Common sense is a rarity in people nowadays. This has created many problems, one of which is that people tend to listen to others’ opinions and accept them as their own thoughts, rather than trusting their own common sense and intuition. For example, they often rely on AI, doctors, celebrities, politicians, or other authority figures more than on themselves, who yes given plenty of incorrect information, allot of times intentionally. They might know something is a lie but ignore their skepticism because “Celebrity A” said it’s true. Sometimes, they even listen to their uninformed neighbors more than to themselves or to people on social media, who, ironically, also don’t listen to their own judgment. It’s a clown world.

  • Kizzie@thelemmy.club
    21·
    12 hours ago

    It’s old problem, Schopenhauer described it

    When we come to look into the matter, so-called universal opinion is the opinion of two or three persons; and we should be persuaded of this if we could see the way in which it really arises.

    We should find that it is two or three persons who, in the first instance, accepted it, or advanced and maintained it; and of whom people were so good as to believe that they had thoroughly tested it. Then a few other persons, persuaded beforehand that the first were men of the requisite capacity, also accepted the opinion. These, again, were trusted by many others, whose laziness suggested to them that it was better to believe at once, than to go through the troublesome task of testing the matter for themselves. Thus the number of these lazy and credulous adherents grew from day to day; for the opinion had no sooner obtained a fair measure of support than its further supporters attributed this to the fact that the opinion could only have obtained it by the cogency of its arguments. The remainder were then compelled to grant what was universally granted, so as not to pass for unruly persons who resisted opinions which every one accepted, or pert fellows who thought themselves cleverer than any one else. When opinion reaches this stage, adhesion becomes a duty; and henceforward the few who are capable of forming a judgment hold their peace. Those who venture to speak are such as are entirely incapable of forming any opinions or any judgment of their own, being merely the echo of others’ opinions; and, nevertheless, they defend them with all the greater zeal and intolerance. For what they hate in people who think differently is not so much the different opinions which they profess, as the presumption of wanting to form their own judgment; a presumption of which they themselves are never guilty, as they are very well aware. In short, there are very few who can think, but every man wants to have an opinion; and what remains but to take it ready-made from others, instead of forming opinions for himself?

    Since this is what happens, where is the value of the opinion even of a hundred millions? It is no more established than an historical fact reported by a hundred chroniclers who can be proved to have plagiarised it from one another; the opinion in the end being traceable to a single individual. It is all what I say, what you say, and, finally, what he says; and the whole of it is nothing but a series of assertions

    … ordinary folk have a deep respect for professional men of every kind. They are unaware that a man who makes a profession of a thing loves it not for the thing itself, but for the money he makes by it; or that it is rare for a man who teaches to know his subject thoroughly; for if he studies it as he ought, he has in most cases no time left in which to teach it

    Its not about listening to themselves, they just don’t think deeply. is it not that they don’t trust their product, they don’t have their own product

    And it is probably related to our habit of web browsing things first. We should reflect on question first. and nothing should go unanswered like if someone believes “everyone have same value” then they should have reason why?

    And I suggest people to read Schopenhauer essays on thinking & related topics in order to understand why people are not so smart. This is good start