During one of my daily browsings of the Interweb, I came across an article on the BBC Web site about flat-earthers.
As the name applies, flat-earthers are people who believe that the planet we reside on is a flat disk centered at the North Pole and bounded along its southern edge by a wall of ice. It is not, however, like Terry Pratchett's Discworld, which rests on the backs of four giant pachyderms that also rest on the back of an enormous turtle, because that would be ludicrous.
The article's topic wasn't new to me. Years before, I read about The Flat Earth Society when I stumbled upon their Web site. I thought it was one of the many Internet hoaxes floating about in cyberspace, but as I continued to read their mission statement, it slowly dawned that they were dead serious about the notion of a flat earth. They even have their own evidence to back up their claims.
But Wayne, ye benevolent sage, you might ask, haven't these people seen a picture of the earth from space? Doesn't that piece of evidence wave its finger at the flat-earthers' theories? Well, gentle reader, flat-earthers counter that the image is fake - that it is a worldwide conspiracy perpetuated by space agencies and the government. Imagine that - space agencies and the government are the equivalent of a Cartesian demon, which have managed to hoodwink us that the earth is flat all along. Must've taken a lot of planning.
To be fair, the idea of a flat earth was one of the many prevalent notions (along with other common antiquated ideas, like how southpaws are morons or that hair continues to grow even after you're dead) in pre-medieval times. No. Actually, that's just a fallacy.
See, it's a historic misnomer that many believed the world was flat until Christopher Columbus proved the theory wrong when he sailed to other continents without falling off the edge.
According to Christine Garwood's book "Flat Earth," people have known since at least the fourth century B.C. that the earth is round, and the pseudo-scientific conviction that we actually live on a disc didn't emerge until Victorian times."
In other words, the flat earth theory is a relatively modern phenomenon.
Even in the face of scientific proof about our planet's roundness, there are still many who still cling to their flat-earth viewpoint. But get this: Even with their belief, many of the flat-earthers lead normal lives. You may think these flat-earthers are a bunch of cavemen still shuddering at the shadows on the wall, but they could be any of the scholars, athletes or outstanding members of society walking among us, only they believe the earth is flat.
We could make fun of them endlessly, call them names and talk about them behind their backs, but you've got to admire the flat-earthers for their convictions.
Flat-earthers suffer from denialism, sure, but I say let them be. In fact, let people believe what they want. As long as no one gets hurt or is doing the hurting - deists or atheists, Democrats or Republicans, PC users or Mac users - they're OK in my book.
Except Scientologists. Because that's just stupid.
Cheong is a screenwriting graduate student.
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