Editing Flat Earth (section)

==Modern flat Earth beliefs==
{{Main|Modern flat Earth beliefs}}
[[File:Flat Earth Society Logo.png|thumb|Logo of the [[International Flat Earth Research Society|Flat Earth Society]]]]
In the modern era, the [[Pseudoscience|pseudoscientific]] belief in a flat Earth originated with the English writer [[Samuel Rowbotham]] with the 1849 pamphlet ''Zetetic Astronomy''. [[Lady Elizabeth Blount]] established the Universal Zetetic Society in 1893, which published journals. In 1956, [[Samuel Shenton]] set up the [[International Flat Earth Research Society]], better known as the "Flat Earth Society" in Dover, England, as a direct descendant of the Universal Zetetic Society.

In the [[Internet era]], the availability of communications technology and [[social media]] like [[YouTube]], [[Facebook]]<ref>{{cite web|last1=Abbott|first1=Erica|title=Mark Zuckerberg Banning All Flat Earth Groups from Facebook Is A Hoax|url=http://www.business2community.com/facebook/mark-zuckerberg-banning-flat-earth-groups-facebook-hoax-01890594|website=Business2community.com|publisher=Business2community|access-date=19 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170819231354/http://www.business2community.com/facebook/mark-zuckerberg-banning-flat-earth-groups-facebook-hoax-01890594|archive-date=19 August 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> and [[Twitter]] have made it easy for individuals, famous<ref>{{cite web|url=http://people.com/celebrity/flat-earth-celebrities-world-not-round/|last1=Heigl|first1=Alex|title=The Short List of Famous People Who Think the Earth Is Flat (Yes, Really)|work=People|access-date=19 August 2017}}</ref> or not, to spread disinformation and attract others to erroneous ideas, including that of the flat Earth.<ref name="Ambrose">{{cite web |last1=Ambrose |first1=Graham |date=July 7, 2017 |title=These Coloradans say Earth is flat. And gravity's a hoax. Now, they're being persecuted. |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2017/07/07/colorado-earth-flat-gravity-hoax/  |access-date=19 August 2017 |work=The Denver Post}}</ref><ref name= Dure>{{cite news|last1=Dure|first1=Beau|title=Flat-Earthers are back: 'It's almost like the beginning of a new religion'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/jan/20/flat-earth-believers-youtube-videos-conspiracy-theorists|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=19 August 2017|date=20 January 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Herreria|first1=Carla|title=Neil deGrasse Tyson Cites Celebrity Flat-Earthers To Make A Point About Politics|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/neil-degrasse-tyson-flat-earth-pop-stars-flawed_us_58faa373e4b06b9cb91719ad|work=HuffPost|access-date=19 August 2017|date=22 April 2017}}</ref>

Modern believers in a flat Earth face overwhelming publicly accessible evidence of Earth's sphericity. They also need to explain why governments, media outlets, schools, scientists, surveyors, airlines and other organizations accept that the world is spherical. To satisfy these tensions and maintain their beliefs, they generally embrace some form of [[conspiracy theory]]. In addition, believers tend to not trust observations they have not made themselves, and often distrust, disagree with or accuse each other of being in league with conspiracies.<ref name="takes">{{cite web |last=Humphries |first=Courtney |date=28 October 2017 |title=What does it take to believe the world is flat? |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2017/10/28/what-does-take-believe-world-flat/0gdgl2JMPhBpgJK5mGXPkI/story.html |access-date=April 4, 2022 |website=[[The Boston Globe]]}}</ref>