In a world overflowing with headlines, opinions, and endless scrolling, it’s becoming harder to pause and truly think for ourselves. Recently, I watched the video “Why Critical Thinking Is Disappearing | The Rise of Collective Stupidity”, and it left me unsettled in the best possible way. It wasn’t a video designed to comfort—it was meant to wake us up. And in many ways, it did.

The video spoke about something many of us feel but rarely stop to confront: that we are slowly losing the ability to question. With information flooding our minds from every direction, we risk trading clarity for noise, and truth for convenience. Philosophers now call this collective stupidity—a condition where we conform without noticing, stop questioning without realising, and lose our capacity for truth without even meaning to.

The Age of Noise

Our brains were not built for this level of overload. Scroll long enough and you’ll notice it—your thoughts no longer feel like your own. They become shaped by what you consume, influenced by algorithms that don’t care about truth, only about keeping you engaged. Education, media, even culture itself often reward compliance more than curiosity. And slowly, without even noticing, we risk forgetting how to think deeply.

What struck me most is how subtle it all is. Nobody wakes up one morning and decides, “I’ll stop thinking for myself.” It happens little by little—when we accept easy answers instead of asking hard questions, when we repost instead of reflecting, when we choose the comfort of belonging over the courage of standing alone.

Lessons From Those Who Warned Us

The video also reminded me of the thinkers who saw this coming long before us. Carl Jung spoke of the danger of losing ourselves in the collective. Noam Chomsky warned how media and politics manipulate what we believe. Daniel Kahneman explained how our brains take shortcuts that make us vulnerable to error. Their voices echo the same truth: freedom is not the ability to choose—it is the ability to think before choosing.

And that’s why critical thinking is not just an intellectual exercise. It is a moral act. A spiritual act. To question is to honour truth, to resist manipulation, and to protect the dignity of your own mind.

My Personal Reflection

As I let the video sink in, I couldn’t help but reflect on my own life. I realised how much my small daily habits—journaling, making lists, practicing gratitude—are, in their own way, quiet forms of resistance. They give me the space to empty my mind before the noise of the world fills it. They remind me that peace is not found in consuming more, but in pausing enough to hear my own voice again.

Maybe this is where critical thinking begins—not in grand debates, but in those small moments of silence where you ask yourself:

• Do I really believe this, or am I just repeating it?
• Is this truth, or simply convenience?
• Am I living my values, or just going with the flow?

These are uncomfortable questions, but they are necessary ones. Because if we don’t take responsibility for our thoughts, someone else will shape them for us.

The Life Lesson

The biggest lesson I took away is this: never give away the power of your own mind. Don’t let the world think for you. In a noisy age, to pause, reflect, and question is not just wisdom—it is an act of quiet rebellion.

Critical thinking may be disappearing in society, but it does not have to disappear in us. Each time we choose curiosity over conformity, reflection over reaction, and truth over convenience, we push back against the tide of collective stupidity.

💡 Final Lesson: Clear thinking is not a luxury—it is survival. It is courage. And in a world drowning in noise, the quietest but bravest act we can do is to think for ourselves.