I am afraid that the lack of education in critical thinking is destroying what shreds of democracy we have left. During this election cycle, I have spent more time than ever responding to ridiculous “breaking news” stories with a simple link to Snopes or a Google search showing that they have no basis in fact. However, as they say, a lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth can get its boots on and a great deal of this crap still breaks through. If all of our children were taught to question everything and evaluate what they read before believing it, let alone sharing it, the conspiracy theorists would not get as much play.
I am afraid that preventing critical thinking and civics from being taught in our schools is a deliberate strategy by the GOP to keep voters from questioning what their legislators are doing as they push through pre-packaged legislation drafted by their corporate bosses.
I am afraid that an increasing reliance on social media for news (see graphic above) is automating confirmation bias. The more our social experience becomes “tailored" to our browsing habits, the less we see opposing viewpoints or information that might cause us to question our beliefs and come to a greater understanding of complex issues.
I am afraid that the GOP has done such a good job demonizing intellectualism that it has become unthinkable and “elitist” to suggest that there should be some minimum level of education, knowledge, and relevant experience required of someone running for President. And yet here we are with Trump running as a “successful” business person without being challenged to prove it by providing verifiable financial statements and tax returns, or to demonstrate that he understands how his so-called “great negotiating” skills would work in a different environment.
I am afraid that even when Trump is soundly defeated, none of the above will change, and we’ll find ourselves ranting about these same issues in 4, 8, 12, years.
I am afraid that the anti-knowledge, anti-science, anti-critical-thinking forces will win in the end because they seem to know how to stack the deck better than we do.
Thank you for reading.
Thursday, Nov 17, 2016 · 4:34:14 PM +00:00 · Skibird
I am afraid that the anti-knowledge, anti-science, anti-critical-thinking forces will win in the end because they seem to know how to stack the deck better than we do.
Updated to add: I wish I had been wrong.