The New Normal: Living in the Age of Stupidity

This morning, I decided to take a look at what was happening on Twitter, formerly my platform of choice for sharing ideas and keeping up to date on current events. It was as bad as ever—a deluge of trolls and misinformation. As I perused the Canadian Army feed, I was struck again by the number of utterly stupid posts—inane accusations, conspiracy theories, and the usual array of far-right politics. But there were also the typical arguments: people who had read something or watched a video arguing with serving soldiers and veterans about life in the Army or the utility of a particular piece of equipment. It hit me so hard that I decided to forgo my planned article and write briefly about what is perhaps the most critical issue of our generation: the rise of stupidity.

The Death of Expertise

Several years ago, Tom Nichols wrote an excellent book called The Death of Expertise. At the time, the acceptance of stupidity was in its nascent form and had not yet reached the level of normalization we see today. Unfortunately, the entry of Donald Trump into the US political arena accelerated the tendency to accept all opinions—no matter how ridiculous or grounded in conspiracy—as being equal. Social media has magnified this tendency, as bizarre opinions and theories find validation among like-minded groups. How else can we explain the resurgence of Flat Earth conspiracies, chemtrails, "gang stalkers," and, most consequentially, anti-vaccine rhetoric?

Trump and the Big Lie

We began to realize this during Trump’s first administration, when the media, especially in the US, began to normalize what, in previous years, would have been completely disqualifying behaviour. Trump’s moral failings and probable mental health issues aside, he presented himself as a profoundly unintelligent man, with an intellectual capacity more akin to Michael Scott than a serious statesman. Yet, bizarre musings about using bleach internally to defeat COVID, strange comments about the "love" shown to him by foreign dictators, and a level of grandiosity rarely seen in public life were often shrugged off.

Beyond Trump himself, his rise created an army of imitators, utterly convinced that they knew better than the "experts" and that their opinion—on literally any topic—was equally valid. Worse, because these opinions were considered "equally valid," they had to be taken into account when forming policy. That experts, especially when confronted with a dynamic and unpredictable situation like COVID-19, made errors only exacerbated the situation, giving the conspiracy-minded their "aha" moments. The immediate effect was that politicians, particularly on the right, began courting this demographic as a source of votes. Stupidity became acceptable and, eventually, part of the discourse.

Dumbing Down Canada

In Canada, this was made clear during February 2022's so-called Freedom Convoy, where many grievances were grounded in conspiracy thinking and were, to many observers, ridiculous. Yet these grievances were validated and encouraged by one of the major parties, likely in a cynical attempt to score points against the government. The pace at which utterly absurd views were accepted grew rapidly and became mainstream in places like Alberta, where they were adopted by the governing party.

The last six months have shown just how fast this tendency is spreading. In what other reality could a major candidate’s claim that immigrants were eating pets not be disqualifying? Recently, the Premier of Alberta promised to "look into" chemtrails and raised questions with the US Department of Defense. That this is a fringe, lunatic conspiracy theory didn’t seem to matter. After all, aren’t all opinions valid? This trend has real-world consequences, which became evident when the province announced amendments to its Bill of Rights, which included overt anti-vaccine rhetoric. In virtually every sphere, conspiracies, falsehoods, and outright lies have entered mainstream discourse.

That traditional media gives a pass to such views and helps platform them isn’t helping. Conduct that would have been utterly disqualifying 20 years ago is now "normal," and views that would never have been discussed in public are now being mainstreamed. There may be eye-rolling when discussing flat earthers or the idea that migrants are eating pets, but it's not a lie if large numbers of people believe it, right? After all, it's the media's duty to entertain diverse voices and share both sides, even when one side is clearly ludicrous. The problem is that accepting such views has real-world consequences, as the folks in Springfield, Ohio, or those dealing with the latest whooping cough outbreak can tell you.