People form opinions about many things.  Yet entire areas of life are surrendered to authorities without a second thought.  You compare prices before buying a tool, but you rarely question those who claim authority over your mind, your choices, or your future.  The appearance of expertise has replaced the practice of reasoning.  Many assume expertise exists simply because someone claims it.  That assumption is exploited.

Silence is rewarded.  Speaking honestly is punished.  Politeness is redefined as obedience.  If pointing out an obvious contradiction causes discomfort, obedience is demanded instead of thought.  The question is simple: Is it kinder to warn someone heading toward destruction, or to remain silent and let them fall?

Ignorance is dangerous.  The less you know, the easier it is to manipulate you.  Those who demand trust without offering proof rely on your reluctance to challenge them.  They attack motives instead of correcting errors.  They avoid definitions because definitions reveal contradictions.  Their authority rests on the hope that you never dare to ask for clarification.

The meaning of responsibility has been inverted.  Responsibility once meant evaluating information for yourself.  Today, responsibility means repeating the slogans of approved authorities.  Obedience becomes a virtue.  Skepticism becomes a social crime.  This inversion collapses judgment and replaces it with submission, all while calling the result “progress.”

These authorities fight for control of opinion because truth would never serve their purposes.  Truth requires explanation.  Authority requires obedience.  When an idea can’t defend itself, its advocates will defend themselves instead of the idea.  They attack personality, character, credentials, or motives.  Anything but the argument.  The less substance they possess, the more aggressive their appearance becomes.

Most people accept this because they want comfort more than clarity.  They want reassurance more than truth.  The authority illusion provides easy beliefs, easy answers, and easy excuses.  The result is cultural decay disguised as enlightenment.  A society that no longer thinks can’t survive those who pretend to think for it.

Authority unravels under simple questions.  Ask what evidence supports the claim.  Ask how the conclusion was formed.  Ask why anyone must obey an idea that can’t withstand scrutiny.  These questions reveal what authority fears most: the individual who thinks for himself.  That individual is dangerous—not because he threatens stability, but because he threatens illusion.

Reference

Jerry Haughton; The Mind Benders