Has technology made us into lazy thinkers? Having access to information so easily makes it simple to get answers, but how do we know they are the right answers?

How do we know whether what we are being told, even by so called reliable sources, is the truth?

There are so many hidden agendas and narratives in our media channels and unless we are prepared to seek alternative views, we may well be guilty of becoming lazy thinkers.

Even in the latest pandemic the Chairman of the Board of the U.K. Council for Psychotherapy wrote to the British Prime minister recently to say “I unreservedly condemn the U.K. Government’s use of unethical psychological techniques intended to elicit feelings of fear, shame and guilt, under the guise of behavioural science and insights which were designed to change the public’s behaviour without their knowledge and conscious participation.”

Socrates was known to be critical of democracy because he said it assumes that everyone has the same ability to think, seek the truth and make good decisions. Whilst his views may have been a little extreme, it’s hard not to sympathise, given that people go no further than the easiest accessible media to find their version of the truth.

Maybe you don’t like the idea of being labelled as a lazy thinker, but sometimes the truth is hard to swallow. Is it time to start seeking alternative views and as Socrates suggests, ask more questions to become truth seekers, rather than being manipulated?

 

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