Flat Earth

Flat Earth is an archaic and scientifically disproven conception of the <a href="/facts/Figure_of_the_Earth/z1LvpVgd">Earth's shape</a> as a <a href="/facts/Plane_(geometry)/tAUtRFcn">plane</a> or <a href="/facts/Disk_(mathematics)/DgMVr97H">disk</a>. Many ancient cultures, notably in the <a href="/facts/Cosmology_in_the_ancient_Near_East/M06uRQ30">ancient Near East</a>, subscribed to a flat-Earth <a href="/facts/Cosmography/FNI8UTrS">cosmography</a>. The model has undergone a <a href="/facts/Modern_flat_Earth_beliefs/TRRfHM2V">recent resurgence</a> as a <a href="/facts/Conspiracy_theory/sNr2Kmh8">conspiracy theory</a> in the 21st century.
The idea of a <a href="/facts/Spherical_Earth/YEpM38jY">spherical Earth</a> appeared in <a href="/facts/Ancient_Greek_philosophy/LWEkp8JX">ancient Greek philosophy</a> with <a href="/facts/Pythagoras/8oe8UgCj">Pythagoras</a> (6th century BC). However, the <a href="/facts/Early_Greek_cosmology/A2INjK6r">early Greek cosmological</a> view of a flat Earth persisted among most <a href="/facts/Pre-Socratic_philosophy/AMBQt1TU">pre-Socratics</a> (6th–5th century BC). In the early 4th century BC, <a href="/facts/Plato/sPedMo74">Plato</a> wrote about a spherical Earth. By about 330 BC, his former student <a href="/facts/Aristotle/U2bDlBFW">Aristotle</a> had provided strong <a href="/facts/Empirical_evidence/JUaYSGJc">empirical evidence</a> for a spherical Earth. Knowledge of the Earth's global shape gradually began to spread beyond the <a href="/facts/Hellenistic_period/q6BgQsaF">Hellenistic world</a>. By the early period of the Christian Church, the spherical view was widely held, with some notable exceptions. In contrast, ancient Chinese scholars consistently describe the Earth as flat, and this perception remained unchanged until their encounters with <a href="/facts/Jesuit_missionaries/n0PeYBB8">Jesuit missionaries</a> in the 17th century. Muslim scholars in early Islam maintained that the Earth is flat. However, since the 9th century, Muslim scholars have tended to believe in a spherical Earth. 
It is a <a href="/facts/List_of_common_misconceptions/rxSqIHvF">historical myth</a> that medieval Europeans generally thought the Earth was flat. <a href="/facts/Myth_of_the_flat_Earth/4rEpf1YW">This myth</a> was created in the 17th century by <a href="/facts/Protestant/NXja4K3g">Protestants</a> to argue against <a href="/facts/Catholic/rJ4F4gqH">Catholic</a> teachings.

Despite the <a href="/facts/Fact/jkr0IGn8">scientific facts</a> and <a href="/facts/Empirical_evidence_for_the_spherical_shape_of_Earth/1IRsjXnC">obvious effects of Earth's sphericity</a>, <a href="/facts/Pseudoscience/kdNzoLeS">pseudoscientific</a> flat-Earth conspiracy theories persist. Since the 2010s, belief in a flat Earth has increased, both as membership of <a href="/facts/Modern_flat_Earth_societies/TRRfHM2V">modern flat Earth societies</a>, and as unaffiliated individuals using <a href="/facts/Social_media/kUIkfpIA">social media</a>. In a 2018 study reported on by Scientific American, only 82% of 18- to 24-year-old American respondents agreed with the statement "I have always believed the world is round". However, a firm belief in a flat Earth is rare, with less than 2% acceptance in all age groups.

Flat Earth open-in-new

Flat Earth