Why Critical Thinking Is Disappearing – The Rise of Collective Stupidity

Imagine waking up one day to discover that most people around you no longer question anything. That the world has become so

anything. That the world has become so loud, so fast, and so saturated with information that the human mind, once a powerful tool for inquiry, discernment,

and growth, has dulled into passive acceptance. Think about that. Think what

acceptance. Think about that. Think what

happens to a society where critical thinking vanishes? Where the ability to

thinking vanishes? Where the ability to reason, challenge, and reflect is replaced by instant reactions, surface level opinions, and collective echo chambers. In this video, we are going to

chambers. In this video, we are going to uncover the disturbing truth behind the disappearance of critical thinking, and the dangerous rise of what some philosophers now call collective

stupidity. a phenomenon where masses of

stupidity. a phenomenon where masses of people adopt shallow thinking, blindly accept narratives and surrender their intellectual independence without even realizing it. And at the end of this

realizing it. And at the end of this journey, we will uncover the most powerful and urgent truth of all. One

that could determine whether we reclaim our minds or lose them entirely to a system designed to keep us comfortably numb. But before we dive deep, take a

numb. But before we dive deep, take a moment to subscribe to the channel, leave your like and share your thoughts in the comments. The content you're about to experience may challenge your

perceptions and even shake the very foundations of how you see the world.

Share this with those who dare to think and who still believe that truth is something worth seeking. Let's begin

with an uncomfortable truth. Thinking is

hard and in today's world, it's often discouraged. The modern environment

discouraged. The modern environment doesn't reward contemplation. It rewards

speed, emotional response, and conformity. And this isn't by accident.

conformity. And this isn't by accident.

From algorithms that feed you only what you want to hear to educational systems that prioritize memorization over exploration, society is actively conditioning us away from critical

thought. The philosopher Noam Chomsky

thought. The philosopher Noam Chomsky warned us about this decades ago. In his

analysis of media and propaganda, he explained how power structures rely on what he called the manufacturing of consent. In other words, when people are

consent. In other words, when people are trained to consume without questioning, to agree without understanding, they become easy to manage and even easier to deceive. Critical thinking, once

deceive. Critical thinking, once considered a fundamental human skill, is now seen as inconvenient. It gets in the way of outrage culture. It slows down

online debates. It challenges

online debates. It challenges ideologies. It dares to ask, "But is

ideologies. It dares to ask, "But is this really true?" And in a world obsessed with being right, simply asking that question is seen as dangerous. But

how did we get here? The problem runs deep. One of the key drivers is the

deep. One of the key drivers is the information overload we all experience daily. According to neuroscientist

daily. According to neuroscientist Daniel Levverin, the average person today processes five times more information per day than they did just a few decades ago. We are bombarded with

notifications, messages, breaking news, opinions, ads, and updates every waking moment. Our minds were not built for

moment. Our minds were not built for this kind of input. When the brain is overwhelmed, it shortcuts. It starts to rely on mental habits, cognitive biases,

and group think to navigate complexity.

Rather than evaluate ideas critically, it looks for cues from others, especially from peers, influencers, or perceived authorities. This is called

perceived authorities. This is called social proof. And while it's a natural

social proof. And while it's a natural survival mechanism, it can be easily manipulated. Think of how often you've

manipulated. Think of how often you've seen an online post with thousands of likes and comments and assumed it must be true or important. That's not reason speaking. That's a psychological

speaking. That's a psychological shortcut and it's one of the reasons collective stupidity spreads so easily.

Not because people are unintelligent, but because they're being conditioned to follow signals instead of reason.

Another disturbing trend is the decline of reading, especially deep reading.

Neuroscientist Maryanne Wolf describes how our brains are being rewired by digital media. We now skim more, jump

digital media. We now skim more, jump between tabs, and struggle to maintain focus on longer texts. But here's the catch. Critical thinking requires

catch. Critical thinking requires sustained attention. You cannot analyze,

sustained attention. You cannot analyze, reflect, or truly understand if your attention span is constantly fractured.

Ask yourself, when was the last time you read an entire article without checking your phone? When was the last time you

your phone? When was the last time you paused after hearing something provocative to think rather than react?

These small habits, once common, are vanishing. The late Carl Sean, one of

vanishing. The late Carl Sean, one of the great minds of the 20th century, once warned, "We live in a society exquisitly dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows

anything about science and technology."

