Conspiracy about the flat earth conspiracy - Thread bans in OP

I explain why I believe it's not possible in my post.

Weird to drag this up after 3 years...

Watched this. They are nuts. Also it showed that these people believe in loads of other conspiracy theories. It’s rare that conspiracy theorists believe in just the one

There's also a Youtuber, "Professor Dave explains" (a chemistry professor) who tackles them by refuting all their claims. They do not like the guy and produce lengthy counter-videos. It's entertaining stuff.

I don't think Biblical fundamentalism or literalism has had much to do with flat earth theories. However Galileo did get in a spot of bother over the idea that the earth orbits the sun, rather than the other way around. But before Galileo, Copernicus (a Catholic priest, BTW) did not have too much trouble for somewhat similar views. I think Galileo's problem was to propose his views in a rather dogmatic fashion, rather than a hypothesis to be assessed (which is rather ironic, coming from his prosecutors).

There is money to be made in the flat Earth society by the top guys - sell the merchandise etc..

I doubt they actually believe it

There are a hardcore of flat earthers who are becoming so confident in their theory that they're talking about doing experiments that will empirically prove them correct. I think it was prominent flat-earther Mark Sargent who was talking about getting a team together to go find the giant ice wall at the edge of the flat earth which is held by current scientific consensus to really be the polar regions of the round earth.

At the end of the documentary, Behind the Curve, in which Sargent features, they actually do an experiment to try and prove their theory which consists of shooting a beam of light through a hole in two separate staffs, each standing a few miles apart. If their theory holds, the beam of light should be directly observable through the hole of the staff on the far end, proving the earth is flat and not curved. I don't think it's a huge spoiler to say the experiment proves problematic in getting the finding they wish to achieve, leading to great perplexity among the team.

The other experiment involved using a laser gyroscope to disprove the rotation of the earth,

Going back to Sargent, he's a good example of someone who has so much invested in the theory that it would be extremely difficult to walk away. The theory has given him notoriety and respect and employment, albeit within a small fringe community, and even a potential love interest with a woman also heavily involved in the movement.

But for people who are merely followers, I think it's really just a case of mental illness and/or a need to challenge the accepted realities about the world in which we live.

No need, Professor Des Walsh has already done this. He's got this covered and has brought back undeniable proof of flat earth, but is not allowed to share the information.

https://www.todayfm.com/podcasts/today-fm/irish-scientist-set-to-prove-that-the-earth-is-flat

I watched Beneath the Curve over the weekend. It was equally hilarious (trying to faff off why their experiments proved the earth was a globe) and depressing at the same time (12 year old at the conference). Ultimately the conclusion I came to was that it was all about making money. The people pushing it in the states sell every kind of memorabilia, and non-refundable conference tickets. So the conspiracy is by those in positions of influence to garnish more and more money from foolish people who believe their lies.

I don't suppose you happen to know where one could find that evidence?

They are just the modern versions of those evangelists who said to their followers that God says they should pay for his new private jet, and they did.

There will always be thick people out there. There will always be easily led people out there. And social media has given a lot of nuts a platform to peddle their beliefs, whether they believe in them or not.

eg David Icke, all that "the royal family are lizards" crap. I have no doubt he doesn't believe that, but that and all the other nonsense he has said over the years has made him a very rich man.

Of course. Do you believe Earth is not a globe? If so, what do you believe exactly? That it's flat/disc?