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Mark Sargent (flat Earth proponent)

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Mark Sargent
Sargent speaking at a conference in 2017
Bornc.1969 (age 54–55)[1]
Boulder, Colorado, U.S.
OccupationYouTuber
Years activeSince 2015

Mark Kendall Sargent (born c. 1969) is an American conspiracy theorist, who is one of the leading proponents of, and recruiters for, the discredited flat Earth conspiracy theory in the United States. According to critics, his YouTube videos have greatly accelerated the popularization of modern flat Earth belief, one without scientific merit.

Early life

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Mark Sargent worked in information technology in Colorado, and relocated to Washington in 2015. As of 2021, he lives on Whidbey Island.[2][3]

Sargent has been a competitive video game player, winning one virtual pinball tournament,[2] and has worked as a software analyst,[1] but has no scientific background.[4]

Flat Earth beliefs and influence

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A model of the Earth as a disk, similar to what Sargent promotes

In 2015, Sargent released a series of videos he created on YouTube called Flat Earth Clues, which questioned the accepted shape of the Earth. The series attracted two million views, propelling the rise of the modern flat Earth movement.[5][3][6][7][8][9]

Sargent works to convince others that the Earth is a flat disk, with a giant wall of ice around the circumference. An indestructible dome is claimed to be attached to the rim, making it a closed system. He claims that stars and planets are not physical places but simply lights attached to the dome.[2][8][10][11][12] Sargent states that all world governments have been lying about the shape of the planet, and that NASA faked the Apollo program as well as all other space exploration programs.[2][4]

An article in The New Yorker explained how Sargent's video series was instrumental in converting people to his viewpoint. It reported that Darryle Marble, who would later be a featured speaker at the first-ever Flat Earth Conference:

...found the light in his YouTube sidebar. While looking for videos related to Under the Dome, a TV sci-fi drama, he came across "Under the Dome", a two-hour film, which takes the form of a documentary, by Mark K. Sargent, one of the leading flat-Earth proselytizers. The flat-Earth movement had burbled along in relative darkness until February of 2015, when Sargent uploaded "Flat Earth Clues", a series of well-produced videos...[5]

Sargent says that being single was a contributing factor to his discovering and believing in the flat Earth conspiracy. He said, "Most people get married and have kids. But if you don't, you have a huge amount of free time on your hands".[2] According to Sargent in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, as of 2018 his YouTube channel had accumulated ten million views and he had become a full-time YouTuber.[1] According to Sargent at a flat Earth conference in Canada in August 2018, his path towards believing in the flat Earth theory was paved by a failed attempt by him to debunk a flat Earth video which he first saw in the summer of 2014. [13]

Sargent has been a speaker at numerous flat Earth events in the United States, Canada and New Zealand. He describes himself as a recruiter for the movement,[4][14][1][11] and has been called its main organizer by media including the Los Angeles Times.[1] He was extensively interviewed for the 2018 documentary Behind the Curve, a Netflix documentary about the flat Earth community.[2][15][16][17] He also expounded on his views in a self-published book titled Flat Earth Clues: The Sky's The Limit in 2016.[18]

Critics consider the flat Earth beliefs promoted by Sargent pseudoscience, inconsistent with all empirical evidence. They have been attributed to "conspiracy mentality", reliance on religious belief, distrust of authority, science denial, or a fallacious, although pro-science, interpretation of the scientific method.[19][20]

Sargent also incorporates other conspiracy theories into his flat Earth beliefs, accusing astronauts of being Freemasons.[5] Sargent also believes Bigfoot exists.[2]

Bibliography

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  • Flat Earth Clues: The Sky's The Limit (2016)[18]
  • Flat Earth Clues: End of The World (2019)[21]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Kelly, David (January 15, 2018). "The Earth is round, and other myths, debunked by the flat Earth movement (you read that right)". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 25, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Brown, Andrea (January 15, 2019). "He's semi-famous for being flat-out wrong about Earth". Everett Herald. Archived from the original on November 7, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Hvistendahl, Mara (October 11, 2019). "Citizens of the world's Edge". Popular Science. Vol. 291, no. 3. pp. 74–123. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c McMillan, Anna (August 10, 2018). "Flat-Earth faithful flock to Edmonton for international conference". CBC News. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c Burdick, Alan (May 30, 2018). "Looking for life on a flat earth". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on April 21, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  6. ^ Jeremias, Sofia (January 3, 2020). "Remaking the world in their own image: The rise of flat Earth conspiracists in the age of YouTube". Deseret News. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  7. ^ Dawson, Durrell; Pilgrim, Eva; McCarthy, Kelly (January 25, 2018). "Inside Flat Earth International Conference, where everyone believes Earth isn't round". ABC News. Archived from the original on May 6, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  8. ^ a b Arnett, Dugan (November 28, 2017). "For flat-earthers, the logic isn't circular, but is the reasoning level-headed?". Boston Globe. ProQuest 1970282931. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  9. ^ Mouallem, Omar (2019). "Flat Earth 101". Canadian Geographic. pp. 86–91. ISSN 0706-2168. EBSCO 139341646. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  10. ^ Poole, Steven (June 28, 2016). "Why bad ideas refuse to die". The Guardian. Archived from the original on November 7, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  11. ^ a b Wakefield, Jonny (August 10, 2018). "Flat earthers are emerging from the internet, and they're starting in Edmonton". Edmonton Journal. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  12. ^ Loxton, Daniel (2019). "Understanding Flat Earthers". Skeptic. Vol. 24, no. 4. London. pp. 10–23. ISSN 1063-9330. ProQuest 2454437388. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  13. ^ "Flat Earth Canada conference opening speech Mark Sargent - DITRH mirror ✅". YouTube. August 14, 2018. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
  14. ^ Maimann, Kevin (August 9, 2018). "Faith flattens reason at Edmonton's first Flat-Earth International Conference". The Toronto Star. Archived from the original on January 15, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  15. ^ Dickson, EJ (February 24, 2020). "Flat Earth Community Undeterred by Death of 'Mad' Mike Hughes". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 3, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  16. ^ Picheta, Rob (November 18, 2018). "The flat-Earth conspiracy is spreading around the globe. Does it hide a darker core?". CNN. Archived from the original on April 17, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  17. ^ Harvey, John (February 20, 2021). "A thoughtful look at followers of conspiracy theories". Port Elizabeth. Port Elizabeth. ProQuest 2492267731. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  18. ^ a b Flat Earth Clues: The Sky's The Limit. ASIN 1523851430.
  19. ^ McIntyre, Lee (May 14, 2019). "Flat Earthers, and the Rise of Science Denial in America". Newsweek. Archived from the original on May 11, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2021. You don't convince someone who has already rejected thousands of years of scientific evidence by showing them more evidence.
  20. ^ Brazil, Rachel (July 14, 2020). "Fighting flat-Earth theory". Physics World. Archived from the original on May 11, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  21. ^ Sargent, Mark. Flat Earth Clues: End of The World. ISBN 9781086579000.
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