A disturbing number of millennials believe that the Earth is flat, study reveals

The Flat Earth conspiracy is starting to feel like that annoying relative who always outstays their welcome at family events.

The more coverage that it receives, the more and more baffling it becomes to perceive that anyone would buy into this theory.

Low and behold, the belief that the Earth is flat and surrounded by some kind of ice wall continues to gather momentum.

Not only do they have their own Flat Earth Society, which has been mocked several times by Elon Musk, but their ideas are starting to connect with millennials.

A study conducted by YouGov of 8,215 US adults has discovered that just 66 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds are convinced that the Earth is round.

Now there is a strong chance that millennials are just trolling surveys as the likelihood of an Internet prank is not beyond the realms of possibility.

That being said this is still a worryingly low total, especially as nine per cent of those surveyed admitted that they always believed that our planet was round but have been more doubtful about this fact recently.

Picture: YouGov

As you can see above, the results of the research suggest that this is a phenomenon that dwindles as a person gets older, with 94 per cent of people aged 55 and over subscribing to the theory.

Other data showed that 86 per cent of men believed that the Earth was round while only 83 per cent of women shared the belief.

Politically, it was Republicans who were more firmly in the belief that the world has a spherical shape, with 89 per cent saying that they were always of this belief, while just 83 per cent of Democrats said the same thing.

Income levels among those who took part in the research also altered dramatically. Only 79 per cent of people earning under $40,000 said that they always thought the Earth was round, whereas it shot up to 92 per cent for people who earned $80,000 or more.

Lastly, religious beliefs also suggested that it played a part in people's perceptions of the Earth's shape. More than 50 per cent of Flat Earthers regards themselves as being 'very religious', while only 17 per cent of the group said they were 'not religious at all.'

Picture: YouGov

We can't really make many connections between religion and Flat Earthers, but it's not surprising that more younger people are into the idea than others.

Numerous celebrities have come out as Flat Earthers and the theorists are also very prolific online, which is where most young people get their information from these days, right?

HT YouGov

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