It’s fascinating to hear people speak about the stupidity of others in history for their firm belief in what some authority figure told them.

“How could people ever believe that?”

Well, let’s look at it this way:
Up until recently in history, not everyone had access to an education. Learning to read, write, think, discern and perform calculations were reserved only for the rich and elite. Those who were fortunate enough to get their children into religious orders gave their kids a fighting chance as the temples, monasteries and training grounds included a proper education.

While many people were intelligent in their own right, masters of their crafts and reflective of the world, literacy was not something granted to them. Without it, there was not much they can do but make their best attempts at discerning the information being given to them by an orator.

Then an explosion of literacy happened thanks in large part to the printing press allowing people to access information for cheap. People suddenly became critical of what was being said, comparing notes to what others in the world were saying as well. We could also detect forgeries, mis-attributions and when people were writing under pseudonyms. We no longer relied on the thinking of others because we could do the thinking ourselves.

It seems history always has a way of repeating itself.

The explosion of information once more made possible by cheap and easy access to the Internet should have unleashed another torrent of critical thinkers. Since we are still in the infancy stages of this revolution, that may be happening, but another disturbing trend is occurring as well.

We’ve set aside our critical eye and are once again swayed by the presentation of an orator.

Instead of standing on a pedestal, convincing us of what we should be thinking, we watch them on their video channels, social media feeds or their documentaries and are swayed by their arguments. The more compelling their words, the more stunning their visuals and the more seamless their editing, the more we are likely to fall in line without a second thought.

Once again we’re asking, “How could people ever believe that?”

The reason is we’re suckers for a good story.

Critical thinking is hard and it’s much simpler if we just let someone tell us what to think.

We can do better and we should…

because it’s never been easier.