The internet is beast of an entity. On one hand, it is the most impressive, most advanced, most all-encompassing gateway to human knowledge, in history. On the other hand, it sometimes seems like the bane of human existence and progress. Just in the U.S. alone, debates on social media have been getting more and more heated. Uglier and uglier.
It’s now **every single day** that we see people from every region of the U.S. hurling vicious insults at each other. People now tell one another to f*ck off almost as often as we greet each other; we are getting even more shamefully vitriolic: “Go to hell, libtard!” Or “Republicans are Nazi slime!” And certainly no shortage of totally denigrating one another’s physical features: And it’s not just Twitter – which has apparently become the top platform for cutting each other down as hatefully as possible – it’s now Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, dating apps…if it’s socially oriented, the trolls come out in full force.
So, why all of the constant fighting and hate? Because we have been thoroughly saturated, in an almost mind-numbing way, with so much information – yet our society is severely lacking in *how* to discuss information. Here in the U.S., we do not put enough emphasis on critical thinking. We learn bits and pieces of it throughout primary and secondary education – though it isn’t really until we take humanities, upper-level English, and various sciences at the college / university level that we are reconditioned to learn *how* to think and not just *what* to think. (Yes, that is a double-edged sword in itself). Or as adults, we raid the self-help section at bookstores or trust information from friends who seem to be “smart”.
Granted, we do not all develop the same intellectually; and some people have a more natural ability to think critically and use sound logic and reason to investigate and understand the world around us.
However, in our *First World* country, founded on democracy, we are painfully working through the need to help lead the world out of mass tragedy – starvation, war, racism, xenophobia, infectious disease—and to make society better for future generations. And while we have made some significant progress in the last few centuries as an independent nation, we are also a major example of what a frustrating stalemate looks like on just about all social topics.
Contrary to the many people pushing that we have become more polarized, that is not quite true. For example, voting for Republican vs. Democrat has been a fairly even, 50% – 50% split for at least the past 40+ years now. So, we have been “divided” for quite some time. It’s just that we now have a technological platform to cram our views down everyone’s throat – again, and again, and again.
And this division is just one of many: Catholic vs. Protestant. Christians vs. Muslims. Muslims vs. Jews. Gun laws vs. the 2nd Amendment. State legalization of marijuana vs Federal laws. Pro-choice vs. Pro-life. And now, unbelievably, Flat Earth vs. Round Earth.
Which then helps perpetuate the ever-growing number of conspiracy theories. We as human being seems particularly interested in what our “feelings” tells us over what the facts tell us. Or how about the ever-growing movement of “alternative facts”?
Why do ~40% of Americans believe the Earth is literally 6000 years old? Why are so many people sharing videos plagued with misinformation, or are a twisted mix of logical points and “a friend of a friend told me to share this”? Why do we have so many “armchair experts” who think they know more than well-qualified experts? Why do so many people argue against scientific facts? And why do so many people use a perverted form of skepticism, which then leads to one conspiracy theory after the next?
Well, not only do we have a deeply troubling lack of teaching critical thinking in our country, but we are also sorely lacking in developing sound reasoning skills, as well as not understanding how to debate without committing a whole host of logical fallacies.
We also have to contend with one of our greatest opponents: our egos. We like to be right. We like to win arguments, even when we sometimes claim it’s not about winning the argument. We tend to care more about how our thinking will benefit ourselves vs sincerely *listening* to each other’s perspectives, and then correctly weighing in on what is logical vs. illogical. We are a society of “mic drop”, trolling comments on social media posts. We are engrained in the game of one-upping each other. And we often avoid having to research both sides of an argument to form a more holistic opinion.
The scientific method was created for a crucial reason – one that has allowed us to advance exponentially within the past 500 years: To take any form of a claim about the natural world around us, and then thoroughly test it to see if it’s a fact. Then, even after confirming the hypothesis multiple times, it still must go through peer-review. In other words, other scientists / experts in the field conduct their own set of testing and then compare / contrast the results.
Further, the scientific method can be applied pretty much to all discourses. Someone makes a claim, you test the claim, you report the results. That is clearly just the rudimentary version of scientific analysis, but it is essential to separating fact from fiction.
Therefore, when a well-educated, well-reputable expert on a subject gives advice about it, that usually means that what they are advising is based on exhaustive research, multiple peer-reviewed studies, and ensuring that the data is as accurate as possible.
Yes, what the experts tell you may be unsettling, and even sometimes cause an earthquake like, existential crisis in your brain. However, it doesn’t mean the facts are any less true.
And here is something just as important as facts: The ability and humility to say **I Don’t Know**.
If you ask me to explain Quantum Physics, I will say, “I don’t know. I first need to research it thoroughly.”
If you ask me whether I believe in the Law of Attraction, I will say, “I don’t know. I need to see the empirical evidence”.
Bottom line: Always be a seeker of truth. Always do your research. Always care about *real* facts. And always be willing to say *I don’t know*.