Meet the Mayor of Flat Earthville

A couple weeks ago I wrote about a documentary we watched about the Flat Earth movement, and how the common belief in a single idea, as wrong as it may be, united all sorts of people from all walks of life.

It shows the power of community and how we all crave fellowship with others of like mind.

But one moment in the movie in particular was really revealing of how this sense of community superseded basic logic. The film centered around two leaders of the flat earth movement, one of whom is named Mark Sargent. Mark was being interviewed by one of the documentary producer’s about this community all over the world that was being formed. I don’t remember the exact sequence of the conversation, but one of the questions asked was something along the lines of: “Aren’t you sort of the mayor of the flat earth town?”

Mark was caught off guard by this question. He was genuinely stunned by the thought that he could have been more concerned with his celebrity status within this niche group than what the group was supposedly trying to do, which was to educate the 99.99999% of the global population who has believed a lie their entire lives, going back 5 centuries.

To Mark’s credit, he came by this honestly. I have personally witnessed individuals who consciously and knowingly form cult like groups, of which they are the undisputed leader. They are basically God in human form in the eyes of their followers. The power they have over the minds and emotions of even middle-aged men is frightening.

A lot of us in this business of “personality branding” are taught to engage in “world building,” meaning we build an “empire” of sorts in the minds of our listeners/followers/readers that makes us the only credible source of information out there.

It’s risky business on a number of levels if you ask me, but with all the noise online, it’s easy to see how this approach makes sense.

When there are 100 people, even 1000 people saying essentially the same thing, albeit with minor variations due to personal preferences or personality differences, you need to find a way to stick out. So who can blame someone possessing a below average emotional maturity (like someone who believes with religious fervor that the Earth is flat) for trying to make themselves more important in the eyes of their followers than they really are?

Mark Sargent was confronted with an uncomfortable truth about his personality complex – all while being tailed by a group of filmmakers who wanted to prove he’s nuts. He’s a brave soul for doing so, which is admirable to some degree, but ultimately feel right into the trap set by his supposed allies.

Ain’t that a kick in the head?

On a somewhat unrelated note, I recorded a short podcast today titled, “What’s your podcast about?” It’s basically me reading the email from the other day by the same title, with a bit of added commentary. Here’s the link to listen if you’re looking for some honest, non-empire building content: https://player.captivate.fm/episode/b13038dc-49e4-4723-a23f-f1a4cfea5cf7