The decline of modern culture can be seen clearly by looking at what passes for public discourse. There was a time when people who wanted their ideas accepted made rational arguments. It was assumed that most people were bright enough and rational enough to evaluate those arguments — and a surprising number of them really were. Today, the arguments are made in the form of irrational and simplistic graphics called “memes.” Because these graphics can’t convey complex or nuanced information, they present dumbed-down presentations of positions which are stunningly juvenile and seem designed to offend rather than to convince. We have regressed from books and dense pamphlets to a level more like that of angry kindergartners making crayon-scrawled hate notes to send to other children. Reason no longer plays a role in public discourse, and this signals the coming fall of this society.
Briefly: Partisan political thinking ultimately requires self-deception
Briefly: Being lonely has little to do with whether people are around us
Briefly: Running away from home sometimes has a happy ending
Life cycles sometimes bring us back to places where we’ve been
What does a man confess about himself when he wants a ‘slut’?
Appeals to ‘common sense’ are frequently excuses to avoid thinking
Without hope for a better future, depression grabs us by the throat