8/25/2023 0 Comments Flat earth conventionIt was readily apparent that the flat earthers were keen to separate knowledge from scientific institutions. The audience and the panel of flat earthers took exception to this, noting that "now we've got the internet and mass communication … we're not reliant on what the mainstream are telling us in newspapers, we can decide for ourselves". A particular point of contention occurred when one of the physicists pleaded with the audience to avoid trusting YouTube and bloggers. This was something of a reoccurring theme throughout the weekend, and was especially apparent when four flat earthers debated three physics PhD students. With the increased voice afforded by social media, knowledge has been increasingly decentralized, and competing narratives have emerged. Recent PEW research suggests, for example, that 80% of voters who backed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 US presidential election – and 81percent of Trump voters – believe the two sides are unable to agree on basic facts.ĭespite early claims, from as far back as HG Wells' " world brain" essays in 1936, that a worldwide shared resource of knowledge such as the internet would create peace, harmony and a common interpretation of reality, it appears that quite the opposite has happened. It is also clear that we're seeing increased polarization in society, as we continue to drift away from agreed singular narratives and move into camps around shared interests. When Michael Gove, a leading proponent of Brexit, proclaimed: "I think the people of this country have had enough of experts," it would seem that he, in many ways, meant it. Now, everybody has the power to create and share content. Knowledge is no longer centrally controlled and – as has been pointed out in the wake of Brexit – the age of the expert may be passing. In the 21st century, we are witnessing another important shift in both power and knowledge due to factors that include the increased public platforms afforded by social media. Foucault argued that these institutions work to maintain their claims to legitimacy by controlling knowledge. According to Foucault, there is therefore an intimate and interlinked relationship between power and knowledge.Īt the time Foucault was writing on the topic, the control of power and knowledge had moved away from religious institutions, who previously held a very singular hold over knowledge and morality, and was instead beginning to move towards a network of scientific institutions, media monopolies, legal courts, and bureaucratized governments. At the same time, those in power control what is considered to be correct and incorrect knowledge. He suggested that knowledge is created and used in a way that reinforces the claims to legitimacy of those in power. He is well known, amongst many other things, for looking at the close relationship between power and knowledge. This viewpoint is somewhat typified by the work of Michel Foucault, a famous and heavily influential 20th century philosopher who made a career of studying those on the fringes of society to understand what they could tell us about everyday life. The level of discussion however often did not revolve around the models on offer, but on broader issues of attitudes towards existing structures of knowledge, and the institutions that supported and presented these models.įlat earthers are not the first group to be skeptical of existing power structures and their tight grasps on knowledge. Multiple competing models were suggested throughout the weekend, including "classic" flat earth, domes, ice walls, diamonds, puddles with multiple worlds inside, and even the earth as the inside of a giant cosmic egg. What's important here is not necessarily whether they believe the earth is flat or not, but instead what their resurgence and public conventions tell us about science and knowledge in the 21st century. Let me begin by stating quickly that I'm not really interested in discussing if the earth if flat or not (for the record, I'm happily a "globe earther") – and I'm not seeking to mock or denigrate this community.
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