Why don't most people question anything anymore?

1. 63

   SportsBetterposted 11 years ago

   Why don't most people question anything anymore?

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      Jimbo1812posted 12 months agoin reply to this

      In the early 1900s the education system was based on producing highly literate and numerate individuals, free thinking Americans. The ‘powers that be’ wanted compliant serfs, not heroes, so deliberately and systemically from 1905, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation (the Carnegie Foundation did the international work) gradually destroyed successful US education and replaced it with a system designed to prevent good literacy and numeracy. This was based on education by outcomes which narrows the curriculum and leads to ‘teaching to the test’ ie learners are given the answers as teachers’ jobs require them to pass. In addition, students are programmed with ‘progressive’ and socialist values (Christian values were to be destroyed) ready for the day when the world government takes over. They would be trained to do basic occupations in line with the workforce training system employed in the USSR. In 1985 Ronald Reagan and Gorbachev signed the agreement to adopt the Soviet education system into America, though much of the work taking down the old US system had already been done. All federal funded programmes are based on this model. See The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America by Charlotte Iserbyt (2000) Conscience Press

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   Georgie Loweryposted 11 years ago

   The short answer is because it's easier not to. It requires too much effort to go against the flow.

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      SportsBetterposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Yeah that is interesting. It seems like most people are taught to accept all the information being fed to them. I find myself questioning if life is real. It feels real though.

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      stanwshuraposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Yup.  But it is much too dull, guilty and acutely painful to go with the flow, when it is pouring into a sludge quarry - a banal acceptance of the majority zeitgeist - a PIT of ever deepening, darkening ignorance, and worse, of apathy toward this.

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3. 71

   lone77starposted 11 years ago

   Laziness is certainly a key part of this. We've been spoon-fed instant gratification for so long, we expect to be led. Television is a perfect drug along this line.
   
   Another aspect is that the Corporate Party media kool-aid seems to be designed as a soporofic -- to put the audience asleep as far as critical thinking is concerned.
   
   Take 9/11, for instance. It is now a proven fact that the 3 WTC skyscrapers were brought down by controlled demolition. Now, we need congressional subpoena power to do a far more thorough investigation and find out who did it and how. If it was some parts of the government (CIA, military, etc) plus powerful elite (owners of military industrial complex members, banks, big oil, etc), then investigating may prove decidedly unhealthy.
   
   But it struck me the other day that if the government was behind 9/11, then what a perfect president to have at the time.
   
   When George W. Bush was elected, I couldn't believe that such a joker -- an idiot -- could be president. Perhaps that was the point. Soften the public perception of the government so that everyone would feel (though never really think) the government could never do this; they're too incompetent. Thanks, George.
   
   Yes, George was so incompetent, that during one news conference, a reporter asked for his comment concerning someone else's accusation that Bush had prior knowledge of 9/11. For several very long seconds, Bush look like he'd swallowed a frog. He had the proverbial "kid caught with his hands in the cookie jar" look. And perhaps he was so incompetent that when he went to talk to the folks at the 9/11 commission, he had to have Dick Cheney as chaperone -- but no tapes, no swearing in, nothing on the record and all notes censored.
   
   Mass hypnosis? Having lived for 5 years outside the USA, I can attest to the fact that it certainly looks different when you've been off of the Corporate Party media drug for awhile.
   
   And with Obama, we have the consummate silver-tongued devil who gives us the same treason and tyranny. And people love it!
   
   Ouch!
   
   R.I.P. America. I've loved you so dearly.

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      SportsBetterposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Obama definitely follows Bush's policies.  I also hear they are cousins, and both are related to Cheney.

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      stanwshuraposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      A question with such potential taken down this ever-so-worn and desolate path of pretending to be above the temptation to look when press and politics cry wolf.  What is truly frightening is when the pedantics lead the people to purchase said beans.

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      CJ Sledgehammerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Well said, Lone77Star. Bush was perfect for his role...his masters chose wisely. No one has suffered more than "Black America" these past few years - what better way to keep them "believing" in the system than to have one of their own at the helm?

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4. 73

   Darrell Robertsposted 11 years ago

   I think people still question things.  I think it is also a lot easier to find some answers with the help of the internet. 
   
   -If you find that people are not questioning much any more it may because they do not trust the answers that they will get from the people are "teaching" or "Leading".
   
   -I think people who do not ask questions either do not care or are afraid. 
   
   Best wishes

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   whonunuwhoposted 11 years ago

   I don't think it is because we don't question so much, as those we do question, do not seem to listen and give an appropriate response.

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   CBartelmeyposted 11 years ago

   They are content with the answers they have been given I guess would be the short answer, I don’t know.  I have always reasoned that we were created to question.  We certainly cannot run faster than the cheetah or change colors to match our environment, we don’t possess poisonous venom to defend ourselves; we simply can think, ponder, contemplate, consider and question.  Why wouldn’t we?

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      SportsBetterposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I guess the only reason we won't is because we are very controllable and just listen to what our leaders and media outlets tell us to believe.

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7. 93

   Faceless39posted 11 years ago

   I think the government likes it that way.  Look at our society:  TV is a mindless medium perfect for repetitive brainwashing propaganda; there is neurotoxin placed into our water (in the US) by the government, fluoride; amalgam dental fillings contain 80% mercury and outgas directly into our brains, causing apathy; our diet is neurotransmitter-laden, with food coloring, preservatives, aspartame, msg, etc.; our education system (US) is based on not asking questions and not questioning "authority."  People who question the system are labeled anti-patriotic terrorists and are silenced and shunned.
   
