“Just believe it,” said a boy – let’s call him Misguided, just kidding, let’s call him Mickey – in my math class.
Just believe it.
The reason Mickey said this was to stop his friend who was dragging out a lesson because he did not understand why the question was solved that way. I will be the first to admit that I am glad he did interrupt. The lesson was boring and the questions his friend was asking was more based on a poorly built foundation in math rather than actual curiosity as to how the question works.
Regardless of this, there is something I find disturbing about those 3 words. This is not the only instance I’ve ever heard it, nor will it be the last.
Don’t question what you’re told, just follow along blindly.
Ignorance is strength, right?
For all of the progress we’ve made, blind belief is no longer good enough. The Earth would be flat, the sun would be pulled by Helios, and mental illness could be cured through exorcism.
We are in a world where the “Big Brother and the Party” type government is on the brink of extinction. Simply look at the Arab Spring revolutions. Even Communist China – although not even close to becoming a democratic society – has realized that certain freedoms must be allowed. They have now become an economic giant. There are still great issues with freedom of information in China, so it isn’t altogether the greatest example.
However, the Arab Spring revolutions were in fact sprung (sorry.) by the rapid spread of information resulting from development of social media. It was a demonstration of the difficulties of internet censorship; protests were still organized and news still shared through platforms like Twitter and Facebook.
The internet is now the key player in sharing of information and the “gain of knowledge”.
“Just believe it” – just doesn’t work anymore.
It’s simply too difficult to control the spread of information anymore.
heiding away. 