The Inner Monologue

Oh, sure. Let’s all just shrug and say, “Who cares?” when your uncle rants about immigrants stealing jobs, the moon landing being faked, or the government putting microchips in mayonnaise. It’s just harmless nonsense, right? People believe dumb things all the time—what’s the big deal?

Except, of course, when those people become your doctor, your politician, your kid’s teacher, or the guy designing the bridge you drive over every day. Suddenly, “harmless nonsense” becomes “Why is my surgeon trying to cure my appendicitis with crystals?” or “Why does the president think hurricanes can be nuked?”

We live in a society. A society run by people. And if those people are operating on a steady diet of conspiracy theories, magical thinking, and “facts” they heard from a guy who heard it from a YouTube algorithm—well, congratulations, we’re all stuck in the stupid together.

The Problem Isn’t Belief—It’s the Lack of Proof

The real issue isn’t that people believe weird things. Humans have always believed weird things—ghosts, flat earth, the idea that eating bats gives you superpowers (looking at you, medieval Europe). The problem is that we’ve stopped demanding proof.

• “Vaccines cause autism!” Prove it.
• “The election was stolen!” Prove it.
• “Reality is a simulation!” Prove it.

The burden of proof is on the person making the claim. Not on the rest of us to disprove it. That’s how critical thinking works. But our brains are lazy. They love shortcuts. “Feels true? Must be true!” That worked fine when the worst consequence was believing in rain dances. Now? Now we’ve got people drinking bleach to cure viruses and voting for leaders who think windmills cause cancer.

The Solution? Teach Kids to Demand Evidence

The cliché “question everything” is nice, but it’s not enough. The real mantra should be: “Prove it.”

• “God wants you to give me money!” Prove it.
• “This supplement cures all diseases!” Prove it.
• “The deep state is run by lizard people!” Prove it (and also get help).

We need to raise kids who don’t accept “because I said so” as an answer. Kids who ask for data, who spot logical fallacies, who recognize when they’re being sold bullshit. Because the alternative is a world where facts don’t matter—and when facts don’t matter, neither does reality.

And reality? Reality always wins in the end. The question is how much damage we’ll do before we remember that.