I am sure we all agree, YouTube is a massive huge platform for delivering a wealth of information and social content. But my goodness, there are some bonkers theories. One of the most bizarre is the flat earth theory (a fact, depending on who is advocating.)
The theory (for whom are not initiated,) centres around the belief that the earth is not spherical in shape, but is actually flat. Covered in a dome which contains the atmosphere. The top of the dome is referred to as the firmament. The sun and the moon (depending on the flat earther) are actually not in space but rotate within the dome. They are of course a lot smaller than we are led to believe.
The add on doctrine is that space does not exist, stars do not exist but are points of light in the firmament…..and of course lets not forget, there is a wall of ice around the edge (which the flat earthers refer to as the south pole) that stops everything slipping over the edge.
Neat.
This is not a new idea to explain our natural world: As far back as the old testament, our planet was assumed was flat and a model put together in order to explain how our natural world fitted within this model.
This was how our ancestors made sense of the world around them.
The purpose of this article is not to debunk the flat earth theory; centuries of observations, empirical data and science have created a better understanding of the universe and its order.
What is of concern, is the growing movement; according to national geographic, survey an estimated 6.5 million Americans now believe the earth to be flat.
Really?
There are many champions of this growing movement. One of the most proponent is Mark Sargent. A mild mannered and charismatic character. Travels the world advocating and promoting the theory.
When challenged, Mark Sargent and his followers soon begin to reveal remarkable insights in why they are indoctrinated and their convictions; its about “the system” and being lied to by the state and governments and conspiracy cover ups…..They have even hijacked the meaning of “woke.”
A man like Mark Sargent and like so many before him, have propelled a doctrine that is baseless and without merit and yet, gathers momentum because of the wider and more populous grievance of the modern word and conformity.
So what, you might say? We all have a right to have a view and an opinion?
Correct.
Maybe reason(s) why this theory gathers momentum could be the Dunning-Kruger effect or simply disenfranchised, disengaged demographics or a generation.
A prime example is creationism; Education now in some American schools is tipped against the education and enlighten of our children, in favour of teaching creationism and opposing teaching evolution through natural selection or Darwinism.
However, at what point do beliefs of others, have an impact upon a wider society?
Let us take us take away the subject matter and observe the mechanics behind the flat earth theory; a minority group, is with gusto, advocating a theory and or set of beliefs, which insidiously gathers momentum. Furthermore, is non inclusive to evaluating the world around them and creates a silo of toxic extremist ideology. All propelled via social media like YouTube.
Sound familiar?
So at what point does a movement turn from being benign and into a malignancy that threatens to undermine the social fabric around us……….The answer is; when it has taken hold……..reaches a threshold and creates a problem that ends up being generational.
The majority of “you un-Enlighted” out there that still think the world is spherical and Man went to the moon have been warned…….!
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