The hubris of social media.

Resources:

https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2025/12/04/public-trust-in-government-1958-2025/

I often contemplate the dichotomy between the traditional learning environment and social media. Each has the ability to strengthen knowledge but how much does the intent of interaction shape how information is absorbed. 

Social media is meant to provide instant gratification. Does this make learners more receptive to the information they are receiving despite the information coming from the unaccredited? Have we become increasingly skeptical of accredited resources. 

Pew Research shows that the U.S. has reached record low levels of trust in our government. Rather than addressing politics, I want to focus on the academic lens of how this distrust factors into anti-intellectualism. 

IQ is nothing without proper executive function and the knowledge necessary to specialize in a subject. Overconfidence is especially destructive when there is no longer universally accepted facts, and everything you can't conceive becomes a lie. 

I believe there's an over reliance on social media, but also, a lack of accessibility that excludes individuals from necessary dialogue. The lack of accessibility becomes distrust and creates a perpetual cycle of anti-intellectualism in which individuals cling to what they know and reject what they do not understand.