When the Earth Stood Still: Why Some People Still Cling to Flat Earth Beliefs—and What Changes Their Minds
by Chris McCusker, Ph.D.
The Price of Looking Up
"Galileo's head was on the block. His crime was looking up the truth."
— Indigo Girls, "Galileo"
Galileo Galilei stood trial in 1633 not for violence, treason, or theft—but for believing the Earth moves. He had looked through a telescope and dared to trust what he saw. Moons orbiting Jupiter. Venus waxing and waning. A sunspot’s slow journey across the solar disc. The Earth, he realized, was not the center of everything. For this, the Church placed him under house arrest for the remainder of his life. And yet, he refused to surrender truth: "E pur si muove"—"And yet it moves," he is said to have whispered.
Almost 400 years later, a new movement has emerged: not to challenge old orthodoxy, but to reject hard-won scientific consensus. In hotels and online forums, on YouTube and TikTok, people gather to insist: the Earth is flat. Not metaphorically, but literally. Their movement offers a fascinating window into human psychology, into why people believe what they believe—and how, sometimes, they change their minds.
The Flat Earth Mindset: Certainty Against Consensus
Mark Sargent, a leading voice in the movement, declared at a Flat Earth International Conference: “Everybody here can agree on absolutely one thing, which is [Earth] is not a globe.” His statement was met with applause. To outsiders, it seems absurd. To insiders, it’s a kind of liberation: a dramatic re-framing of reality that places the believer at the center. As Sargent put it, "All I did was walk up to a door, point at it, and say, ‘You know what? I think there are some really interesting things on the other side of this.’” (Sargent, 2018).
Flat Earth belief is built on a cluster of features: direct observation, cherry-picked data, deep distrust of authority, and group identity.
The reasoning often begins with direct perception. The Earth looks flat. You feel still. You see the sun and moon moving across the sky. Why believe otherwise?
Then comes cherry-picked data. A classic one for Flat Earthers is the visibility of the Chicago skyline across Lake Michigan on clear days, which believers argue contradicts Earth’s curvature. This creates a kind of intuitive contradiction that invites deeper inquiry. But this is often not through science but through what we social psychologists call "social proof." Others’ beliefs are taken as evidence of reality.
Group identity intensifies and insulates belief. Within Flat Earth communities, shared language, experiences, and a sense of persecution create a strong social glue. The belief becomes a badge of belonging. It is not simply about what they think. It becomes about who they are…and who they are not.
Finally, the most psychologically potent ingredient: distrust of authority. NASA’s imagery is dismissed as fake. As Skiba put it: "As soon as you start looking into the pictures of the globe, you start seeing words like ‘composite’ or ‘animation’… something that tells you this is not an actual photograph of the Earth” (Netflix, 2018).
These beliefs align with what psychologist Pat Laughlin distinguished as judgmental beliefs—beliefs not easily proven or disproven through direct experience, and often sustained by emotion and identity rather than empirical logic. In the Flat Earth mindset, judgmental beliefs morph into something deeper: what I refer to as matters of faith. That is, belief in Flat Earth becomes a proxy for belief in a religious orientation or God.
I also analyze a fourth category: identity beliefs. These are beliefs adopted primarily because they connect the individual to a group or reinforce a personal identity. Once belief becomes entwined with identity, persuasion becomes far more difficult. This is because abandoning the belief feels like self-erasure.
Even intellective beliefs—the ones with demonstrably correct answers—exist in fact patterns that are evolving, incomplete, and equivocal.
Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance (Festinger, Riecken, & Schachter, 1956) illuminates how this system self-reinforces. When contrary evidence arises, the believer may experience psychological discomfort. However, instead of relinquishing the belief, they rationalize it to reduce internal conflict. These rationalizations—sometimes they can be quite elaborate—are strengthened when shared among a community. Laughlin’s research on collective induction (Laughlin & Ellis, 1986) shows how groups working together often generate explanations that members find persuasive—even if those explanations are objectively false. In these social systems, faulty reasoning can be socially reinforced and iteratively elaborated upon until it becomes deeply embedded.
