Lost of critical thinking in an era of confusion

During the pandemic, we all passed many changes as individuals and as a society. A long period of terror and confusion has been induced by the lack of clarity and incapability to fully understand what we are fighting against. One of the biggest development observed throughout the Western world in that period is the development of violence, frustration, and dichotomy. We have lost trust. Some of us in our government, some in sciences, some in their neighbors, and some in society.

In her book “The Shock Doctrine,” Neomi Klein describes in detail how the effect of an economic and physical shock can reshape society to its core. While we can disagree on how we change as a society in this covid era, I believe it is clear to all everything has changed. We all became something new, personally and as a society. 

The creation of society and its prosperity is based on some kind of social understanding and the willingness of its individuals to cooperate. This cooperation is the root of any prosperous society. Since society is based on the many actions of personal actors, the fundamental ideas of tolerance and acceptance are the core value of any productive society. Accepting others, accepting that others think and act differently, and accepting that we are all entitled to our thoughts and action, are the basis of any healthy social contract.

To maintain such a healthy relationship between individuals in a society, two things must exist: Tolerance and critical thinking. Tolerance is based on the capacity to accept that different people can think differently. Furthermore,, it is the acceptance that different thoughts are healthy and create the variety and riches of society itself. It is not only important that people think differently and can share it openly. It is a fundamental need to create progress, uniqueness, and advancement.

Critical thinking is probably more complicated but not less important. A person can question and doubt his assumptions. The world is complex and constantly changing. Many things that are true today will be false tomorrow. In many cases, many think that are good and relevant today change over time. The basic idea of critical thinking can be summarized as follows: when evaluating a thought, search to be proven wrong instead of seeking affirmation of what you already know. To pursue such a path, a person must confront (peacefully) another person holding different values. This is the only way. In most cases, a person cannot be aware of what he doesn’t know. It is a hard process that requires humility and honesty. Nevertheless, it is the only way to truly understand what is true.

In today's day and age, it seems our society lost both tolerance and critical thinking. We prefer to let the authorities dictate truths, as we are exhausted. We attack any person who thinks differently and categorizes him as a conspiracy theory radicalist because it makes us uncomfortable. This feeling of uncomfortability comes from the deep understanding that we could be wrong. We hate it! Not because we hate the idea that another person can be right. But because it reminds us how much we don’t know and how much it scares us.

Crises are temporary and pass over time, and Societal changes affect generations ahead. In this reality of fear and dichotomy, friendships are broken, and families are falling apart because of a lack of tolerance and critical thinking. Those losses and scars make us more lonely, fragile, and scared. Our society is falling apart, hailing for our government to save us all from what is eventually our incapability to recognize ourselves in the mirror. We can blame only ourselves for what we have become. Not the pandemic, our neighbors, or our government.

Let us try to listen to each other again. Accept and support each other regardless of our differences. Bring back small hopes and beautiful moments together. Slowly slowly, step by step. Because the happiness and health our each of us and our society as a whole

Learn more about the subject by reading my other post and my latest books.