“The more often a stupidity is repeated, the more it gets the appearance of wisdom”, Voltaire
Internet was supposed to cure stupidity because it is the largest collection of knowledge at our fingertips. However, it seems that in some circles stupidity is on the rise. The circles are easy to identify. Simply find one person with absurd beliefs and then check out his social profile. Voila, you have discovered a group of like-minded people.
Why do we recycle plastics? There are large communication campaigns to get us to recycle. It is a noble cause because plastics are wrecking havoc on the planet. We believe the message because it is being repeated to us from everyone. I think the message should be ban non-medical single-use plastics because less than 25% of the plastics are recycled once and less than 2% are recycled again. This basically means that any single use plastic used today will dumped permanently in the environment by next year. In the case of plastics, recycling is hindering the conversation we need to have.
In Quebec City, several radio stations and other media constantly spewed hatred about the tiny local Muslim population. They demonized them for every angle. This served to marginalize the group and on January 29, 2017 a man walked into the local mosque and killed six people and seriously injured five. Someone believed the voices he was hearing in an a echo chamber and acted on it. The incident horrified the city where the majority of the population is tolerant and welcoming of all faiths.
There are all kinds of groups forming that have all kinds of beliefs. The people in those echo chambers usually don’t realize they are in an echo chamber. So how can we find out. First of all base your opinions of actual facts proven by science. For example, every scientist and astronaut believes the earth is not flat. Then ask yourself if the views are full of hatred. If they are, leave that community. We are all humans before anything else. The people who preach hatred are mentally sick and they will eventually convince your or someone else in the group to hurt someone.
Because repetition forms your opinions, you need to ensure that you are reading, listening, and watching good quality, positive content. That you are interacting with good people who are positive and smarter than you. This help you succeed in life. If you are hanging out with scientists, you will naturally learn to evaluate information critically. If you are hanging out with artists, you will naturally learn skills that will stimulate your creativity. If you are hanging out with successful investors, you will learn how to grow your money. Once you know what you want to achieve or become, join the groups of people who are already competent in those domains. You will learn from their experience and your road to success will be shorter and easier to traverse.