With so much information at our fingertips we have become expert skimmers. What is that doing to us? It is steadily and methodically transforming the character of our culture. Our current society has evolved into a culture of ‘instant information and gratification.’ We are bombarded with a vast number of messages daily via social media, the news, television, and even flashing billboard signs aimed at gratifying our senses. “ We listen with unshakeable faith to the fatuous patter of carefully trained and indoctrinated guides who have bogus statistics and mindless slogans endlessly intoned in them.” (Malcolm Muggeridge,English journalist) It involves effort , a lot of effort to question and to challenge what we read or are being told when we are so easily distracted by entertainments or diverted by consumerism.
Consider this, why do we vest all our beliefs in a single person or governing body? When we do,aren’t we creating a climate which amplifies and exaggerates that individual’s or group’s understanding of their authority. How often in history have we seen this new found authority lead to a greater concentration of power? It never seems to work out well for the general populace. Without any kind of objective or just reporting these governing bodies, in their greed and ambition ,flood the world with untrue or incorrect assertions, blaming a crisis on a few isolated ‘fools’ to provide an explanation of why such extreme measures have been necessary. Doesn’t that make them ‘misleaders’?
We have been lulled into complacency rather than being challenged. We tend to get swept up in the moment because we want easy answers. And ,as we are creatures of habit, we allow these habits to take hold. Where has our independence, individuality, and integrity gone? Patience and persistence seem to have become a lost art. Shouldn’t we be thinking more, reading more, learning more, teaching our children not only to read but to question what they are reading and for that matter to question everything. Why do we continue to accept everything at face value? We seem to forget how to form our own opinions. Euripides,an ancient Greek philosopher once said “ Question everything, learn something.”
Shouldn’t we?
Mary-Anne MacDonaldd
Summerland
Bonnie Thompson says
Totally agree and in my later years I seem to be on a quest for knowledge and ask many questions and that is how I learn. However, being brought up in an age where you had news outlets that only gave you the facts and didn’t weave in their opinion I don’t immediately think to question them. Thank you for bringing this forward, I will be more diligent.
Mary-Anne MacDonald says
you are welcome!
I cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples( Mother Theresa)
That’s all I’m trying to do.
Paul Eby says
I agree, but now days when one questions something openly, they are labeled as a conspiracy theorist.
Bill Eggert says
I was thinking the exact same thing!
Many who question the popular consensus have gone underground as a result or shut up fearing for their jobs. I mean, how often can you endure being called an idiot or worse by the group think. Probably (hedging my bets to resist being called an idiot again) why the pollsters are having such a rough time these days.
Mary-Anne MacDonald says
Can we not just be skeptics and question the validity of information and learn to do our own research without being considered conspiracy theorists?
Ingrid Plattmann says
Great article, Thank You. I also review my life daily concerning those 5 virtues that you speak of. I want my power and individuality to be held and to live wisely. Oliver is a great place to practice, as, we have so many thoughtful retirees here who have the time to contemplate and reach greater insights daily. I meet them every day as my dog and I walk the beautiful parks and trails along the river.