why do flat earthers think the earth is flat

They also underline that students remain vulnerable to pseudoscientific beliefs and are usually unaware of the commercial intentions on it. ( 2020) indicated that pseudoscience might be related to the lack of critical thinking and knowledge on the Nature of Science (NOS) (see also, Afonso & Gilbert, 2010). Additionally, Darner ( 2019) argues that science denial has been moving from the social periphery to the center and became a “barrier to educating a science-informed citizenry.” (p. The students’ initial misconception or beliefs get even stronger as a backfire effect. As Fackler ( 2021) conjectures, fact confrontation and correction methods might not be enough to impact students’ beliefs. Science teachers might occasionally face science denial in classrooms.

We conclude that in a time where there is a growing consensus that science is under attack, the ways in which its defenders are trying to stand up to it may be causing some harm. Moreover, the Esperantist-Epideictic genre of discourse can be an analytical tool for framing the echo chamber in social media while defending or attacking the Flat Earth movement. Our findings indicate that some conceptions of validation of knowledge, scientific method, science bias, reality, and truth compound a distinct part in the current conversations about the Flat Earth movement.

We use data from three sources: transcriptions from seminars held at that 1st FlatCon Brazil, most viewed videos on YouTube where affirmationists talk about Flat Earth, and semi-structured exploratory interviews conducted at FlatCon. We thus, show that the Esperantist-Epideictic genre helps to understand the process of maintaining a cohesive group whose beliefs about the Flat Earth appear in social media.

The discursive hermeticity appears in the Esperantist content and the Epideictic form by avoiding the dialogical situations where there is no epistemological and axiological dispute. The discursive activity points to science as neutral, free, and independent of social influences captivating those already in this discursive sphere. It also enables us to depict the process by which to maintain cohesion on a group’s values. This genre of discourse might bring together characteristics that we understand as constituents of the public discourse on science. The paper reflects on public discourses about science and pseudoscience, proposing the same discursive structure for both-the Esperantist-Epideictic genre.

Why do flat earthers think the earth is flat