Flat Earth: Photo or Painting?

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(This webpage was first published in the heady days of 2016. It's since then been edited slightly to update the links).

For anyone familiar with the Flat Earth Renaissance that has taken place on YouTube and elsewhere over the last few years this will be old news. However, this page is more for those that are completely new to the topic, or that have heard about it, but have been put off by its various misrepresentations.

The main reason I'm publishing this page is to help promote the work of the artist Math Boylan AKA Math Powerland. Powerland is one of the most prominent figures in the online flat earth movement, and he has been prompting people to question their worldview for several years using his artwork, music and comedy. In particular, his Photo or Painting? routine where he uses images such as the one shown here to ask people the simple question;

..Photo or Painting?

Can you tell if this is a painting or a photograph? Is it an image from a satellite high above the Earth? Or has someone sat and painted this picture? You decide.

If you're honest with yourself you'll quickly realise that this isn't a simple question to answer.

So, if it's that hard to make a judgement about this image what about all the other images you've been shown. What about the pictures of the Earth you're shown by NASA and other space agencies, or the images you see on the nightly news? How much of your worldview rests on a single image?

I was asked this question myself when I first found the work of Math Powerland on YouTube last year, and it took me on a journey which I'm still on today. It was quite liberating to question some of the fundamental assumptions we base our worldview on, and I've since discovered that many of the things I thought I knew I simply had no evidence for or understanding of.

I feel really fortunate that I came across this scene on YouTube and highly recommend it to other people. You can embrace it in many ways. You can view it as a type of thought experiment, as a form of entertainment, as an artistic movement or scene, or as a genuine search for truth. I've embraced it in all those forms. I guess it kind of sucked me in.

I should also point out that there are many other prominent and not-so-prominent figures in the flat earth scene, many of whom make amazing content and add to its vibrancy, so it's not all about Math. However, I've chosen to highlight Math's work in this article for two main reasons. Firstly, because I'm a genuine fan of it, and secondly because the mainstream media for some reason refuse to even mention his name.

In the limited coverage that has appeared in the mainstream media about flat earth over the last year or so his name has been mentioned precisely zero times - this in spite of the fact that he's the creator of the movements most powerful meme.

Could it be that such a simple question could be so dangerous that the entire mainstream media need to prohibit themselves from even mentioning it?

The following is a link to Math's Odysee channel where you can listen to the man and decide for yourself:

Math Powerland

The link below is one of my favourite videos:

This Crazy Notion

..and below his Instagram:

Math the Artist

I hope you get as much from them as I have :)

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