His concern was not just ignorance, but the erosion of the ability to think critically about the systems we depend on. In a world full of opinions, hot

on. In a world full of opinions, hot takes, and ideological warfare, the greatest rebellion is the quiet act of thinking clearly. But the problem isn't

thinking clearly. But the problem isn't just technological or educational. It's

also emotional. Critical thinking is uncomfortable. It forces us to admit

uncomfortable. It forces us to admit that we don't know everything. It

challenges our egos. It can lead us into cognitive dissonance, where our cherished beliefs clash with new evidence. And in a culture that values

evidence. And in a culture that values certainty, confidence, and identity above all, this is deeply threatening.

So instead of thinking, we defend. We

retreat into our tribes. We repeat

mantras. We cancel. We avoid. We

memorize slogans instead of engaging in dialectic. The kind of honest Socratic

dialectic. The kind of honest Socratic dialogue that has powered philosophical evolution for millennia. What we are witnessing now is not just a decline in thinking. It's a social shift toward

thinking. It's a social shift toward mental laziness. And yet the

mental laziness. And yet the consequences are devastating because when people stop thinking, they stop questioning. And when people stop

questioning. And when people stop questioning, they become vulnerable to manipulation, to propaganda, to fear.

And the question we must all ask is this: Who benefits when a population no longer thinks for itself? Stay with me because what comes next will uncover just how deeply these forces are woven

into our daily lives and why reclaiming our capacity to think is not just a personal task but a moral responsibility. To understand the roots

responsibility. To understand the roots of this collective decline, we must look beyond the surface and trace how certain systems have evolved not to nurture

critical thought but to suppress it.

Let's begin with the education system.

John Taylor Gatau, an award-winning teacher and outspoken critic of traditional schooling, argued that modern education does not exist to create independent thinkers. In his

words, "The truth is that schools don't really teach anything except how to obey orders." Gatau claimed that compulsory

orders." Gatau claimed that compulsory schooling was designed during the industrial age not to enlighten students, but to prepare them for factory life, predictable, obedient, and

non-disruptive. Think about that.

non-disruptive. Think about that.

Instead of teaching how to think, we are taught what to think. From early ages, children are evaluated not on the originality or depth of their thoughts, but on their ability to memorize and

regurgitate. Conformity is rewarded.

regurgitate. Conformity is rewarded.

Curiosity is often treated as a distraction. And over time, the message

distraction. And over time, the message becomes clear. Follow the rules, color

becomes clear. Follow the rules, color inside the lines, and don't ask too many questions. This pattern doesn't end in

questions. This pattern doesn't end in school. It only intensifies in adult

school. It only intensifies in adult life. In the workplace, in media, even

life. In the workplace, in media, even in our friendships, we learn that speaking out, questioning consensus, or holding unpopular views can cost us. The

fear of social exclusion, of being labeled difficult or controversial is often enough to silence even our most pressing doubts, and so we stay quiet.

But silence over time becomes complicity. The psychologist Eric from

complicity. The psychologist Eric from observed this in his book Escape from Freedom where he explained how many people secretly want to surrender their freedom of thought because true freedom

comes with responsibility and responsibility can be terrifying.

Thinking for yourself means you can no longer blame others for your ignorance.

You can no longer take comfort in the crowd. You must face the uncertainty of

crowd. You must face the uncertainty of truth and that for many is too great a burden. So instead we choose comfort. We

burden. So instead we choose comfort. We

choose distraction. We choose simplicity over complexity. And in doing so, we

over complexity. And in doing so, we become easier to control. Social media

has accelerated this problem to unimaginable levels. What was once a

unimaginable levels. What was once a space for global connection has become a battlefield of opinion wars, outrage cycles, and algorithmic manipulation.

Every platform is designed to keep you scrolling reacting consuming not thinking. You are nudged constantly

thinking. You are nudged constantly toward content that confirms your beliefs. You are encouraged to respond

beliefs. You are encouraged to respond instantly, emotionally and often angrily. The platforms reward

angrily. The platforms reward engagement, not truth. They thrive on division, not understanding. And in the middle of all this noise, the voice of

reason is drowned out. Thoughtfulness

appears slow, weak, even irrelevant. Why

reflect when reacting is faster and earns more likes? Philosopher Marshall

McLuhan foresaw this in the 1960s. He

warned that the medium is the message, meaning that the way we receive information changes how we think.

