THE FINAL EXPERIMENT - THE FLAT EARTH DEBATE

 The Final Experiment - Antarctica (the-final-experiment.com)

What is The Final Experiment?

"The Final Experiment is a way to settle the shape of the Earth debate. Both the flat earth side and the globe side agree that whether or not there is a 24-hour sun in Antarctica will confirm if we live on a flat plane or on a globe. A 24-hour sun cannot work on a flat plane in the south. And the sun cannot set on a globe during the southern summer."

The Final Experiment was created by Will Duffy, the pastor of a small church outside Denver, Colorado.1

Who was invited to participate in The Final Experiment?

"24 flat earthers and 24 globe earthers were handpicked to participate in TFE. They were picked as the top representatives of their respective sides. Of these 48 participants, one flat earther and one globe earther will have all expenses paid for their trip to Antarctica this December. The others can join us in Antarctica if they pay their own way." 

The Asch Paradigm

The Asch paradigm was a series of conformity experiments devised by Solomon Asch in the 1950's to investigate how social pressure from a majority group could influence an individual to conform. In the experiments, fifty male students from Swarthmore College in the USA participated in a "vision test". and were asked to match the length of lines on cards, a task with an obvious answer. At the start, all participants (including the confederates) gave the correct answers. However, after a few rounds, the confederate started to provide unanimously incorrect answers.
There were 18 trials in total, and the participants gave the wrong answer on 12 trials (called the critical trials). Asch was interested to see if the real participant would conform to the majority view.
When the participants were interviewed after the experiment, most of them said that they did not really believe their conforming answers, but had gone along with the group for fear of being ridiculed or thought “peculiar", or alternatively we know the right answer, but we do not want to be different.2  

I find the results of the Asch paradigm fascinating. Sometimes peer pressure is so strong that it is possible to doubt the evidence of our own eyes. Alternatively, as with the students from Swarthmore, people do not want to be seen as nonconformists. This happens within church denominations all the time. Many will simply go along to get along and will not question unbiblical doctrines due to unpleasant repercussions. Inevitably challenging false teachers eventually leads to slander and exclusion. Jesus Christ was all too familiar with that experience! (John 15:18-25; Romans 12:2).

In the case of the flat earth, I do not have the wherewithal to prove the case either way. I did some research into this subject in 2016 and much to my surprise I found some of the flat earth arguments thought-provoking. My reason and empirical experience tell me that I am not living on a rock in outer space spinning at 66,600 mph; yet as ridiculous as this sounds, most people believe that we do.3  Science tells us that the Earth's polar axis is at an angle of 66.6 degrees relative to its orbital axis, the Earth's orbital speed around the sun is 66,600 miles an hour, and the Earth's curvature drop in one mile is 0.666ft. That is a lot of sixes! Heliocentrism is more likely to damage the cause of Jesus Christ since it gives rise to false beliefs such as the "ancient alien" theory i.e. humans were created by beings from outer space. As such, UFO (UAP) sightings and suchlike may lead people to reject the biblical model of creation. To add to my skepticism of science so-called. (1 Timothy 6:20), I reject the majority view of evolution and the old earth model. I do not join those who ridicule flat earth proponents, and although I am not entirely convinced, I have some sympathy for their cause. We live on a planet with many mysteries and those who question the official version of reality show some independence of thought. I will be following the progress of the Final Experiment with interest. 

1. Time & Location | Denver Bible Church
2. Solomon Asch Conformity Line Experiment Study (simplypsychology.org)
3. How Fast Does the Earth Spin? (thoughtco.com)

Further Links

Is The Final Experiment the End of the Globe? (youtube.com)
WOLVES IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING: FALSE PROPHETS AND BIBLE TEACHERS IN THE LAST DAYS: THE FLAT EARTH MODEL (bewareofthewolves.blogspot.com)