We’ve known since around the 3rdcentury BC that the planet on which we live is a sphere. But for just as long, and despite an abundance of photos of the globe seen from space, one baffling theory has refused to admit defeat: the idea that the Earth is flat.In order to makeBehind the Curve, a documentary now available on Netflix, director Daniel J Clark and his team embedded themselves in the Flat Earth community in an attempt to provide a well-rounded picture of a fringe group which used to being mocked.If the film has a star, it is the indomitable Mark Sargent, a vehement flat Earther who seems to sincerely believe that the movement is “winning against science”. Though at first Sargent may seem like a lone wolf, we are quickly introduced to a host of like-minded people who feel the exact same way.A pseudoscientific worldview based on the principle that the government is lying to us, Flat Earth theory provides a home fora spectrum of ideas, including that the Earth is thousands of years old, that we live on a Hollywood sound stage, and that vaccinations are a conspiracy.Despite including some of the more crackpot soundbites – “You know they made up dinosaurs?” – seemingly for comic effect, Clark is clear that the intent of the film is not to mock the believers themselves. The scientists and psychologists featured in the documentary take the time to explain the phenomena involved, and point out that simply telling people they are wrong often entrenches their ideas. We had a chat with Daniel about what he learned during the making of the film, and how it is has been received.Do you think films like this ever change people’s minds?I absolutely hope so. We talked to a science communicator called Asheley Landrum; there was some question whether making this movie was only further spreading the word of Flat Earth. She said more so what it does is inoculate people from believing this. So, while this film’s not necessarily gonna change flat Earthers’ minds – which we never really thought it would – it can hopefully allow people to question information that they would otherwise be really ready to accept.Has the film made you reflect more on the way in which you come to accept certain truths?Oh, absolutely. That’s one of the things that it really brought out – how do I know what I know? And why do I think I’m right? Even with Flat Earth, when we started I made sure I really looked for evidence that proved the Earth was flat. It definitely has brought me to question a lot of my initial beliefs, and whether I confirm them or change them.Did you hear any explanations as towhypeople would ever pretend the Earth was round?There are a couple of different explanations. One of them is a religious angle, which says the existence of a globe Earth doesn’t need God; but the existence of a dome [one of the Flat Earth theories] needs some sort of creator. So they believe the ‘government’ is hiding the dome or the flat Earth because that proves God’s existence, and they don’t want to give up their control to religion.And then there’s the other theory, which is that there are actually continents outside of our Antarctica that are full of the elites and the rich and the powerful, and they want to keep that a secret, so no one’s allowed to go into space because they don’t want people to go to the other continents. This explains why liberals are worried about climate change – because that will melt the ice wall and then the continents will be accessible to everyone.
https://docsbay.net/flat-earth-inside-the-world-s-biggest-conspiracy-theory