The pursuit of truth and evidence seems to have been replaced by fluid concepts such as the idea that each person has their own truth, and a person’s feelings can be justified as absolute evidence. While this may seem progressive, it leaves us vulnerable to being captured by fluctuating emotions rather than being in control of them.

With the current dwindling of critical thinking and robust research across the globe, especially in first-world countries, societies seem to have lost respect for questioning narratives. Instead, former lively conversation has often been replaced with aggressive and polarised ‘shouting of views’ at each other rather than listening, sharing perspectives and learning from one another.

Social media is largely responsible for this detour in human evolution and charging forth down this ideological path is dangerous, potentially leaving us with a generation of victims who lack the muscle of resilience.

We need to reign in this trend and restore the art of robust debate otherwise, left with a mentally malleable society, we could end up believing that everything is a social construct which is simply not true.

In the very place one would expect to find the most robust debate and challenging of narratives – American ivy league universities – the plague of polarisation has infected it at its very core. Now, all we can do is watch in horror as those students begin to enter the workforce with a warped sense of reality embedded in their consciousness. I’m pleased to watch this from afar and not have any skin in that game.

I read the following quote by Anthony Van Jones which I feel compelled to share:

“I don’t want you to be safe ideologically. I don’t want you to be safe emotionally. I want you to be strong. That’s different. I’m not going to pave the jungle for you. Put on some boots, and learn how to deal with adversity. I’m not going to take all the weights out of the gym. That’s the whole point of the gym. This is the gym.”

There are quite a few voices of reason who have long standing, well-respected podcasts and shows where healthy debate and in-depth conversation is revered and those voices (a shining light in the darkness) should be amplified.

Our brains are a muscle, and critical thinking is an essential way to stretch, challenge and develop our mentality and approach to life and the world around us.

Contributor: Deborah Aremband is Podcast Party’s general all-rounder and organiser par excellence.