why believe in a flat earth?

those who distrust received wisdom are following the traditions of the enlightenment, says
psychologist Rob Brotherton

Profile Rob Brotherton is a psychologist at Barnard College in new York City who specialises in the
psychology of conspiracy theories. His book Suspicious Minds: Why we believe conspiracy theories
(Bloomsbury Sigma) is out now

last week the rapper B.o.B claimed that the Earth is flat. Are you surprised that this idea is still
being touted in the 21st century? i was surprised and delighted: I love hip hop and conspiracy
theories, and this combines both. the psychology that underlies this kind of thinking is fascinating,
but i never thought flat earth theory would get much attention.

It seems a surprising idea to get behind, when the evidence from space photos and other things
seems incontrovertible... the belief that earth isn’t spherical is one of those things that, at first
glance, is easy to write off. But when you look closer, it entails complex arguments about how
gravity exists if earth is a flat disc, and how there must be a conspiracy by nASA or other
authorities to hide the fact that earth is flat.

What leads people to believe in conspiracies?

it is reasonable to think that conspiracies occur, because sometimes they do. Belief in conspiracy
theories shouldn’t be seen as a strange quirk that few people have. Surveys show that many
people in the uS believe that there was some kind of conspiracy behind the 9/11 attacks, or at
least that the uS government is not telling the whole story. Our brains also have cognitive biases
that make us prone to seeing conspiracies, real or imagined.

What cognitive biases lead to a belief in conspiracy theories?

when something big happens we tend to assume that something big must have caused it. this is
the proportionality bias. then there’s intentionality bias, which means that when something
ambiguous happens, we assume that it was intended. when malaysia Airlines flight mH370
disappeared – a very ambiguous event as no one knows what happened – we assume that
someone planned it this way. Our personality type also affects whether we believe in things like
the flat earth theory.

How does personality affect our beliefs?

People who believe conspiracy theories tend to distrust received wisdom and the things that
people in authority tell us. And our built-in confirmation bias means we look for evidence that
supports our beliefs. All of us do this. we also suffer from the “illusion of understanding”, a
tendency to overestimate our knowledge of how things work. this could lead flat-earthers to think
that nASA is misrepresenting evidence.

So you think we should have more empathy for conspiracy theorists and flat-Earthers?

All of our beliefs are more weird than we would like to think. Conspiracy theories are seen as
contrary to the enlightenment, to scientific values. But the enlightenment was all about not
trusting received wisdom, and thinking for yourself. it made sense to reject the religious doctrine
that prevailed at the time, to distrust what you were told. it is inherently rational to question
received wisdom, even if you disagree with the conclusion that some people reach.