We live in an age where information of many different types is readily available for immediate consumption, day and night, by anyone and everyone who desires it. Yet despite drowning in this sea of plenty, we find that intelligence, wisdom, judgement and critical thinking are all dwindling commodities.
Humans used to crave for knowledge and education. We dreamt that the “democratisation of knowledge” would be a great leveller. That technologies such as the Internet would make knowledge available to everyone irrespective of the person’s wealth or social status. This would reduce the gap between those who are rich in information, and those who are poor in information.
In reality, we are going through a phase of information overload where we are being presented with so much information that we don’t know what to do with it. Our minds cannot process it all. The Internet has placed unimaginable amounts of data at our fingertips.
We have 24/7 news coverage of events – some of it real, and some of it fake.
On social media we upload our most intimate moments for strangers across the whole world to voyeurise.
Where we once worshipped God through His prophets, we now worship God-like entities known as the “The Influencers” who tell us what to think, what to eat, what to wear, and what to buy.
We feel an expectation to always be on call and available, like drones connected to the collective. Ready for the next dopamine hit, for fear of missing out.
We are now in a “post-information age” where we don’t know which information is beneficial, which is unhelpful and which is outright dangerous. We have all this information within our grasp, but we just don’t care for it any more. The very thing that was supposed to liberate our minds has turned out to be toxic and deleterious.
The information revolution was indeed a leveller. But rather than raising the bar, it ended up dumbing us all down.
“A rising tide lifts all the boats”
The aim of this site is to resist and reverse the intellectual race to the bottom that we see in the world today. To raise the level of discussion. To raise the intellectual bar. To make us all more informed. To make us think more critically.
My name is Dr Mandar Marathe. I am a medical doctor and researcher. On this site, I share my own thinking and perspectives to help achieve these aims.
In return, I welcome discussion, feedback, criticism and refutation of anything I say. You can leave a comment at the bottom of any page, or email me at contact@a-deeper-thought.com. The goal is for both of us to get a better understanding, and to come closer to the truth. By doing so, we raise all the boats.
