They think the Earth is flat. Their looney beliefs are more dangerous to society than they seem. A few years ago, an idea started catching on that was exclusively perpetuated by social media algorithms on platforms like YouTube and Facebook. The idea was not a new one - in fact it was 100s of years old. It was the idea that our world is, in fact, not round but flat. More specifically, it's a flat disk covered by an impenetrable dome that was built by some kind of ancient celestial being that is keeping us encased in our dome prison. Throughout the years, this belief has gained a surprising amount of popularity. So what? It's just some looney conspiracy theory. However, in the age of social media, when fringe lunacy can create movements with real-world consequences, and we're pushed further and further away from a collectively agreed-upon objective truth, this movement is much more insidious than you might assume. On this episode of Deep Cuts, we dive into the Flat Earth Movement.

Additional incidental music credits:

The Deadboy Detectives

D.Catalano https://wekeepoddhours.bandcamp.com

Additional Materials:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-839X.00030

https://hbr.org/2017/01/the-neuroscience-of-trust

https://www.popsci.com/article/science/strong-link-established-between-trust-and-intelligence/

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140316133840.htm

https://steemit.com/science/@kerriknox/this-is-the-single-best-proof-flat-earthers-have-and-it-still-proves-the-earth-is-a-sphere

https://youtu.be/RK93TfSYeQU

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