The truth of flat earth is accepted by ones that have an experience of a fixed plane.
A desire for reason dictates a single "boss," cognitively, for non-schizophrenics. If an incongruity arises there are a few ways to cope.
- Dominance- deny the unexpected occurred
- Compromise- fit it improperly into a current primary context
- Disruption- no response to data defying expectation
- Recognition- inappropriate expectations are discarded
Sense data from the perceptual field shows a fixed plane of earth. Because that defies expectation people will either:
- Deny the fixed plane data because it doesn't fit a globe model
- The data can fit both models but a compromise is made so that only the globe model is accepted
- Gross failure to organize the incongruity of fixed plane data in perception with a viewing condition of the globe model
- Recognize the data doesn't fit a globe model, discard the globe model
Refer to Gregory Bateson's work on schizophrenia and Jerome Bruner and Leo Postman's work on incongruity. And refer to "The Earth is flat when personally significant experiences with the sphericity of the Earth are absent" by Claus-Christian Carbon, Cognition 116 (1):130-135 (2010).