Waching daily Dec 31 2018

Members of the flat earth society, believe that our earth is not a sphere, but is in

fact a flat disc.

The flat earth has been debunked time and time again, but still, many flat earthers

persist with their views.

Have you ever wondered why flat earth theorists think the earth is flat?

I mean, they have to believe it for a reason, and some of them believe it so wholeheartedly

that they are willing to argue with you about it for hours on end.

So why do some people think the earth is flat?

That's the question we're asking, right now on life's biggest questions.

Hello and welcome back to life's biggest questions, the channel that asks the fundamental

questions of life, and occasionally answers them too.

I'm Charlotte dobre, so pleased to be your omniscient narrator for this episode.

Show us some love by hitting that thumbs up, subscribe and notification bell, and ask us

a question in the comments below.

Basketball star kyrie irving declared that the earth was flat in a podcast, and this

resulted in a host of middle schoolers believing it too.

Then there's people who take the theory to the extreme, like mad mike hughes, who

tried to launch himself into the atmosphere in a homemade rocket, and gained international

attention.

The flat earth society grows by about 200 people a year since 2009.

And that just includes the people who are a part of the society.

Judging by how popular flat earth videos are on youtube, I would imagine that the number

of people who are looking into the idea of a flat earth is actually much, much higher.

So why question the shapely nature of our earth?

Flat earthers believe that the earth is actually disc shaped, the arctic circle is in the middle

of the disc, an the disc is surrounded by a 150 foot tall wall of ice around the rim,

known to us as antartica.

The disk is guarded by nasa, to keep people from climbing to the top and falling off the

edge of the earth.

Flat earther's believe that the sun shines down on our earth like a spotlight on different

areas on the planet at different times.

Some flat earthers think that theres also an invisible anti moon that hides the moon

during our lunar eclipses.

When you walk around, and you look at the horizon, the earth feels and looks flat.

Flat earthers use this as evidence to back up the claim that the earth is not round,

because if it were round, we would be able to at least see the curve.

People who believe in the flat earth say that all satellite images of the earth that show

it as a sphere, are faked photographs.

The photo graphs aren't only faked, they are evidence of a round earth conspiracy,

where world governments and nasa are hiding the true nature of our earth from us.

Most flat earther's get their information from the internet, and from youtube videos.

The internet allows for the fast spread of conspiracy theories.

Some have them have done testing of their own to measure the cuvature, and they cant

detect it.

To add more fuel to the fire, one of the most recognizable astrophysicists in the world,

neil degrasse Tyson, failed to prove that the earth wasn't flat in an episode of his

show, startalk.

He said that we have videos of the spherical earth from space, well flat earthers say that

those videos are faked.

He said the greeks knew the earth was round a thousand years before columbus, flat earthers

say that the ancient greeks weren't advanced anough to understand the flat earth theory,

Sink ships beneath the horizon?

Yeah, optical illusion.

The flat earth conspiracy theory is special, in that it resists all attempts to disprove

it.

If you happen to find an inconsistency in the theory, a flat earther will find a way

to disprove your inconsistency.

But theres definitely a deeper reason as to why people believe in a flat earth, and that

has a lot to do with psychology.

According to Karen Douglas, a psychologist at the University of Kent that studies the

psychology of conspiracy theories.

All conspiracy theories share a basic thrust, they present an alternative theory about an

important issue r event, and construct a vague explanation for why someone is covering up

that true version of events.

The power in the conspiracy lies in the fact that they are vague, and that they give people

a sense of security, control and comfort that they don't otherwise have.

They gather in forums, online communities and at conventions to talk about their beliefs,

and the flat earth society gives them a sense of community.

When it comes to science, we have seen that the current understandings of the day can

be rejected as time goes on.

For example, it was the norm to believe that the earth was the center of our solar system,

not the sun, but as science progressed, we found out that the earth, in fact, orbits

the sun.

Copernicus declared it in 1543 as part of his radical theory of the universe.

It wasn't accepted at the time, in fact, Italian scientist Giordano Bruno was burned

at the stake for teaching copernicus' heliocentric view of the universe.

The logic here is, if we were wrong about that, maybe we could be wrong about the shape

of our earth.

But what many people don't realize, is that many flat earthers say the earth is flat,

but don't actually believe it.

As in, its just one huge joke, or a way to get attention.

In case you need a reminder, the earth isn't flat.

Physics dictates that all planets, and exoplanets are spherical.

Celestial bodies that have substantial mass are moulded into a sphere due to gravity,

which pulls objects toward the gravitational center of mass.

Now that that's settled, i'm going to wrap up this video with some comment replies.

Cleveland San – what if the earth was flat.

We have actually already answered this question!

Great minds think alike.

Muhammed Ovais Alam –What if there was no internet for like a day.

That is a good question but I feel like a day is not that long and most people would

probably survive.

Mahmoud Albriki – you eggagerate little.

Who us?

Never.

Pugnoris – can you be my science teacher?

I mean, im kind of already your science teacher aren't i?

Lets be honest, you don't pay attention in class.

Aser Anderson - u guys are doing well.

We are aren't we.

I'm gonna pat myself on the back.