Of course children are dumb, that's why parents have to educate them. Gullible children grow into gullible adults because their parents don't teach them critical thinking. Is your child going to be any smarter because they didn't use TikTok? I doubt it. Before social media, it was TV. Before TV, it was comic books, etc.
Granted, there have always been factors before social media, but there’s no question that social media has had a disproportionate impact on youth.
It’s negatively affecting their psyches, moods and emotions, attention spans, and yes, reasoning ability.
It used to be that aberrant thinking and behavior, tended to get weeded out simply because it was uncommon (of course, there were also plenty of folks who were initially castigated for thinking outside the box), but nowadays, with the ease of internet access, no matter how wild something is, you’ll be able to find groups of people who think/feel/believe it.
How is a young mind with little experience, supposed to weed out the chaff from the wheat, when they don’t know what either is?
It’s not just young minds either; it seems nowadays, reasoning is no longer in vogue. Most people simply go with what “feels right”, then choose to ignore anything contradictory, while accepting anything that confirms their bias/preconceived notions.
I remember a phrase I first encountered many years ago;
“You cannot reason a person out of a position they didn’t reason themselves into”.
I’ve since seen and experienced that firsthand, many, many times.
