The Earth is a sphere. Our school textbooks tell us this. Science corroborates it. And when satellites first took images of the Earth, the pictures proved it. We saw our pretty blue planet from a completely different perspective, but there was no doubt… it was still a sphere. So, in 2021, why do a growing group of people still think the Earth is flat?
Click start to play today’s Word Search, where you can pick out “sphere” from the many different shapes.
The Flat Earth Society started out in 2009 as a small group of people in the UK and US, who believe the Earth is flat – since it looks and feels flat. To be more specific, the leading flat-earther theory is that the Earth is a disc, with the Arctic circle in the centre, and Antarctica enveloping the entire rim of the disc with a Game of Thrones-like 150-foot-tall wall of ice.
They consider all opposing evidence, such as satellite photos of a spherical Earth, to be a conspiracy orchestrated by space agencies like US-based National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) and other governmental organisations. Many flat-earthers believe that space does not even exist, and that the moon landing was fake, since pictures can easily be edited. Gravity, too, doesn’t make the cut for flat-earthers. They believe objects do not accelerate downwards, rather, Earth moves upwards at 9.8 metres per second squared, driven by a mysterious force called dark energy.
You might laugh, as I did when I first heard of them, but the Flat Earth Society has been steadily gaining support over the years. The group has over 200,000 followers on Facebook, its own website, and the Flat Earth International Conference held its third annual event in 2019, in Texas, US, where 600 people attended. They have their own celebrities, music, merchandise and have been endorsed by popular figures, like the American rapper B.o.B.
Outside the group, too, there are doubters. According to a 2019 CNN report, a YouGov survey of more than 8,000 American adults in 2018 revealed that one in six people were not entirely sure that the world is round.
The flat Earth theory appeals to people with a hyper-sceptical mindset and anti-scientific tendencies. According to the CNN report, most flat Earthers believe in several other conspiracies too, and their conferences are often a gathering place for people like anti-vaxxers and Illuminati supporters.
What do you think about the Flat Earth Society? Play today’s Word Search and let us know at games@gulfnews.com.
