Today in science denialism, we consider the case of “Mad” Mike Hughes, who is on a quest to prove the Earth is flat.
Until the FAA put the kibosh on his plans last month, Hughes was planning to strap himself into a homemade rocket and travel about a mile at 500 miles per hour over a ghost town in California. While he only planned to hit 1,800 feet in this trip, his ultimate goal is to build a rocket that will propel him high enough to prove that astronauts have been lying all these years about the shape of the Earth.
If building and launching a rocket sounds like a pretty scientific endeavor -- well, you’re wrong, according to Hughes.
“I don’t believe in science,” he told the Associated Press. “I know about aerodynamics and fluid dynamics and how things move through the air, about the certain size of rocket nozzles, and thrust. But that’s not science, that’s just a formula. There’s no difference between science and science fiction.”
If your brain just leaked out your ears a little bit, consider the connotation of his words. He doesn’t believe in Science -- what he sees as an elitist club of government-backed conspirators -- but he clearly believes in scientific principles and advances.
His story certainly seems to support research that suggests it’s not reasoning capability, but deeper social issues that drive us apart on issues like climate change, vaccines and the shape of the Earth.