Today's mediums encourage speed over depth, outrage over nuance, and certainty over humility. Even truth

itself has become distorted. In the age of misinformation, what is true often becomes less important than what is viral. People no longer evaluate the

viral. People no longer evaluate the merit of ideas based on evidence or logic. They judge them based on how many

logic. They judge them based on how many people agree. This is the tyranny of the

people agree. This is the tyranny of the majority in its most dangerous form. Not

political but cognitive. So where do we go from here? We begin by asking better questions. Questions that challenge the

questions. Questions that challenge the status quo. Questions that demand real

status quo. Questions that demand real answers, not slogans or statistics stripped of context. What are you being told to believe? Who benefits from that belief? What assumptions lie beneath

belief? What assumptions lie beneath your certainty? How often do you seek

your certainty? How often do you seek out opposing views not to attack them but to understand them? These are not easy questions but they are necessary because the antidote to collective

stupidity is not just intelligence. It

is courage. Courage to be wrong. Courage

to learn. Courage to admit that you don't know and to start the journey of knowing anyway. Socrates, one of the

knowing anyway. Socrates, one of the earliest champions of critical thinking, famously claimed, "The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing." This

was not self-deprecation.

It was an invitation to stay curious, to keep asking, and to remain intellectually humble in the face of a vast, mysterious world. And yet today,

humility is rare. Certainty is woripped.

Arrogance is mistaken for wisdom.

Everyone has an opinion, but few have understanding. Everyone wants to speak,

understanding. Everyone wants to speak, but few want to listen. The irony is that true thinkers are often quiet, observant, reserved. They know that

observant, reserved. They know that wisdom grows not from noise, but from silence, from contemplation, from deep engagement with complexity. And this is

precisely why critical thinkers are often outnumbered and ignored. In a

culture that rewards speed and spectacle, the slow process of thinking stands little chance. But it must not be abandoned. Because once you give up your

abandoned. Because once you give up your ability to think for yourself, you are no longer free. You are a puppet. Your

strings pulled by forces you do not see.

And let us be clear, those forces are not abstract. They are economic,

not abstract. They are economic, political, and cultural. They are the companies that profit from your addiction to mindless content. The

politicians who rely on your emotional reactions, the institutions that depend on your unquestioning obedience. But

when you reclaim your mind, everything changes. You become harder to

changes. You become harder to manipulate. You begin to see through the

manipulate. You begin to see through the illusion. You stop being a passive

illusion. You stop being a passive consumer of ideas and become an active seeker of truth. And in that act, however small, you light a fire. A fire

that has burned through history in philosophers scientists revolutionaries, and truthtellers who refuse to stop thinking. So the question now is this. Will you do the same? Stay

with me because in the next segment we will dig deeper into the psychology behind collective thinking. You'll

discover why even the most intelligent people fall into these traps and how the brain can be tricked into believing what it wants to be true instead of what is true. We're not done. In fact, the most

true. We're not done. In fact, the most important revelation is yet to come. To

truly understand the rise of collective stupidity, we need to explore the battlefield within the mind itself.

Despite our faith in logic, the truth is that the human brain is far more emotional than it is rational. We like

to believe we make decisions based on facts. But the reality is far more

facts. But the reality is far more complicated. In his groundbreaking work,

complicated. In his groundbreaking work, thinking fast and slow, Nobel Prizewinning psychologist Daniel Carnean showed that our brains operate using two

systems. One fast and instinctive, the other slow and deliberate. The fast

system is quick, automatic, emotional.

It jumps to conclusions, makes snap judgments, and conserves energy. The

slow system is thoughtful, analytical, cautious, but it requires effort. And

here lies the issue. In our high-speed, always on world, most people are stuck in fast mode. There is simply no time or will to slow down and think deeply. So,

we rely on huristics, stereotypes, and mental shortcuts that feel right but are often wrong. This is fertile ground for

often wrong. This is fertile ground for mass manipulation. politicians,

mass manipulation. politicians, marketers, media outlets, they all understand how to exploit our mental shortcuts. They package complex issues

shortcuts. They package complex issues into simple binaries. They use

emotionally charged language to bypass reason. They prime us with repeated

reason. They prime us with repeated narratives until we accept them as truth, not because we verified them, but because they feel familiar. And the

danger is once we accept something as true, our brains begin to defend that belief regardless of evidence. This is

known as confirmation bias and it's one of the most powerful cognitive traps in existence. Take a moment to think about

existence. Take a moment to think about your own beliefs. How often do you seek out evidence that contradicts them? How

often do you truly listen to opposing arguments rather than preparing your counterpoint? If you're honest, probably

counterpoint? If you're honest, probably not as often as you think. And that's

not a flaw. It's human nature. But it

becomes a problem when we're unaware of it. Another key concept is group think.

it. Another key concept is group think.

a psychological phenomenon where the desire for harmony or conformity in a group leads to irrational or dysfunctional decisions. It's been

dysfunctional decisions. It's been documented in everything from corporate disasters to historical atrocities.

