The Evils of Photoshop

[hepcat]

Why not just cut to the chase and ban advertizing altogether.
Even better...ban deception. We'd all be better off for it.
If you're concerned about the heavy hand of the State, start with banning State sponsored advertizing and State sponsored deception.
Once that's all cleared up, then we could ban Authority.

Great suggestion, Jack. The only problem is that we can't even get substances like bromine banned from our food in the U.S. :bang:

I dunno how you'd manage a ban on advertising.

 

[Jamie123]

But it doesn't change the problem that a lot of people don't think critically because they simply haven't been taught to think critically - or often - have been taught that critical thinking is just too much effort, or may get them in trouble.

No, it does not change the problem you speak of but it does change whether or not that is actually the problem that leads to the issues we're talking about.
It's certainly true that a lot of people don't think critically but that has always been the case and I'd hazard a guess and say that probably nowadays more people are taught to think critically than ever before in human history. I don't think that individuals in the past were smarter in general than individuals today. I'm not so sure if I would say the same about society as a whole, though.

 

[noisycheese]

Critical thinking seems to be a thing of the past. What's even more sad is that those who stand up and say "wait a minute here..." are often shouted down by the masses who are being taken in. It is a sad state of affairs.

That's because the people who are running the show don't like to have to deal with people who can actually think - it's extremely inconvenient for them.