To the Editor:

Discovering the truth is a goal that many humans need and seek in their social verbal interactions also when faced with serious concerns or unexpected challenges. Knowing the truth allows us to move forward with our lives. But when humans realize that there are powerful forces that would deliberately falsify the truth, they need to recognize that some media can create a false reality. And that this can create serious psychological and social consequences that can impact the perception and the thinking of those who blindly accept the information that is presented. This continued acceptance can quickly diminish the America’s established beliefs that are guaranteed in the Bill of Rights and in the Constitution.

As Americans have adopted their latest tech advances to operate in their homes, they seem to have overlooked the many dangers that they pose, especially with young Americans who are increasingly addicted to their cell phones, decreasing their desire for human interaction. Furthermore, this mental behavior tends to limit any comprehensive understanding of events and issues as they resort to reading short headlines that appear on their cell phones or on their laptops. They eventually tend to ignore relevant details that can provide an objective analysis. While their parents try to instill American values, attitudes, and beliefs, which were important in navigating through the challenges they faced in their lives, their children may refute them. In time their children can easily adopt a new set of beliefs and values when they fail to defend what they believe in their college classes. Then their perception of reality will often be challenged by a powerful Pop Culture that bombards them with thousands of questionable messages. These young minds have no defense against this manipulation since they lack the critical thinking skills omitted in the school curriculum. Yet many parents continue will ignore or be unwilling to demand that attention be given to developing thinking skills to nurture common sense.

Albert Einstein warned that one day we would become aware that we have developed generations of idiots unable to figure things out, but believing they are smart enough to repeat instructions, insisting they know more than anyone else. As they face life’s challenges, they will make many mistakes. They will become ever more dependent on their parents. They will demand government subsidies to survive. In return they will be forced to exchange some of their guaranteed freedoms that their parents enjoyed. But since they never developed a desire nor an ability to search for the truth, they will never know the meaning that a search for the truth can set you free.

Dr Rudy Magnan

Overlook Drive, Sandy Hook December 11, 2020