Since the Big Bang, the animals that humanized the earth raised one main question; what are we living on? Years of research have led us to conclude that the earth is round, but many still question whether the Earth is necessarily a sphere. “Flat Earth” is a phrase that is commonly thrown around as a joke, but as of lately (the last 50 years) the ideas of the flat earth community have heightened and the amount of flat earth supporters has boomed. Dave Murphy is a writer and producer who is known for an interview that he did explaining the claims of the flat earth society. One of his most popular videos on Youtube is, “The Earth Is Flat and You’ve Been Lied To”. The thought that the earth is flat is scientifically proven to be wrong and the claims that he had all have explanations behind them that most flat earthers fail to direct their attention to. 

“[I]f you put a long exposure camera pointing it to the North Star you’ll see the stars will make a perfect circle around perfect star trails.” (03:11)

Murphy goes into how if the earth is a sphere, that the long exposure pictures taken of the stars, that the trails that the stars make should not be perfect circles according to what NASA and other experts believe. To continue with that he thinks that the sun goes around the earth and not the earth revolves around the sun, is that he said that the stars go around the earth as well because of long exposure pictures of perfect circles that the stars will make if you have it exposed to the stars throughout the whole night, and said that if the earth was revolving around the sun then these stars would not be in perfect circles. The truth is, it takes 365 days, or 8760 hours for the earth to go around the sun in a full rotation. One night is about 8-10 hours, meaning that it will be almost impossible to see the stars move in a distorted circle because of rotation in one night. Erik Frenz, a writer for Cell Mentor came up with a way for people to play out an experiment to prove the earth is round; “Watch the sunset from point A, and once the sun is out of sight, hurry on over to point B. With the added elevation provided by point B, you should be able to see the sun above the horizon. If Earth were flat, the sun would not be visible at any elevation once it had set. “Because Earth is round, the sun will come back into your line of sight”. Aristotle was a Greek philosopher in 384-322 BC, who collected empirical evidence of the earth being round. Rachel Brazil, from Physics World, writes that Aristotle obtained this evidence after traveling to Egypt and seeing new constellations of stars: “Star constellations are patterns of stars that can be visible from only specific locations of the world at specific parts of the year. Because Aristotle proved that he could only see certain stars at certain parts of the globe, at specific parts of the year, he proved that the earth is round.” Aristotle laid pavement for all of the rest of philosophical research that proves that the earth is not flat. 

“According to spherical trigonometry […] the boat should have been 16 feet below the horizon, he shouldn’t have been able to see the boat.” (5:04).

Murphy talks about how he had a friend names Samuel Robottom and they did a rowboat experiment. According to multiple sources, there is a calculation of the earth’s spherical-ness that Robotton should not have been able to see the boat. This “rowboat experiment” is one of the leading pieces of evidence that flat earthers use against the argument that the earth is spherical. The rowboat experiment is better known as the “Bedford Level Experiment”. What the experiment is, is a 6 mile long, nearly perfectly straight canal in Cambridgeshire Fens, UK. Alfred Russel Wallace, who is also known as the father of biogeography, settled the claims of the flat earthers claiming that the Bedford Level experiment “proved” that the earth is flat. Wallace explained that the Bedford Level Experiment is a nearly perfect example of atmospheric refraction, which is “the deviation of light or other electromagnetic waves from a straight line as it passes through the atmosphere due to the variation in air density as a function of height”. Wallace also found that with atmospheric refraction, the curvature of the earth equation is consistent with theories of a spherical earth. “Say you are standing in a field outside of Chicago. If the earth is flat, you should be able to see southwest and see some of the tallest points in the United States, the Rocky Mountains.”, Life Noggin (0:28). Life Noggin proves a good point in their video “This Is How We Know The Earth Isn’t Flat” when they take a common misconception that flat earthers usually have, and twist it to prove that it is not always true. 

“Disney and NASA have worked very closely together. Disney worked with NASA on the moon project, they made it, they filmed it so that it would be entertainment.” (21:19).

Murphy claims that the moon landing was fake and that it was made for the purpose of entertainment “for the masses” or for the public. He said that without a doubt Stanley Kubrik (an American film director and producer) filmed the moon landing for NASA. Along with flat earthers believing that the earth is flat, they also have their conspiracies about the moon and about other planets. The moon landing was, and still is “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” –Niel Armstrong. 

“This is a profound movement, it’s a profound shifting consciousness for people.” (31:09)

Murphy explains that out of almost all of the movements that have happened in the course of the last few years, that the flat earth movement has really been the one to make people ‘realize’ they have been lied to. The Flat Earth Society has gotten bigger as social media carries information all around the world, though I don’t believe that the flat earth movement has been one of the biggest in the past few years. In 2016 alone, there were many protests and movements in the US alone, not to mention the ones that had happened in the years before it. According to Essence, 2016 was the year that Donald J. Trump was elected to the presidency, the year of the Dallas shooting, Native Americans protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline (DALP), and many more.

Who is Dave Murphy?

Dave Murphy is a writer and a producer. He is known for his claims in the flat earth society and a few of his viral videos that have been known to change people’s point of views on flat earth. Murphy is a calm, soft-voiced man who has a comforting tone in his voice. It is believed that his calm, nature, and good people and communication skills are why he is able to make people believe in the flat earth. It is also seen many techniques that Murphy uses while talking about flat earth and why people should believe in it. These techniques are some that many of us learned in english class in middle school: ethos, pathos, and logos. Murphy has a compelling energy to him that makes him secretly persuasive. Murphy is well known for his video, “Why The Earth Is Flat And You’ve Been Lied To” and other videos that are accessible on Youtube.

It is obvious that as animals living on a floating orb in space, that we are curious about what exactly this planet is. Because of social media, groups that would otherwise have died out, are able to grow and gain popularity. The Flat Earth Society has gained so much popularity in the past few years have shown just how powerful social media is, and how it can push a large amount of the population to believe in the unheard of. The “facts” behind flat earth are clearly bogus and can be easily debunked with real scientific data from not only the present day, but all over in history.  

Featured image screenshot from Dave Murphys “The Earth Is Flat And You’ve Been Lied To”