{"id":2042,"date":"2025-10-10T06:57:39","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T11:57:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fraudulenttimes.com\/?p=2042"},"modified":"2025-10-10T06:57:39","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T11:57:39","slug":"new-study-links-rising-tide-of-misinformation-to-increased-chance-of-flat-earth-belief-by-age-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fraudulenttimes.com\/pt\/new-study-links-rising-tide-of-misinformation-to-increased-chance-of-flat-earth-belief-by-age-5\/","title":{"rendered":"New Study Links Rising Tide of Misinformation to Increased Chance of Flat Earth Belief by Age 5"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Cambridge, MA \u2013<\/strong> A sweeping new study from the International Institute for Cognitive Clarity suggests a startling correlation between children\u2019s early exposure to online misinformation and a surging belief in a flat Earth before kindergarten age. Researchers say the pattern is \u201cstatistically significant, epistemologically concerning, and geometrically regressive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Drawing on data collected from over 40,000 child-watching household webcams and neural telemetry devices, the report found that 38% of American five-year-olds currently believe the Earth is flat, a substantial increase from just 4% a decade prior. \u201cOur models indicate direct exposure to persistent misinformation streams such as algorithmically suggested cartoons and prank \u2018science\u2019 videos,\u201d explained Dr. Fedora Bliss, lead author. \u201cIn controlled experiments, toddlers were twice as likely to doubt the existence of gravity if Peppa Pig contradicted it three episodes in a row.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Misinformation-Faith Transmission Committee, convened by the Department of Education, has called the findings \u201cdeeply troubling but not entirely unexpected.\u201d Their ten-volume interim report suggests that many children are encountering contradicting broadcasts: for every factual NASA children\u2019s show, there are at least seven viral puppet skits in which characters walk to the planet\u2019s edge and drop biscuits into the void. \u201cWe recently tracked a spike in toddler curiosity about Antarctic ice walls,\u201d Deputy Committee Chair Morton Figgins said, referencing the rising trend of \u2018expedition\u2019 play involving living room barriers and forbidden lampshades.<\/p>\n<p>The Federal Board of Early Truths is now piloting corrective school programs, including Globe Appreciation Hour and round-Earth themed snacks. However, researchers warn this may achieve little if parents continue sharing bedtime stories reimagined by anonymous forum commenters. Already, the panel has documented instances of homeschooling curricula replaced wholesale by user-generated rhymes, one reportedly teaching, \u201cThe world is like a pizza tray\u2014don\u2019t let your crayons roll away.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Industry reaction has remained mixed. The Association for Spherical Reasoning issued a statement reminding consumers that \u201cthe Earth\u2019s roundness is an established public good,\u201d while fact-checking start-ups have deployed over 12,000 certified plush globes to national kindergartens. No measurable decline in flat Earth belief has been recorded.<\/p>\n<p>At present, the Department of Education is requesting proposals for adaptive lesson plans that \u201chonor diverse epistemologies without erasing consensus reality,\u201d pending review by a truth and reconciliation subpanel. As of press time, 61% of surveyed five-year-olds believe that astronauts are \u201ccartoon people\u201d and that the Moon can be reached by ladder, provided it is not behind the couch.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cambridge, MA \u2013 A sweeping new study from the International Institute for Cognitive Clarity suggests a startling correlation between children\u2019s early exposure to online misinformation and a surging belief in a flat Earth before kindergarten age. Researchers say the pattern is \u201cstatistically significant, epistemologically concerning, and geometrically regressive.\u201d Drawing on data collected from over 40,000 [&hellip;]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2413,4720,683],"tags":[7867,7866,7868,735,93],"class_list":["post-2042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-government","category-media","tag-education-policy-satire","tag-flat-earth","tag-media-literacy","tag-misinformation","tag-satire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fraudulenttimes.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fraudulenttimes.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fraudulenttimes.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fraudulenttimes.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fraudulenttimes.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2042"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fraudulenttimes.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2043,"href":"https:\/\/fraudulenttimes.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2042\/revisions\/2043"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fraudulenttimes.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fraudulenttimes.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fraudulenttimes.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fraudulenttimes.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}