Scene: The Circle of Clarity
The flat-earthers find themselves in a shimmering, kaleidoscopic space—a room that constantly shifts, its walls folding in and out, changing shape and colour. Their confident footsteps echo as they stumble, confused, into a perfectly circular formation, each looking at the others with grim determination.
Flat-Earther 1 (Fred): “This is it, guys. The world’s a circle. But not like this… this doesn’t count. We just need to find the right angle. We’ll break through.”
Flat-Earther 2 (Susan): “No, no. You’re misunderstanding. The truth is that the Earth is flat, not curved—I mean, look at all these reflections! It’s all an illusion. A conspiracy. They’re trying to trick us.”
As she says this, the mirrors around them reflect their forms at impossible angles, causing them all to appear as distorted, fragmented versions of themselves. Their reflections are fighting to break free of their own bodies—eyes bulging out of necks, faces turning upside down.
Flat-Earther 3 (Dave): “I knew it! It’s the government! They’ve turned reality itself against us. This is exactly what they do—they make it seem like the Earth is round, but look!” (He gestures towards the floor beneath them, but the floor keeps shifting into endless, impossible geometric patterns.)
Fred: “No, no. This is where the logic comes in. We’re trapped in a matrix of circular mirrors, but that’s not the real shape of the Earth. It’s flat… flat like a pancake. We need to break the system.”
As Fred argues, one of the mirrors shifts and starts reflecting him back in several places at once—like the Escher painting where staircases lead nowhere and doors open into nothing. He stares at it in horror as his fragmented self stares back at him.
Susan: “What’s happening to me?! I’m breaking apart! This is it—they’re trying to fragment us. We’re being divided by the reflection of the global agenda.”
Dave (frantically trying to regain control): “It’s not a conspiracy, Susan. It’s just… they’ve put us in a place that forces us to question. That’s the real trick! It’s like a… a funhouse of the mind!”
They all begin to argue over who’s most "right" about the shape of the Earth—each desperately trying to hold onto their belief while at the same time contorting their bodies into increasingly ridiculous poses, trying to escape the shifting mirror-world. Each time one of them turns a corner, they find themselves facing an entirely new version of themselves—bearded, bald, or perhaps with their arms and legs rearranged. Their identities are slipping, but the harder they cling to their worldview, the more absurd their position becomes.
Themes and Satire:
Here’s where the deeper satirical commentary on human nature comes into play. The flat-earthers, by clinging so desperately to their beliefs in the face of an environment that completely destabilises those beliefs, demonstrate the absurdity of rigid worldviews. The kaleidoscopic, reflective world isn't just a backdrop—it’s a mirror of their inability to accept ambiguity or uncertainty. Their refusal to consider that perhaps they are the ones who are out of step with reality becomes increasingly absurd the more they struggle to justify their position.
In essence, the more they try to hold onto their certainty, the more distorted their perceptions become—mirroring how people in real life may distort reality in order to cling to a particular belief or ideology. This reflects the way humans often create their own cognitive dissonance—sticking to faulty beliefs even when faced with overwhelming evidence to the contrary. The flat-earthers in this world are lost in their own echo chambers, unable to see beyond their narrow, fixed perspective.
Meta Commentary:
This is, of course, a reflection on the broader human condition, especially in our contemporary age. The satirical element here is sharp, as it calls out not just the specific dogma of flat-earthers, but the very human tendency to build rigid, comforting structures around our beliefs. The world they’re trapped in—this kaleidoscopic, Escher-like labyrinth—is a fitting metaphor for how our beliefs often distort the world around us, especially when we refuse to entertain other perspectives or acknowledge uncertainty. It’s about the peril of belief without flexibility, and the comical absurdity that ensues when we become so entrenched in our own version of reality that we can’t see the madness around us.