Whatever happened to common sense?

Del Chatterson

Oct 24, 20242 min read

Collective stupidity is now more common.

We used to call it conventional wisdom. When the experts agreed, we accepted it. We called them experts for a reason. They had studied the subject, done the research, analyzed the data and had their work reviewed by other experts before sharing the conclusions with the rest of us. How could reasonable people argue with that?

Well, we started to deny their expertise and stopped believing the truth. You’ve seen the tweets and the placards, “I’m not stoopid!” “I know more than the eggspurts!”

The truth can be more than inconvenient, it can be disturbing and painful. We don’t always handle it well. It can make us angry or fearful, and ignorance makes us even more susceptible to alternative truths and people telling us how to handle it. “Deny it!” “Blame those bastards in power!” “It’s not our fault, it’s their fault!”

And those alternative truths, better described as lies and misinformation, are repeated endlessly by those who have a vested interest in provoking action based on fear, anger and ignorance, that benefits them. “Follow me!” “Buy this!” “Do that!” or “Vote for me!”

Their tactics are obvious: ignore the facts; tell another version of the truth, be outrageous; raise the volume; repeat, and repeat. Whether you call it propaganda, or marketing, or just politics, it still works. You don’t have to be an expert and it’s impervious to fact-checking. The messages are hard to ignore and they get too much attention online and in the mainstream media. Even those who point and laugh at the messengers inadvertently send them new followers.

The critics and opponents, the regulators and those of us who have a vested interest in the truth, need to be just as effective at getting our message to those who aren’t listening. It starts by listening to them first to understand their fears, anger, and ignorance. Not by telling them, “You can’t handle the truth!”

We need to have those critical conversations to get back to common sense. Don’t give up. Keep working at it. Slow progress is better than none.

Be better. Do Better.