Lack of education is becoming systemic, creating a wonderfully fertile ground for misinformation from social media. The catchy phrase to describe this new era is post-truth, when in reality it is post-educational, but that would be too accurate and would therefore negate the whole misinformation argument. The combination of these two conditions, namely the rapidly collapsing educational system and the rapidly rising misinformation, is producing a generation of idiots. Having stupider people is of course very convenient for the governments, for financial institutions, for commercial moguls, for money making in general. Less questions asked, less fact checking and a lack of ability to judge and decipher truth from lies. But is it really sustainable? What happens when the work force drinks chlorine for detox, when pilots don’t really understand physics and when all doctors focus on lip jobs instead of research? The future generations will rely so completely and utterly on technology to feed them, drive them around and wash their teeth and bums that all cognitive behaviour will be eliminated. Centuries of practical, historical, scientific, philosophical knowledge will be stored into AI databases and having discarded all relevant books for space-saving digital ones, all access will be charged on a monthly subscription. What was once the basic right of education will be the most elite and luxurious commodity, while everyone else will receive their facts from carefully curated Netflix documentaries.
Towards a new idiotic era
Everything I write is already happening but those who understand, including me, are too busy trying to achieve “financial security” in anticipation of the shitstorm (my computer kindly informed me that this word might be offensive to my readers, but I disagree). I am currently in the middle of curating a personal database with famous paintings, buildings, movies etc. – a free collection of inspirational masterpieces that I fear can be lost with the emergence of the idiotic era – and I am shocked to report that most classical paintings are already removed from the internet, having been replaced with AI generated equivalents. Asking any practical question online will now produce an edited AI response, saving you time from proper informed research, where you get to decide what article is most reliable. Plagiarism is encouraged, with websites giving you essays for a small fee. Audiobooks and podcasts make it easier for those who find reading challenging or are diagnosed as dyslectic. In short, nobody needs to know anything about anything and if nobody can even read, even better. All you have to do is ask your phone and get any answer AI deems relevant without questioning its truth and sources. And all this to serve the people, to give people more time, to make their lives easier and more efficient. All this done selflessly. But idiots can’t question motives, can they?
Author: Atticus Finch (2025)