B.o.B. still thinks the earth is flat

The rapper has started a GoFundMe and we could really use a wish right now

It’s a no brainer that B.o.B will most likely give a great performance Friday in Myers Field House for this year’s Homecoming Concert, but just like we can’t forget that the Golden State Warriors blew a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals, we can’t forget that B.o.B. thinks the Earth is flat.

The rapper created a GoFundMe page on Sept. 21 titled “Show BoB the Curve” that’s asking people to donate money to launch satellites into space to prove the Earth is flat. The page is at just over $5,000 raised with a goal of $1 million. The page indicates that $1,000 alone came from an anonymous user.

“I’m looking for the curve,” he said in a video on the page.

With the kind of discoveries and advancements we’ve made in science, it baffles me that someone could think our planet is flat. The International Space Station is constantly orbiting Earth and the word “orbit” indicates going around in a circle. Watching any stream from the station proves our planet is quite curvy.

This belief that the Earth is flat isn’t anything new. Documents can trace this belief back centuries. The Flat Earth Society is an organization of people that believe in flat earth theory and yes, they do sell merchandise. A proper journalist or researcher would cite evidence to prove that the Earth isn’t flat like a study or an interview with an expert, but I don’t even think that’s needed in this bizarre situation. It would be equivalent to asking someone to prove that water is wet.

While nearly 200 people donated to B.o.B’s GoFundMe page, over 3000 people have garnered interest in throwing globes at the rapper during Friday’s concert. MNSU biology student Holly Blooflat created a Facebook event titled “Throw Globes at B.o.B to Prove the Earth Isn’t Flat” and almost 3400 people have marked that they’re interested in the event. It was inspired by a flurry of parody Facebook events that organized people to do such things like steal Minnesota’s lakes. She’s adamant that the event is only a joke and didn’t expect the page to grow so quickly. A disclaimer states that she’s not liable if anyone chooses to participate.

“Everyone is entitled to their own opinions in life, so long as they don’t harm anyone else, but to deny overwhelming scientific evidence is naive,” she said.
B.o.B is an outspoken conspiracy theorist and anti-establishment member so him not believing in something the majority of the population does isn’t too crazy. This obviously isn’t the worst thing that B.o.B could believe in, but it’s something to easily poke fun at. The man could be conning us all and using this belief as a way to get attention. If that’s the case, then he is a fantastic troll and is playing the part well.

“I’m not worried about people donating to his cause as I know if it were to be successful, he would be disappointed in the results and it might convince ‘flat earthers’ that they are wrong,” Blooflat said.

This belief led to a Twitter feud between him and astrophysicist and black science man Neil deGrasse Tyson. B.o.B was making claims such as the horizon is always horizontal no matter where you look at it and Tyson responded with scientific facts as to why. This feud inspired the B.o.B track “Flatline” with the lyrics, “Aye, Neil Tyson need to loosen up his vest. They probably write the man one hell of a check.”

People like myself can poke fun and laugh about something like this on the surface of it all, but there could be a much greater issue here. B.o.B may not be the most well-known musician, but he still has a considerable following. With this following comes a somewhat sphere of influence. There are people who look up to entertainers like B.o.B and they help shape their own beliefs. It’s dangerous that these people are more willing to believe B.o.B’s beliefs and support them via GoFundMe than the beliefs of someone who’s received prestigious schooling or has been hundreds of miles above the Earth in a giant space station.

“I’ve been studying biology for the last three years and the thought that so many people truly believe that we are on a flat disk, flying through space is astounding,” Blooflat said.

There are some things that can be debated and then there’s some things that are simply yes or no. I definitely won’t sit here and tell you to always believe in science. I will, however, tell you to believe in common sense.