Abstract
In this paper we present the results of a research that aimed to analyze posts on a Twitter page of an organization that openly defends that the Earth is flat and to highlight its formative characteristics, as well as to discuss about the possible implications of such defense for Science Education. Discourse analysis was carried out based on the guidelines presented by Foucault and a priori theories were taken from the contributions of Feyerabend, Latour and Stengers. These choices occurred due to the fact that these contributions present heterodox points of view on the production of scientific knowledge, open to implications that are not only epistemological, which makes it possible to discuss the cultural, social and discursive complexity of the ‘flat Earth belief’. It is hoped that the considerations presented here may promote discussions related to the theme on the part of those who work in Science Education and, also, promote reflections on the very ethics of the scientific process and its limits.
Highlights
In this paper we present the results of a research that aimed to analyze posts on a Twitter page of an organization that openly defends that the Earth is flat and to highlight its formative characteristics, as well as to discuss about the possible implications of such defense for Science Education
Little has been thought proactively about the theme, with the majority of positions that attempt to modify such behaviors and attitudes of the denial of Science, taking as a basis their own scientific knowledge and their standards of rationality, as discussed by Browne et al (2015), with minority attempts to conceive this phenomenon in its cultural and discursive complexity. Considering this problem, we look at the posts on the official Twitter page of an organization that openly defends that the Earth is flat, using qualitative analysis theories to analyze the discourse: the theoretical contributions of Foucault (1996)
In terms of the Philosophy and Social Studies of Science, were considered coherent with the objectives set forth here, in terms of their criticisms of scientific orthodoxy and strict rationality, in the first author’s case, and the ways of production of scientific facts, in the second auhor’s case. In view of this purpose, two questions were considered guides and can be revisited as follows: From these perspectives, what understandings could be demonstrated from the discourse evidenced in the analyzed Twitter publications, considered ‘conspiracists’ and that claim that the Earth is flat? What positions could the field of Science Education put together in the face of these discourses?
Summary
In this paper we present the results of a research that aimed to analyze posts on a Twitter page of an organization that openly defends that the Earth is flat and to highlight its formative characteristics, as well as to discuss about the possible implications of such defense for Science Education. Discourse analysis was carried out based on the guidelines presented by Foucault and a priori theories were taken from the contributions of Feyerabend, Latour and Stengers. It is hoped that the considerations presented here may promote discussions related to the theme on the part of those who work in Science Education and, promote reflections on the very ethics of the scientific process and its limits
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