Some grown ups apparently still have the brains of small children

Meaning, they start as mostly blank slates with “free slots” ready to store complex concepts as they encounter them.

And like kids, their sponge-like brains absorb the first piece of information that fills these slots. Unfortunately, for some, once a slot is filled, it’s locked forever, resistant to updates.

These are the people futurist Alvin Toffler warned about in his 1970 book Future Shock when he said:

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”

They learn something once and hold onto it for life, often passing this unrefined, first-draft knowledge down to their children - no matter how absurd it may be.

This creates real problems.

For example:
Take the lead actor from Bedtime for Bonzo - before he became president. He used to claim that socialized medicine would eventually destroy the United States (He even recorded it on an LP for mass distribution):

And, despite the fact that Canada and most European countries seem to be thriving with socialized healthcare… The “learn once, never question, then pass it on to your children” approach to knowledge, has resulted in generations of Americans growing up believing it’s evil, and what will eventually lead to the end of freedom itself.

These people aren’t necessarily unintelligent. They only appear so because, when confronted with information that challenges their existing beliefs, they’d rather fight than expend the mental energy needed to update their understanding.

They also resent being told they’re wrong, often taking a hard stance against anyone trying to educate them.

This mindset leads people to actively oppose policies that would likely benefit themselves and their loved ones, including:

- Free healthcare
- Universal income
- The right to choose abortion

So what can we do to help these people?

Sadly, I have no idea how to make people with this particular brain affliction see the proverbial light. I know it’s possible, because I used to be one of them myself - until something shifted in my 20s.

I suspect it was learning the scientific method, but I can’t be certain.

It’s unsettling that the ability to reevaluate previous knowledge isn’t guaranteed; it only might develop over a lifetime.

As such, raising children is essentially a race between who can influence them first. It’s often a lottery between friends, family, mass media and education. With the rise of social media, “influencers” have joined the list - acting as proxies for friends but wielding the broader influence of mass media.

And if someone’s social circle mainly consists of conservative family members who never learned to unlearn, and self proclaimed “alphas” on social media… Well, that is the actual recipe for making the fascists of tomorrow.