Doublethink is the holding of contradictory beliefs or opinions in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting all as true or correct, failing to recognize the contradiction.
Doublethink is prevalent in conspiracy theories, including flat Earth. They would believe the different concepts that individually appear to support a flat Earth but cannot realize that these concepts are in reality in conflict with each other.
An example of doublethink is about the Sun. They often show us a photo of the Sun that appears below the clouds from a flight, a photo of the Sun that appears in front of the clouds, and a photo of the Sun above all clouds from a high-altitude balloon. They would also show us the calculation that the Sun is 3000 miles above a flat Earth, while an airliner only flies about 7 miles above the surface. They regard the information as “evidence” that the Sun is close to the surface according to the flat Earth model. They cannot realize that those pieces of “evidence” conflict with each other.
References
- Doublethink – Changing Minds