sheet from NASA they don’t believe, it’s the fact it came from NASA, who they believe is falsely claiming this science as fact. Flat Earthers also remain adamant on their beliefs because most times debaters of their beliefs use science, when science is not the issue at hand. People do not need to hear the scientific disbelief of such a theory, in so much as they need evidence as to why they should trust the sources in which such evidence comes from.

This aspect of what the subculture is built on is important because it is reflective of a larger trend and issue that is increasing within the United States in particular. This is a trend that rejects and distrusts the institutions and governments that make up our society. While flat Earth theory has been around for a while, this was shown to the world on a much greater scale through the amount of COVID-19 deniers and conspiracy theorists there were throughout the pandemic. Their beliefs were so strong that they were putting public health at risk by not getting vaccinated, wearing masks, etcetera.

Reasons why the flat Earth subculture, and other similar movements have gained traction, is due to the rise of social media. Social media makes it very easy to disseminate, and spread information. This means that while some good information is able to spread, so is false information as well. Social media has also allowed for people with the flat Earth belief to form into a society and thus really generate their culture.

Therefore, the flat Earth subculture has another subculture brewing underneath it, which is the culture of distrusting institutions and governments that provide scientific evidence. This in itself is very problematic, and we should look towards the flat Earth subculture and how to prevent this to start surrounding other scientific facts.

If this way of thinking were to develop into a larger subculture that consisted of people who spread this way of thinking towards similar matters, it could have dangerous effects for society. If the credibility of the government and institutions breaks down so much that distrust becomes the opinion of the majority of the population, there will be an issue in determining truth. There would be no source deemed as trustworthy and thus it would be hard to coexist together, when each person is able to live their own truths. Thus believing in universal ideas we can trust from institutions is important because it allows all of us to live somewhat in the same reality, leading to better cooperation as a society of people.

Conclusion

The flat Earthers are a subculture that have created an ideology surrounding the belief that the Earth is flat, rather than round. While their evidence remains weak, and easily disproved through established scientific methods, flat Earthers remain adamant and confident in their beliefs. In researching it became clear that the scientific facts were not the issue, but rather how these scientific facts were discovered and disseminated. Thus, flat Earthers are concerned that this science is false because it came from an institution they believe to be falsifying information. This also relates to a larger belief many of them hold, that there are higher ups controlling what the public is exposed to and the knowledge they can acquire.

In turn this development revealed that the flat Earth subculture is representative of another culture of thinking which has been gaining traction within modern society. This culture is one that distrusts governments and institutions, thus leading them suspicious and weary of all the things that are believed to be true. This way of thinking is threatening to the credibility of institutions and thus could create a larger problem in the future, one in which it is hard to come to agreement on truth, and live in coexistence.

Therefore the flat Earth subculture has more to it than meets the eye. There are many insights to be drawn from its culture, rather than just mere observations. While the culture and its beliefs are interesting, there is a cause of concern for this way of thinking and what larger impacts it could have on society.

Works Cited

Picheta, R. (2019, November 18). The flat-earth conspiracy is spreading around the globe. does it hide a darker core?CNN. Retrieved March 28, 2023, from https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/16/us/flat-earth-conference-conspiracy-theories-scli-intl/in dex.html

Fighting flat-earth theory. Physics World. (2022, February 22). Retrieved March 28, 2023, from https://physicsworld.com/a/fighting-flat-earth-theory/

Dunbar, B. (2015, June 16). What is Earth? NASA. Retrieved March 28, 2023, from https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/nasa-knows/what-is-earth-58.htm l

YouTube. (2019, March 20). Flat earth: To the edge and back (official movie). YouTube. Retrieved March 28, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpljiOgd9RQ

McGlathery, G. (1980). Towards a Flat Earth Theory. Science and Children, 17(4), 13–15. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43160440

Järnefelt, E. (2018). Suspicion toward Science and the Role of Automatic Intuitions about Origins. In K. Rutten, S. Blancke, & R. Soetaert (Eds.), Perspectives on Science and Culture (pp. 109–130). Purdue University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt2204rxr.11