![]() Had I heard there were people who believed the Earth was flat, I would have thought that there was something terribly wrong with them. ![]() And in every classroom I had ever inhabited throughout my primary and secondary school education, there were globes of varying size and shades of green and blue. Perched on Dad’s desk was a plastic one we would often consult when discussing the atrocities of war, where Mom grew up (Yerevan, Armenia), and the many countries my father had visited in his youth. I grew up in a world that abounded with globes. But why the interest in the first place? Would it be entirely wrong to suggest that the notion of a flat Earth is perfectly reflective of this nonsensical, fact-and-science-bashing time we’re living in? And that the theory’s visual “evidence”, though absurd, makes for irresistibly shareable memes ? Flat Earth, according to Google Trends, has had several obvious peaks in the last year, like in August when flat-Earthers were asked to explain the solar eclipse and in February when Irving insinuated that he believed the Earth was flat on the Road Trippin’ podcast. The readily apparent answer is that the surge in interest is aligned with online celebrity endorsement and bolstered by ensuing media coverage. But why is interest in flat Earth increasing in popularity? Why now? Perhaps you even heard on NPR that certain middle-schoolers got the idea of a flat planet from basketball star Kyrie Irving and couldn’t be convinced otherwise by neither teacher nor science. ![]() Where did you first hear about the “Flat Earth” movement? Was it rapper B.o.B’s twitter crusade, in which he demanded to know why he is unable to see “the curve”? Or maybe you stumbled across news of the flat-Earther ‘Mad’ Mike Hughes, who wanted to launch himself and his $20,000 steam-powered rocket into the air to prove the Earth’s flatness. ![]()
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