Flat Earth Survey Produces Surprising Results

A survey of Americans' thoughts on the Flat Earth theory has produced some enlightening findings as far as who subscribes to the controversial concept.

Conducted by the website YouGov, the survey posed the simple question "do you believe the Earth is round or flat" to 8,215 people.

Generating the most headlines from the survey is that only 66% of people aged 18 to 24 said that they believe that the Earth is round and have always thought this to be the case.

This has led to some misleading news stories declaring that one third of all young Millennials are uncertain about the shape of the planet.

However, a deeper look at the data indicates that a more accurate assessment would be that nine percent of that demographic actually expressed doubts about the Earth being round.

Meanwhile, another nine percent outright endorsed the Flat Earth theory and 16% simply chose 'other/not sure' which should probably not be included in either the pro or con category.

Aside from that bit of confusion, the survey provides a pretty good indication of how popular the Flat Earth theory really is, with a whopping 84 percent of the respondents saying that they believe the planet is round.

Sadly, for fans of the controversial conspiracy theory, a mere four percent of the people were firmly in the Flat Earth camp.

Perhaps the most eye-opening statistic found in the survey is that, of those who consider themselves Flat Earth adherents, a healthy 52% described themselves as "very religious."

And, in a testament to either the power or failure of the Flat Earth movement to sway people to their side via advertisements and other attention-getting methods, five percent of those surveyed said that they have begun having doubts about the shape of the planet.

While this may be a bit disheartening to Flat Earth fans imploring people to research the odd idea, they should take solace in the fact that the population of America is currently 325 million people.

Therefore, the survey would suggest that there's 16 million people who find themselves suddenly on the fence about the shape of the planet, meaning that maybe those billboards are working after all.

Source: YouGov