# Flat Earth Theory Flat Earth Theory is the online-driven claim that the planet is a flat disc rather than a sphere, revived by a 2004 web forum and pushed into mainstream culture by celebrity converts and the 2019 Netflix documentary Behind the Curve. ## Overview Flat Earth Theory is the belief that the planet is a flat disc rather than a sphere, kept alive by a small but loud subculture of online forums, YouTubers and celebrity converts[1]. Adherents typically argue that space photography is faked, that Antarctica is a giant ice wall ringing the disc, and that the sun and moon rotate above our heads inside a dome[1]. The modern scene sits somewhere between sincere conspiracy belief and internet trolling, with Facebook groups, Twitter accounts and YouTube channels pulling in tens of thousands of followers[3]. Psychologists writing about the movement describe it as a symptom of wider distrust in institutions and the way the web gives safe harbor to fringe ideas[2]. ## How It Spread The society was revived in 2004 by Daniel Shenton, no relation to Samuel, who launched a web forum that by early 2016 counted over 8,200 members and 1.4 million posts[3]. Independent flat earth YouTubers built parallel audiences through the 2010s, with one popular explainer video passing four million views[4]. On January 25th, 2016, Atlanta rapper B.o.B. tweeted that Polaris was visible 20° south of the equator; astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson replied that Polaris disappears by 1.5°S, prompting B.o.B. to drop the Tyson diss track "Flatline" on SoundCloud that same day[1]. Weeks later, NBA star Kyrie Irving said on the Road Trippin podcast on February 16th, 2016 that he believed the Earth is flat, and Jiu-Jitsu coach Eddie Bravo repeated similar claims on The Joe Rogan Experience in 2017. The 2019 Netflix release of Behind the Curve turned the community into mainstream entertainment, following YouTubers Mark Sargent, Patricia Steere and Bob Knodel; Newsweek noted that the film's own ending featured a laser test in which flat earthers accidentally proved Earth's curvature[1]. Twitter users then latched onto a scene where Sargent complained a NASA museum exhibit did not work when he had simply missed a large start button. ## How to Use Rather than a template, Flat Earth Theory functions as online shorthand, invoked to mock conspiratorial reasoning or to ironically "prove" absurd claims. Posts often pair a stretched physics diagram with a straight-faced caption, or riff on the ice wall and dome cosmology described in Behind the Curve[1]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Flat Earth Theory? The claim that Earth is a flat disc under a dome rather than a sphere, promoted by online communities and a handful of celebrity converts[1]. ### Where did Flat Earth Theory come from? The modern version started with Samuel Rowbotham's mid-1800s Bedford Level Experiment and was formalized as the Flat Earth Society in 1956, then relaunched online in 2004[3]. ### What does Flat Earth Theory mean? It refers to the belief that Earth is flat, ringed by an Antarctic ice wall, with space imagery treated as fabricated by NASA and other agencies[1]. ### How do you use Flat Earth Theory? Online it's mostly used as shorthand for conspiratorial thinking, or as ironic bait in memes that riff on the dome and ice wall cosmology[2]. ### Is Flat Earth Theory still popular? It picked up notable celebrity converts like B.o.B. and Kyrie Irving through 2016 and 2017 and gained mainstream visibility from the 2019 Netflix documentary Behind the Curve[1]. ## References 1. [https://www.newsweek.com/behind-curve-netflix-ending-light-experiment-mark-sargent-documentary-movie-1343362]() 2. [https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/psych-unseen/201902/behind-the-curve-the-science-fiction-flat-earthers]() 3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/subcultures/flat-earth-theory]() 4. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk4YqPtvJao]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/flat-earth-theory Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library