Flat Earth Conspiracy Theory

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Pages: 6

When people think of conspiracy theories, they think of crazy people with tin foil hats living in their mom’s basement. Some flat-earthers might fit this mold, but the majority are educated civilians. Many people have different beliefs about what the Earth looks like and what shape it is. The belief in a flat Earth goes back centuries to ancient civilizations. Modern beliefs have changed from those of their past counterparts. Flat Earthers give evidence and proof of the existence of a Flat Earth. The Flat Earth Society is the leading force behind this conspiracy theory. Scientists and researchers have counter-arguments to the flat Earth theory and have research and proof that prove the existence of the Earth being round. To see the curvature …show more content…
Mesopotamian and Ancient Egyptian records describe heavens arching above a disc in the ocean. According to Britannica.com, “An Iraqi tablet dated to 1000 BCE shows Babylon at the center of a flat disk, and the Greek philosopher Anaximander (610–546 BCE) perceived Earth as a flat disk perched at the top of a cylinder.” Norse mythology describes the Earth as a flat plane encircled by an ocean, with a pillar or a world tree in the center. “In India, some sacred texts describe the planet as a series of stacked flat disks, while others describe it as a horizontal wheel set on a vertical axle.” There is no doubt that ancient civilizations believed in a flat Earth, but their beliefs and evidence differ from modern-day flat Earth’s claims. The modern belief in the flat Earth conspiracy theory comes from an English writer in 1830 named Samuel Birley Rowbotham. He founded the Flat Earth Society, which has about 4,000 members in Great Britain. He wrote the book, “Zetetic Astronomy: A Description Of Several Experiments Which Prove That The Surface Of The Sea Is A Perfect Plane And That The Earth Is Not A Globe!” In this book, he describes the world as having the North Pole in the middle of the Earth, surrounded by a great ice