Flat Earth, Fake News and The Internet’s IQ Crisis

 

Fun, yet terrifying, fact: a 2018 study found that 16% of Americans still believe the Earth is flat. Sixteen percent. That’s like one out of every six people you meet potentially thinking we're on a giant Frisbee instead of a round planet governed by gravitational forces. Super comforting. 

Today’s episode of Humans Being Ridiculous featured one of my classmates, Ben, trying to convince the entire physics class that the Earth is flat. Flat. Like a poorly made pancake. And the worst part? Half the class actually considered it for a moment before Mr. Thompson shut it down with a stern, "No, Ben. Gravity doesn't work like that." I mean, I get it—people are free to think what they want. But come on. How hard is it to just Google basic physics? 

That’s the real irony, isn't it? The internet was supposed to make us more knowledgeable, not more stupid. We’ve got the entirety of human knowledge at our fingertips, and somehow people still fall for things like the flat Earth theory or that essential oils cure cancer. You can literally access NASA’s database from the same device where you post dog memes, but sure, Karen, tell me more about how Big Pharma is hiding the cure to everything in your lavender oil. 

It's amazing how people will believe just about anything if it comes with a snazzy YouTube video or a “convincing” TikTok montage. Suddenly, everyone’s an expert. It's like there's this unspoken agreement that logic can be optional if the conspiracy theory is entertaining enough.

Take the moon landing, for instance. I overheard two girls in the cafeteria going on about how it was “totally staged” because “there’s no wind on the moon, but the flag was waving.” Ever heard of inertia? Of course not. Why trust decades of scientific evidence when you can trust a poorly edited documentary with spooky music instead? I bet they think astronauts spent their breaks sipping lattes on a soundstage somewhere. 

Honestly, this gullibility is starting to make me doubt evolution. How did we make it this far? We’ve got people who believe in crystal healing over actual medicine. I swear if one more person tells me I can “manifest my dreams” by “aligning my energy with the universe,” I’m going to start screaming in frequencies only bats can hear. 

“Zoe, it’s about visualizing what you want, and the universe brings it to you,” said Maya with complete sincerity. She even gave me this shiny little rock she said was a “manifestation crystal.” It’s literally a chunk of quartz she bought for ten dollars. TEN DOLLARS for a rock. I tried explaining how the universe operates on laws of physics, not vibes, but she just smiled and said I was being “such a cynic.” 

I should probably mention that I’m currently using the quartz as a paperweight. So, I guess it’s technically serving a purpose? Just not the one Maya had in mind. At least the rock doesn’t believe in manifesting nonsense.

Sometimes I feel like I’m living in some alternate dimension where reason has packed up and left for an extended vacation, leaving people to drift in a sea of ignorance. Seriously, people trust their horoscope more than an actual weather forecast. The same people who struggle to solve basic algebra think they’ve unlocked the secrets of the universe with a chart of where the planets were when they were born.

The worst part is, I want to have hope in humanity. I really do. But it’s hard when people treat pseudoscience like it's gospel and actual science like it’s some sort of optional hobby. I mean, we live in a world where people will trust their Facebook feed over, I don’t know, centuries of research.

Anyway, I should probably get back to my homework before Dad comes in and starts his “You know, Zoe, quantum mechanics can explain how people are both smart and dumb at the same time” speech. I swear, he thinks quantum theory explains everything. I bet he’d try to use it to justify why people think the Earth is flat. Because, sure, maybe in some parallel universe, it is. But here? No. Gravity has the final say. 

It’s like what Charles Bukowski once said: “The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence.” He probably wrote that while scrolling through conspiracy theory forums. Because if you think about it, the internet seems to fuel this exact phenomenon. Take this: fake news spreads six times faster than real news on Twitter, according to MIT. So if someone posts “gravity doesn’t exist,” that will probably go viral before NASA can even tweet a rebuttal. People prefer the excitement of being wrong over the boring stability of facts.

And don’t even get me started on the anti-vaccine movement. A recent study found that misinformation on social media contributed to a 79% increase in vaccine hesitancy in certain areas. We’re literally reversing medical progress because Karen from Facebook thinks she knows more than epidemiologists. 

It’s like what Charles Bukowski once said: “The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence.” He probably wrote that while scrolling through conspiracy theory forums. Because if you think about it, the internet seems to fuel this exact phenomenon. Take this: fake news spreads six times faster than real news on Twitter, according to MIT. So if someone posts “gravity doesn’t exist,” that will probably go viral before NASA can even tweet a rebuttal. People prefer the excitement of being wrong over the boring stability of facts.

And don’t even get me started on the anti-vaccine movement. A recent study found that misinformation on social media contributed to a 79% increase in vaccine hesitancy in certain areas. We’re literally reversing medical progress because Karen from Facebook thinks she knows more than epidemiologists. 

The internet was supposed to make us more knowledgeable, not more stupid. Instead of advancing humanity, we’ve got people manifesting their dreams with rocks and questioning the existence of gravity. At this rate, the next scientific breakthrough might just be someone convincing the world that clouds are government surveillance drones. And honestly? I wouldn’t even be surprised.

– Zoe