off the edge Not exactly a book about conspiracy theories. It gets there, but it’s really a book about the history of the Flat Earth movement as a sort of unique conspiracy theory, in fact it’s his second such book.Written by Christine Garwood Flat Earth: A History of Infamous Ideas But it’s a whole other world right now when it comes to conspiracy theories, so Kelly Weil thought an update was needed.
Weill targets extremism, disinformation, and the internet. of Daily Beastis a website with the tagline ‘The world’s news smarter and faster’. (A former editor-in-chief described it as a “high-end tabloid.”) Like the site, the book is well-researched and, if jarring, a quick and enjoyable read.
conspiracy trigger
Wile started off the edge That’s when she noticed the recurring Flat Earth faction in far-right chat groups and websites she covered. She said she thought she was joking at first. To find out, she entered their world. The book is in first person, with Weil frequently recounting her misfortunes, meeting flat-earthmen and attending their meetings.
The underlying premise behind conspiracy theories is that “they” are hiding the truth for dubious and nefarious purposes. But you are so insightful, smart, special, and have access to privileged information that allows you to see things as they really are. “They” are the government, Russia, China, aliens, Democrats, Republicans, CIA, FBI, Big Ag, Big Pharma, Big Tech, and/or apparently often Jews There is a possibility. (Jewish flat-earthmen are not easy.) These entities have indeed hidden the truth from time to time, making it very difficult to argue with conspiracy theorists.
Its charm is not difficult to see. It’s especially appealing when people already feel alienated. For example, everything seems to be spinning out of control, as people tend to do in times of high economic inequality and rapid technological innovation. They go in search of a scapegoat to take responsibility for their problems and/or a small close-knit community of like-minded people who welcome and accept them.
Contrary to what many Americans are taught in elementary school, Christopher Columbus did not prove that the earth was round. Pythagoras discovered it around 500 BC. The flat earth theory, now revived in popularity, originated in England with Dickens and Darwin in his mid-nineteenth century. But it remained marginal until social media, President Trump, and the COVID vortex brought it to the fore.
In the 1850s, England was industrializing at breakneck speed, and workers feared that new machinery would put them out of work. Newspapers were born to disseminate interesting new ideas, like fellow Cambridgeshire man Lowbotham, who claimed that the earth was flat. All the media attention, even when newspapers were mockingly covering it (as they usually were), only attracted more converts to the cause. I still do.
Plane geologists differ on certain details of their theories, such as whether outer space and gravity exist or whether the icy expanse they postulate that surrounds a flat Earth is infinite. For a group of alleged skeptics, they are surprisingly gullible and wave their hands when it comes to details.