People silence their doubts for the sake of unity. They choose consensus over

of unity. They choose consensus over truth. Social psychologist Irving Janis,

truth. Social psychologist Irving Janis, who coined the term, found that even highly intelligent, well-intentioned people can make catastrophic decisions when they suppress dissent and avoid

critical evaluation. Why? Because

critical evaluation. Why? Because

challenging the group feels unsafe.

Because going against the grain requires more than intelligence. It requires

integrity and courage. And yet history shows us that progress has always come from those who dared to think differently. Galileo, Darwin, Nietze,

differently. Galileo, Darwin, Nietze, Martin Luther King. They were all rejected, ridiculed, or attacked for their ideas. But they thought anyway,

their ideas. But they thought anyway, they spoke anyway. And their willingness to challenge the collective ignorance of their time shaped the world we live in today. But make no mistake, there is a

today. But make no mistake, there is a cost. To think critically in a society

cost. To think critically in a society that punishes doubt is an act of rebellion. You risk being misunderstood,

rebellion. You risk being misunderstood, ostracized, even hated. But you also gain something invaluable. Clarity,

self-respect, and the quiet power that comes from knowing that your beliefs are yours, not programmed into you. Let's

bring this closer to home. Why do so many of us feel lost, anxious, or unfulfilled, even with access to more information and technology than any generation before? The answer lies not

generation before? The answer lies not in what we have, but in what we've lost.

And one of the greatest losses is the habit of inner dialogue. the ability to sit with a question, explore it, and allow truth to emerge through reflection. We've outsourced our

reflection. We've outsourced our thinking to machines, to media, to public opinion. But no algorithm can

public opinion. But no algorithm can tell you what is true for you. No

trending topic can replace your inner voice. And no mass movement can

voice. And no mass movement can substitute for the quiet certainty of a well-examined belief. So what can we do?

well-examined belief. So what can we do?

We can start by cultivating awareness.

Awareness of our mental habits.

Awareness of the sources we consume.

Awareness of when we're thinking and when we're simply reacting. One powerful

practice is metacognition. Thinking

about our thinking. Ask yourself, what's influencing my opinion right now? Am I

open to being wrong? Am I engaging with this idea or just absorbing it passively? Another is the deliberate

passively? Another is the deliberate practice of dialectical thinking. The

ability to hold two opposing ideas in tension while exploring them. This is

not just intellectual flexibility. It's

mental strength. It allows you to go beyond binaries, beyond us versus them and into the realm where real understanding is born. The philosopher

Jidu Krishna Morti said, "To understand the immeasurable, the mind must be extraordinarily quiet, still. That

stillness so rare in our age is where the seeds of wisdom grow. But let us also speak plainly. Critical thinking is not something you acquire overnight. It

is a discipline. It requires reading, not just headlines, but books, full arguments, and nuanced thought. It

requires listening, not just to those you agree with, but especially to those you don't. It requires humility, the

you don't. It requires humility, the kind that accepts uncertainty as part of the path. And above all, it requires the

the path. And above all, it requires the rejection of intellectual laziness. If

something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If everyone around you

probably is. If everyone around you believes something without question, that's your cue to pause. Not to rebel automatically, but to investigate honestly. In a time when ignorance is

honestly. In a time when ignorance is loud and confidence is often mistaken for competence, thinking deeply is not just a personal virtue. It's a public service. Because the future of any

service. Because the future of any society depends not on the volume of its opinions, but on the quality of its thought. And the most powerful change

thought. And the most powerful change begins not with mass movements, but with one person who chooses to think clearly in a world that doesn't. In the final part of this journey, we will reveal the

most important truth of all, the core reason why critical thinking is disappearing, and what you can do to not only resist this tide, but to become a light for others. What you're about to

hear could change the way you see your mind, your relationships, and your role in shaping the world. At the heart of this entire crisis, beneath the digital

noise, the failing institutions, the cultural polarization, there is something even more insidious. The real

reason critical thinking is disappearing is not because people are incapable of it, but because they are afraid of what it might reveal. To think critically is to risk everything that gives us

psychological safety, our identity, our beliefs, our tribe. And for many, those things are too precious to question. We

live in a time when identity has become sacred. People define themselves by

sacred. People define themselves by their opinions, their affiliations, their ideologies. To challenge an idea

their ideologies. To challenge an idea is now seen as a personal attack. But

this is precisely the illusion that destroys thought that we are our ideas.

