The Earth is Flat

No, I haven't been in the sauce.  There is an actual movement in the United States promoting this.  They are called Flat Earthers.  While we were sheltering in place, we watched a lot of great documentaries on Netflix.  This documentary is another one that I would recommend highly that you watch with school aged children.

It was fascinating.  The Flat Earthers base their assertions on "science".  They show complex equations to back up their assertions.  It is why I wish we would stop using "science" in any discussions about Covid19.  I wish we would replace it with "best practices".  I think people would accept "best practices" more readily than "science".  Anyway, that is just me.

Back to the Flat Earthers,  this is a small but very serious movement.  They have web sites, they give lectures, they have an online store, and they have conventions.  Their aim is to grow.

So many ethical issues to discuss.  One of the central notions is that people search for evidence to confirm their hypotheses rather to refute it.  This explains it great deal about human nature.  This explains why you can watch something like political debates on tv, and then when you hear two different analysis, and neither match what you have seen with your own eyes.

The documentary basically follows their "leader" around the country as he participates in debates, writes articles, prepares for the national convention, etc.  It is fascinating.  Until it gets sad.

When he is on the road, he is alone.  When he is being interviewed at home, he is with his very supportive mother whom he lives with.  His mother is very supportive of everything he does but when she is asked if she believes that the Earth is flat, she admits that she hasn't been swayed by her son's life's work.  The son is visibly dejected and hurt.  He can't even convince his own mother.  \

But like I said, he has been able to convince many and there is definitely a movement.  However, it ends at their national convention which attracts hundreds rather than thousands. It is a little sad. By the end of the documentary, when you see how people are devoting their life to this movement, you are actually cheering for them.  But, you don't know what to cheer for.  You don't want them to attract more mainstream attention because you don't want them to be the object of humour and mocking. 

While they are hosting their convention, there is a bar across town that is hosting an "open mic for scientists".  It is an opportunity for scientists to present papers, talk about experiments they are conducting, seeking feedback on issues that they are stumbling on, etc.  A scientist gets up and references the "flat earthers".  The crowd laughs and he tells them not to laugh.  He notes that people are not studying the sciences as much as they have in the past.  We need more scientists rather than less.  The "flatearthers" have intellectual curiousity which is the foundation of science.  He suggested instead of dismissing them, scientists should embrace them and decide to do research together; to discover things together.  It was powerful. 

People can have differences of opinion and still embrace each other as people.  I think we should extrapolate this concept into people who have differing political opinions.  Shouldn't we be excited that people are excited about politics?  Instead of arguing, perhaps we should all be listening more. 

We are encouraged to learn one thing every day.  That is hard to do if we only interact with people that we agree with.  Go forth. Get comfortable with having uncomfortable conversations.