[–] RandomNumberGod 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Because for a working-class laborer, feeding their kids is more important than intellectual pursuits. In order to understand that your immediate needs are best fulfilled by resolving the larger problems of your society, you must spend the effort necessary to understand the deeper mechanisms at work, but for your mind to engage in such frivolous pursuits, it demands that your more essential needs are fulfilled first. It's a vicious circle, where the poor never attain political consciousness because they are too busy trying to get by. This theory captures the idea pretty well.
Of course, there isn't a strict flowchart that your brain follows, there exist both natural thinkers and the intellectually lazy.
Agree with what you say, but that isn't really what I was questioning. I don't believe you need to be focused on intellectual pursuits or have attained some political consciousness to realise that you don't know something. Being self-aware is not an educational thing - in reality accepting that you are not an authority on something does not need to be learned. So I guess like some posters have said before it comes down to a need to maintain self esteem (with an inherent need for belonging if you will), even though it's based on flimsy opinion pieces that people choose to believe without thought.
[–] deathcomesilent 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
If a person does what you just described, they simply don't care about, or don't understand the consequences of that action.
If we are being honest here, the human problem lies with self esteem, and the systemic issue lies with platforms like voat and reddit. Uncensored fourms certainly do more good than not, but they also certainly put people in a situation where they are willing to be amoral as long as they get some arbitrary reward like kudos, or props, or karma, or ccp, or whatever.
This simple concept is why I will never take info without (at least) 2 sources.
[–] Konran [S] 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
Yeah, sorry. Should've been a little more specific. I guess I was meaning the mainstream media - things like with the recent Greece default issue. I have heard so many people blaming the Greeks for their predicament because they are greedy, selfish and lazy just because that is the general narrative being churned out by the recognised press. Either that or the polar opposite which is everyone else in the Eurozone is greedy, selfish yet hard-working. It seems to me as if people can't really be bothered to ask 'Why would this be the story that we are being fed?' nowadays. Maybe it's an educational problem because I remember my mother always telling me to ask questions and look deeper which really pissed my teachers off at school as well as many other life aquaintances I've met outside of that particular institution.
[–] newoldwave ago
It's the "go along with the crowd" mentality.
[–] CommonSense ago (edited ago)
Because that is how they are raised. Government takes children from parents at age 4-5, and starts cramming propaganda in them for 40 hours a week. And, then, they reward them for being able to regurgitate that information onto paper. They don't teach them how to think critically, and they are very systematic about which information they allow them to have.
You literally spend your whole life doing exactly what you're asking about.
[–] Erudite_Scholar 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
I would not say that this 'majority of people' lack intellect or are mentally inferior as that would only be elevating oneself and one's ingroup to seem more special than the outgroup, the people mentioned in the title. I would say, on the other hand, that they lack certain education, and an understanding of persuasion.
Long ago Aristotle laid out three primary means of persuasion that are still relevant today. Pathos, ethos, and logos. In very simplified terms pathos would be emotional, ethos would be credibility or authority, and logos as logic and reasoning.
As far as psychology and brain chemistry are concerned, making use of the third means, logos, requires the most resources or effort. Willpower would be considered limited and it takes an act of will to think through arguments and statements and form one's own opinion.
In our society the media, government, or public figures are automatically considered to have a certain level of ethos, credibility or authority, providing persuasiveness, compared to the general public or even one's own ideas. On top of this, accepting the dictates of one with ethos requires very little work or effort on one's own part, as very little resources need to be spent if one just accepts what they are told, and usually comes with the benefit of the agreement of one's peers or society that are similarly influenced.
On top of that, this type of rhetoric is usually performed as an appeal to pathos, emotion, playing on public fears such as being killed by terrorism or the threat of harm to children. This appeal is usually disguised by a thin veil of logos, logic, by skewing the facts to make a proposition seem reasonable or necessary such as acting as though there is a much greater chance of a terrorist attack then there really is or that there are predators everywhere and one cannot leave children alone. When the majority of publicized narrative can be controlled nonissues can seem not only relevant but in need of everyone's direct action and attention and real issues that affect the majority of the populace can be marginalized to the extent that the public ignores them. In this way all three, primary categories of persuasion are tapped and utilized to control public discourse and opinion.
This control of narrative can be used to not only push an agenda but to convince the public to ostracize or label as crazy those that would propose a differing opinion to the official narrative no matter how much evidence is brought to bear to support a claim.
I said at the beginning that people lack education and understanding, but that is something that can be changed. People can learn, adapt, and evolve. Their views and understanding of the world can grow over time, just as the person in Plato's Allegory of the Cave, even if the process is difficult or uncomfortable.
The only real solution, that I can see, to this is to educate the majority of people on what persuasion is, how to persuade others, and how to think critically. Critical thinking courses and an understanding of the mind and society should be taught throughout one’s schooling life, from an early age, through classes in philosophy, psychology, and sociology. Basic rationality with an understanding in biases, heuristics, logical fallacies, and how indoctrination works should be standard, not the exception relegated only to those that go out of their way to learn these things.
I see education reform in order to create a critical thinking populace as the best way to create a stable and prosperous society that can act in both humanity’s short-term and long-term interest.
Sorry for the wall of text. I know this went beyond the original question, but I think it is important to not only understand the problem but the solution as well.
I would like to plug School of Thought. In the past I ran across this group, whose views were similar to my own, and it was heartening to see a group working towards one of the same aims as I.
[–] Konran [S] 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Great post. Thanks for the link too. Please don't apologise.
Reading through your thoughts I was reminded of the quote from Francis Bacon, 'Truth is the daughter of time, not of authority'. Although it depends on the authority and also if we are given enough time!
Anwyay, I agree wholeheartedly with your sentiment and feel our current educational institutions are acting like mind-prisons to different degrees. As a professional within education I have been lucky in that I have total freedom (more or less) to deliver my classes in a bespoke manner, and I enjoy pushing the limits of my students intellectual comfort zones. Simply asking someone to imagine they are in the shoes of someone else can help break certain mind patterns. In my experience examining philosophical questions and gaining a deeper understanding of what it is to be human at an early age are essential if we are to have any hope of achieving a better world for all.
[–] Erudite_Scholar 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Taking another perspective is a good approach; once you have reason everything else does come down to perspective. I like to use the Socratic approach to facilitate reason and encourage others to form their own opinions by continuing to ask questions like why and how.
In any case, I'm glad you feel the same and are making a difference with your students.