You are not your political party. You

are not your religion. You are not your social group. You are a human being with

social group. You are a human being with the capacity to evolve, to learn, and to change. And that journey of evolution

change. And that journey of evolution begins the moment you detach your worth from your current beliefs. The final and most important truth is this. Critical

thinking is not just an intellectual skill. It is a spiritual act. It is the

skill. It is a spiritual act. It is the act of honoring truth over comfort, growth over certainty, and freedom over approval. It is the quiet decision to

approval. It is the quiet decision to live with your eyes open even when the light burns. Because once you start

light burns. Because once you start thinking critically, you begin to see the structures that surround you. The

systems of manipulation, the algorithms of control, the masks people wear. And

it can be overwhelming. It can even be painful. But it is real. And reality, no

painful. But it is real. And reality, no matter how uncomfortable, is the only foundation upon which true freedom can be built. As philosopher and

be built. As philosopher and psychologist Carl Jung once said, "People will do anything, no matter how absurd, to avoid facing their own

souls." And yet facing our inner world,

souls." And yet facing our inner world, our unconscious motives, our inherited beliefs, our cognitive traps is the very essence of thinking. Critical thinking

is not just about questioning the world.

It's about questioning yourself. It's

about asking why do I believe what I believe? Where did this idea come from?

believe? Where did this idea come from?

What parts of me are afraid to let go of it? When you ask those questions

it? When you ask those questions honestly, a new world opens. Not just a world of knowledge, but of wisdom. And

wisdom is what our society is starving for. In a culture addicted to quick

for. In a culture addicted to quick answers, wisdom invites deeper questions. In a system built on noise,

questions. In a system built on noise, wisdom offers silence. In an era of mass conformity, wisdom dares to be free.

This is your invitation not just to think, but to wake up, to stop living as a product of your environment and start becoming the architect of your mind.

Because no school, no system, no social media platform will do this for you. The

responsibility is yours alone. And when

you rise to it, something extraordinary happens. You begin to see with clarity.

happens. You begin to see with clarity.

You begin to feel what it's like to live in alignment with truth. Not borrowed

truth, not popular truth, but your own hard-earned truth. You begin to notice

hard-earned truth. You begin to notice when manipulation is being used against you. You start seeing the difference

you. You start seeing the difference between information and propaganda, between education and indoctrination, between connection and performance. And

most importantly, you begin to lead, not with noise, not with ego, but with depth. You become a light in a dark

depth. You become a light in a dark room, a voice of calm in a storm of outrage, a grounded thinker in a world of reactionaries. This is what the world

of reactionaries. This is what the world needs now more than ever. Not louder

voices, not sharper arguments, but deeper minds. Minds that are willing to

deeper minds. Minds that are willing to sit in complexity. Minds that are willing to say, "I don't know, but I'm willing to learn." Minds that are no longer seeking to win debates, but to

understand reality. If you want to

understand reality. If you want to change the world, start by changing the way you think. Not because it's easy, not because it's popular, but because it's right. The rise of collective

it's right. The rise of collective stupidity is not a cause. It's a

symptom. No symptom of fear, of fatigue, of a world too distracted to look inward. But every act of thinking

inward. But every act of thinking clearly pushes back against that tide.

Every moment you pause to reflect instead of react. Every time you ask a question instead of assuming the answer, every time you choose clarity over comfort, you reclaim your power. So as

we end this journey, remember the most revolutionary thing you can do in this moment is not to shout, not to conform, not to repeat, but to think. Let the

others sleepwalk through slogans and screens. Let them trade their freedom

screens. Let them trade their freedom for validation. But not you. You are

for validation. But not you. You are

awake now. And once you awaken, you can never go back. If this message resonated with you, share it. Not because it's trendy, but because it's necessary.

Leave a comment with your reflections, your doubts, your insights. Because

critical thinking doesn't grow in silence. It grows in dialogue. And if

silence. It grows in dialogue. And if

you're still with me, know this. You are

not alone. There is a quiet revolution happening, a movement not of noise, but of minds, not of outrage, but of awareness. And it begins every time one

awareness. And it begins every time one person chooses to ask the harder question. Let that person be you. Stay

question. Let that person be you. Stay

curious. Stay awake. And above all, keep thinking. Thanks for looking.

thinking. Thanks for looking.