   Unfortunately, unless you've read books since a young age, and learned to think from a young age, society takes its toll from a young age.  This works out very well for a government, where blind obedience is desirable.
   
   There are ways to combat apathy, and I think it starts with a realization that the system is not geared toward our well-being.

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   stanwshuraposted 11 years ago

   Are you serious?  Maybe I'm an anomaly - an outlier, but, whether it's due to my various DSM pathologies (anxiety, OCD, Executive Dysfunction, and Nonverbal Learning Disability) and - oh yeah!, just got cut open by a neurosurgeon to replace a nonfunctioning shunt I've had for hydrocephalus since birth, I question almost everything!
   
   Will I die?  So far, the ODDS predict as such - although I don't know how many people have ever been and passed versus the number of people alive today - because I would do a ratio right there and start to wonder.  The only PHILOSOPHICAL/PHYSICS reason I think I will is because matter is neither created nor destroyed, and it's only fair that my turn will some day come to an end.
   
   Do I question authority?  HA!  I question the very legitimacy of the CONCEPT!!!  I question whether the atom will still be the smallest known particle tomorrow.  OOOPS!!!!  That myth was shattered when Einstein (oh, Albert!) split it and helped develop the atomic bomb.
   
   I question how space can "end" and yet cannot wrap my head around it continuing FOREVER.  Infiniti is such an unsatisfying and unsettling condition, concept or circumstance!  Do I question whether pi is really infinite?  No.  Why?
   
   Because I no longer question whether circles exist.  They don't.  Take an electron microscope to any "circle" and you will see the imperfections INEVITABLE in an arc comprised of even infinitely reducible POINTS!
   
   Oh - I think questioning is alive and well!

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   rickyliceaposted 11 years ago

   Anymore??? This has always been the case.
   When people have bread and circus, they're don't want to rock the boat.
   Perhaps they don't have time, or perhaps its something naturally limited to some a minority of inquisitive and restive spirits.

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      SportsBetterposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      True, when people are fed they are happy and content. Once people start becoming hungry, they might start looking around and asking some questions.

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10. 37

    edhanposted 11 years ago

    Well, my daughter is always questioning 'Why' this and 'why' that.
    
    It is her curious that allows her to learn and understand. I am always happy to answer but certain times, it is hard to have an answer.
    
    Now, whenever there is a why, we will research online to find out the answers. It is great to have internet where there are answers to why somewhere in the world.

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11. 59

    Civil War Bobposted 11 years ago

    It's the G-23 Paxilon Hydrochlorate that's flowed into Earth's atmosphere from the planet Miranda in the movie, "Serenity."  Pretty soon most of us will lay down and die and the 1% that get turned into Reaver's will go complete berserk and destroy what and whoever's left!!
    
    
    
    
    
    ...or not!

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    Catherine Kaneposted 11 years ago

    I would have to question this question.
    
    Why don't most people question anything any more? Looking at these pages on Hubpages, that's not the case.
    
    And if that's not enough, state an opinion on Facebook and watch how fast people rush to question it.
    
    I ask questions all of the time, and I'm not alone.
    
    I think there are many things that people don't question that they should- but I think the art of questioning is alive and well in current times.

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       Mike Marksposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       you give me hope... though there's also the class of interneters who will accept any farout idea for the same drama fix they would otherwise get from a tv show.

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    CJ Sledgehammerposted 11 years ago

    I think people still question some things, but it seems that the propaganda spewed from the mass media machine is taken as truth. It's quick and easy and is a great time saver.
    
    In a way, I think we live in a micro-wave society where everything is instant and everything needs to come easy. Why dig for the truth when someone on the evening news or a spokesperson from the White House will spoon feed it to you?
    
    Digging for truth requires effort and so does critical thinking. Many people I know either have contempt for the truth or are apathetic toward it. It is very hard to get people to put forth effort, when they are used to living for leisure.
    
    I also think many people do not want to ask questions because they are afraid of the answers, hence it is better to live in denial.

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    Mike Marksposted 11 years ago

    the actual precepts of "critical thinking" are not taught in grammar thru highschool, and even at the college level have to be particularly sought out... "critical thinking" being the science and art of truthful thinking, without it one can only recite what they're told and make emotional choices for their "beliefs" without understanding evidence... so what's to question?  Trusting an authority is a comfortable enough emotion... should they question their deeper discomfort that tells them their mind is not free?  Rooting for your favorite team can disspell that aggressive anxiety, and a good romantic comedy can make us feel just fine.

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       CJ Sledgehammerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Well said, Mike!!!

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15. 61

    Dantex460posted 11 years ago

    You can't really change much, asking is not needed.

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    Brandon Tartposted 11 years ago

    They don't?  I mean...right...they don't.

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    SidKempposted 11 years ago

    We learn ways of thinking in childhood, by imitation. Mostly, in our society, this means accepting answers fed to us by teachers, parents, and others, and being told it is "right," sometimes with a threat.
    
    Very few people these days are trained in either critical thinking or open-mindedness, which are two essential skills for healthy questioning. As a result, we don't separate our own experience of life from what we are told about life.
    
    I encourage everyone to trust our own actual experience, but not ideas or opinions. The Buddha asked a wonderful question: What do you truly know from your own experience? I've found this works for both spiritual insight and practical application.
    
    Would that all our parents and teachers were like the Buddha: "Do not believe it because you read it in a book. Do not believe it because some great teacher, even me, tells you that it is true. Believe it because you know it in your heart."
    
    May we all learn to question everything and know the truth of our own hearts.

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