We taught our sons to question everything, give a lot of credence to their own experiences, and look “outside the box” for answers no matter the situation or question. Once, years ago when they were in their teens, we had a friend of theirs visiting, and a deep discussion arose about some subject or another.
The discussion wandered into the “what would you do if you were faced with that dilemma?” realm. The visiting friend refused to think for himself even as our sons were discussing all types of options. He kept responding, “I’d listen to the ‘experts’. My husband kept pushing the issue encouraging him to think for himself while asking him “what if no experts in that subject were around?” The teen simply could not come up with an answer. He insisted someone smarted than he and with a college education would be able to solve the problem.
The teen was a child of two university professors so I know how he arrived at such a point. His parents had taught him there was always an expert smarted than him in any subject so there was no need to think for himself. This was before the internet was in every home and we weren’t yet at the point where anything could be looked up on the internet (don’t depend on the internet). It was sad to see, especially since our sons were coming up with several interesting solutions to the problem. His solution remained, “Consult the experts”.
I recently visited a family member in the hospital. I asked the attending doctor whether heart failure could possibly be attributed to a recent covid vax.
The doctor told me not to believe the stuff I read on the internet. He said, “My mother always told me not to believe anyone who didn’t have a PhD or MD after their name.”
I was stunned.
These people are everywhere!
“I read it on the internet, so it must be true”
Remember...
X is for the unknown,
and a spert is a drip
Under pressure.