As Robert Cialdini (2009) explained, social proof is the psychological mechanism by which people look to the behavior of others to determine what to believe or how to act. This tendency becomes especially powerful in situations of uncertainty. Within Flat Earth circles, believers derive confidence from the perceived consensus of their community. The shared conviction acts as reinforcement. Solomon Asch’s conformity experiments further demonstrated that people will conform to group opinion even when it contradicts obvious facts—especially when the group is cohesive and the individual feels uncertain (Asch, 1955).
Ancient Skies and Changing Worlds: Ptolemy to Copernicus to Galileo
To understand how such a belief can flourish today, we must remember that the Earth being round and moving was itself once a heresy.
In the second century, Claudius Ptolemy formalized the geocentric model in his astronomical treatise Almagest (Ptolemy, ca. 150 C.E./1998). The Earth, he argued, sits at the universe’s center. The sun, moon, and stars rotate around it. His model worked mathematically—if you accepted convoluted epicycles. It dominated Western thinking for over a thousand years because it seemed to explain the world.
Nicolaus Copernicus, in the 16th century, proposed that the sun—not the Earth—was at the center. He delayed publication of De revolutionibus orbium coelestium for years, writing: "The novelty and absurdity of this opinion nearly made me abandon it altogether" (Galilei, 1989). Yet publish he did.
Galileo then confirmed Copernican theory through observation. Jupiter’s moons. Venus’s phases. Craters on the moon. But many refused to look. Literally. "To observe through those glasses gives me a headache," said Cesare Cremonini (Galilei, 1989). The Church condemned heliocentrism as “formally heretical” (Library of Social Science, 2016). Galileo was forced to recant. He died under house arrest.
It wasn’t until 1992 that the Catholic Church formally apologized for its treatment of Galileo, acknowledging he was right after all.
When Belief Bends: How People Change Their Minds
Festinger (1956) showed that people often cling to false beliefs even when predictions, based on those beliefs, fail. But change can happen. Based on a review of contemporary Flat Earth deconversion stories, I identify a three-stage model:
Cracks — Something shakes the belief. A personal conversation, an experiment gone awry. A seed of doubt is planted. Something is unexplainable.
Crisis — Doubt grows. The believer wrestles with identity and meaning. Simple slogans and simple conclusions are starting to be questioned. What motivates the effort to dig deeper is a great question.
Conversion — A new belief emerges. There is mourning though. And feelings are relief are possible because the tension of beliefs in crisis is lessened.
In Behind the Curve (Netflix, 2018), Bob Knodel performs a gyroscope test expecting to find no rotation. Instead, he detects a 15-degree-per-hour drift—evidence of Earth’s rotation. "That's kind of a problem," he admits. But instead of converting, he questions the equipment. This is the cracks phase, not yet crisis.
Others make it through. On Reddit, former believers share stories:
"I used to be a hardcore Flat Earther. What changed my mind was talking to a physicist friend who didn’t insult me. He just kept asking questions. Eventually, I couldn’t explain everything away."
Another described a failed home experiment:
"I believed the Earth was flat for two years. Then I tried to build a model. The math didn’t work. That’s when I knew I was defending something I couldn’t prove."
These stories show that respectful dialogue, experimentation, and personal inquiry are key. The dissonance must be strong enough to provoke change but safe enough that the person doesn’t shut down. The type of belief matters. Intellective beliefs (those open to reason and evidence) are more easily swayed than judgmental, faith-based, or identity beliefs (cf. Laughlin & Ellis, 1986).
Identity and the Insidious Power of Belonging
As Michael Morris notes in his book Tribal, belief is not just cognitive. Rather, it is relational, emotional, and deeply social. People belong to beliefs as much as they hold them. The famous “Robbers Cave” experiments, led by Muzafer Sherif, revealed how quickly arbitrary group distinctions can produce deep identity and rivalry. Once a belief is tied to group membership, challenging it feels like betrayal. That’s what makes identity-based belief systems so durable and so difficult to disrupt.
Flat Earth is often not just a belief, but a badge. Deconversion stories often include a period of mourning—not just of an idea, but of a community. The loss is real.
