[akaru]

Care to elaborate?

[fragmede]

8 year old kids gets told they're wrong and their elder is right because their elder is older isn't a convincing argument to an 8 year old. if the elder is claiming 1+1=3, saying they're right because they're an elder, and elder deserves respect, the lesson is going to translate into elders are idiots and as soon as they 8 year old gets their own job and a place, they're not going to respect anyone in a position of authority over them because their assumption is that that is how the rest of the world works - that people in positions of authority are only ever "right". That is, they're automatically wrong or lying about something. Sometimes they are! But the lesson that 8 year old kid learned is an unhealthy distrust of authority rather than a healthy distrust of authority.

[rayiner]

I grew up in the 1990s, when it was fashionable to teach kids to “question authority” and “think for themselves.” The problem is, most people aren’t smart enough to think for themselves and come to reliable conclusions on any remotely complicated subject matter. During COVID, surveys showed that virtually everyone had erroneous beliefs about the risks of the disease (either vastly over or under estimating the risk). Most people didn’t understand the statistics and come to rational conclusions, they just clung to their own trust networks.

I think that’s the direct cause of why anti-vaxxers and other conspiracy theorists are so common today. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the generation most supportive of Trump is Gen X: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/oct/16/voters-grou.... We spent a couple of generations telling kids not to trust authority, and we act shocked that they now don’t trust authority.