Published on July 4, 2025 6:13 PM GMT
When I started writing, I didn’t understand or appreciate the responsibility that came with sharing my ideas with the world. At school, I was given a great many writing assignments, and I was graded on grammar, spelling, and content. The content grade- where I excelled- was based on how well the ideas in my essays were expressed, not on whether the conclusion was true or whether any of the statements were intentionally or unintentionally misleading. In fact, I was told that freely expressing my ideas was the most important thing to do, and that my ideas would fight others in a free marketplace where the best ideas would stand on their own merit. I was also taught that the truth of my statements wasn’t as important as how well I argued them- that, indeed, the truth of my statements was really subjective, and that as long as I properly cited any factual statements I’d made, I had applied all necessary rigor.
Now that I am older, I feel the weight of responsibility that comes with creating content, and my education has left me ill-equipped to deal with it. In the modern world, the spread of misinformation and misleading ideas has fomented chaos, and when I look inward, I understand why.
When I was in school, I was a very good ‘critical reader.’ I was able to analyze essays and novels and even poetry, an ability that was praised by my high-school teachers. In college, my literary criticism professor encouraged me to pursue post-graduate education.
Even so, when I look back at the books and authors that guided me, I realize it was not for the truth of their statements or the soundness of their arguments. My mind was quite happy to latch on to any author who appealed to me, and take what they said as wisdom. I have been particularly susceptible to particularly inspiring or spiritually fulfilling propaganda. I don’t read critically; I depend on times of anxiety and depression that force me to question everything I think I know, which is terrible for my mental health. I wonder how badly my writing suffered from this lack of critical thinking, and how many readers I may have inadvertently led astray in their pursuits of truth.
We are not properly teaching critical writing or reading skills to young people, which may be a small part of why there is so much chaos in an information-overloaded world. I worry, however, that if we do teach young writers to feel the weight of responsibility that comes with spreading ideas, the conscientious among them will be more reticent to share their ideas, while the careless and the malicious will continue with the same volume of misinforming slop as always, making the situation even worse than before. Of course, the careless and the careful have already been sorted into their own information bubbles by algorithms and by choice. Still, good content is a beacon of light in the swirling seas of darkness.
Does anyone have any ideas about how to solve this conundrum? How do we educate people to truly consume and create media critically, without discouraging the more careful content creators from creating media to counterbalance misinformation and brainrot? Would it be better to continue to rely on the free marketplace of ideas to maintain the current, if bad, equilibrium and hope that, long term, good ideas will win out?
Discuss
