Why flat earth?

The flat Earth movement is a great example of the effort to sow doubt in hard facts and science. To some degree, you have to admire the willingness to dispute the fact that the Earth is round — established as a theory in 5th century BC and proven about 400 years ago by Magellan.

The question is whether or not the followers of this movement actually believe the Earth is flat. The answer is probably that some do and some don’t. As alarming as the true believers are, the people who actually don’t believe the Earth is flat, yet promote the movement, are the danger.

Some are probably doing it to see if they can punk those outside of the movement — seeing if they can get them riled up. But there are others who seem to have a deeper goal. Figuring out how to systematically make people question established facts / reality. Just the fact that arguments break out between flat and round earthers demonstrates progress towards this goal.

Because it moves the round Earth from incontrovertible fact to a disputed topic with political undertones. (For example, the notion of a flat Earth aligns with a literal interpretation of the Bible. So evangelical Christians might be more supportive of someone who professes belief in a flat Earth.)

And it begins laying the groundwork for disputes around other facts — like wearing masks to help prevent the spread of Covid, election results, etc.