Practical Advice for Engaging False Beliefs Today
Here is some practical advice I can offer about engaging false beliefs held by others. It is based on this study of Flat Earth beliefs and some social psychology.
First, there must be a commitment to humility before engaging others’ false beliefs. No matter who you are, and what you might believe, you could be wrong. Your job is to elevate others and to be open to their influence. Arrogantly assuming that you have corned the market on truth is easily sniffed out and closes down the process. Dare to be courageous enough to listen and be open to the possibility that your beliefs might change. Without humility, and openness, one should not attempt to engage others false beliefs.
To engage false beliefs effectively, we must also identify what type of belief we’re dealing with:
Intellective beliefs can be addressed through evidence, data, and reason. Offer clear, replicable demonstrations. Help people discover contradictions themselves. Share your curiosity and enthusiasm for learning about their existing beliefs.
Judgmental beliefs require social context. Ask what values underlie the belief. Understand which experiences have shaped their tastes and judgments. Listen. Accept and do not judge their moral lens. Show respectful alternative judgments from within their moral frame.
Matters of faith must be approached with extreme reverence and care. Faith is something intuitive and felt. Don't try to disprove or argue. Instead, explore compatibility with broader truths. Think about values and priorities that are cultivated within the faith.
Identity beliefs demand compassion and creativity. Offer new communities. Create safe spaces to question. Acknowledge what will be lost and what could be gained.
In all cases, use principles of collective induction: bring people together in respectful dialogue, guided discovery, and shared investigation. Social reinforcement can work in service of truth, not just delusion.
In the information age—and with AI capable of generating and disseminating persuasive misinformation—false beliefs can spread faster and deeper than ever. But if we engage with open hearts, grounded in love and truth, we stand a chance.
Open Hearts and the Journey to Truth
At the core of the Open Hearts Leadership approach is a deep commitment to truth without cruelty, and love without delusion. That ethos must guide us as we engage false beliefs. Open Hearts Leadership does not engage with condescension or ridicule, but with dignity. When people hold false beliefs, especially ones tied to identity or faith, confrontation can backfire. The goal is not to win an argument, but to serve as a guide—to open a door and walk through together. To offer emotional support.
We must listen generously, question patiently, and walk beside those who are doubting. That moment of doubt is sacred. The crack is not a failure—it is the beginning of truth.
Galileo paid a price for trusting his eyes. Today, some ignore his legacy by refusing to see. But others, in moments of doubt, crack open the door. As Copernicus wrote, "the more absurd most men now thought this theory… the more admiration and gratitude it would command” once proven true.
The truth still shines. Our job is to help people see it.
References (APA Style)
Asch, S. E. (1955). Opinions and social pressure. Scientific American, 193(5), 31–35.
Cialdini, R. B. (2009). Influence: Science and practice (5th ed.). Pearson Education.
Festinger, L., Riecken, H. W., & Schachter, S. (1956). When prophecy fails. University of Minnesota Press.
Galilei, G. (1610/1989). Sidereus Nuncius (The Starry Messenger). University of Chicago Press.
Heliocentrism formally declared heretical: Galileo and Truth. (2016). Library of Social Science. Retrieved from https://www.libraryofsocialscience.com/newsletter/posts/2016/2016-05-12-Galileo.html
Indigo Girls. (1992). Galileo [Song]. On Rites of Passage. Epic Records.
Laughlin, P. R., & Ellis, A. L. (1986). Demonstrability and social combination processes on mathematical intellective tasks. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 22(3), 177–189.
Morris, M. W. (2024). Tribal: How the Cultural Instincts That Divide Us Can Help Bring Us Together. Penguin: Random House.
Netflix. (2018). Behind the Curve [Film]. Delta-V Productions.
Ptolemy, C. (ca. 150 C.E./1998). The Almagest (G. J. Toomer, Trans.). Princeton University Press.
Sargent, M. (2018). [Comments at Flat Earth International Conference]. ABC News. Retrieved from https://abcnews.go.com/US/inside-flat-earth-international-conference-believes-earth-round/story?id=52580041