Let’s Not Be Stupid

America’s problems right now are not because of laws we pass. They are not because of health care, gun violence, or even Donald Trump. These, and many more, are symptoms. I will discuss some of those problems soon. But here I’d like to point out some underlying reasons.

1. We, as a public, have given up on critical thinking. We just believe what we want to believe.
2. We have allowed ourselves to put blind, unquestioning faith in certain leaders.
3. We have put party above all else--yes, even above country.
4. Honesty and integrity mean nothing.

       None of this is normal, and none of this is good.

Let me stress #1, since it actually leads to the other three: We have given up on critical thinking; we make and accept arguments that make no logical sense. We take positions that are against all scientific conclusions and reasoning.  We don’t care if we are right. We only care that we win the argument, using any “facts” we want, even if they might be wrong.

And while I say “we” I don’t mean all Americans. But it seems like many, maybe most of us.

For starters, I have a few examples here, all from just the last week. These trouble me. Not because I don’t agree with them. But because they just plain don’t make sense. Notice that these examples affect right-leaning stories. I see things like this on the left as well. But no matter how much I try to say “both sides,” right now it’s much worse on the right. Even the National Review, a very conservative publication concurs. Feel free to disagree. Here they are:

1) The FBI didn’t follow up on the Florida shooter because it was too busy with the Russia inquiry.
The FBI has over 35,000 agents. No intelligent person should believe that they can’t do two investigations at once.

2) We need weapons to protect ourselves from the government.
If the US military came after you, with all their advanced weaponry, do you really think your AR-15 would save you? Think about that honestly. You know you wouldn’t have a chance. Or maybe you think you should be allowed to own any weapon, like a nuclear bomb.

3) David Hogg, the student from Florida talking about gun laws is a not a student, but a paid actor.
When I saw this, I didn’t jump on it. I waited till I heard word from the school superintendent, as well as reporting of articles about this student from his school paper over the last 6 months. Think about this: if he didn’t attend school there, don’t you think the actual school kids would figure that out?

It used to be just conspiracy nuts saying this kind of stuff. No more. I’ve seen these stories and more on Facebook from people who supposedly are “reasonable people.”

These are easily proven wrong. But even when they are, people refuse to believe the proof, calling it “fake news.” They keep believing the story.  Or maybe they don’t believe the story, but they keep repeating it anyway. I’m not sure which is worse. But I know that truth means nothing. And this is destroying us.

It is interesting to note that, a week out, all agree that David Hogg is, indeed, a student. But the credibility of all those who said otherwise hasn’t suffered. Their followers don’t care that they were lied to. They’ll keep believing and spreading their lies.

I remember in the early days of the internet, I (foolishly) thought. “From now on, nobody will be able to lie or spread propaganda. All we have to do is search for the information ourselves.” I assumed that all people wanted to be truthful, wanted to know the truth. I find now, people are more interested in making arguments for their “side.”  This saddens and troubles me. I want truth, not stories that reinforce my opinions. And you should too.

I don’t know how we move forward in truth, if truth doesn’t matter.

My next article will show how this thinking affects one issue particularly.

Previous blog in this series: What Can We Do?