The worrisome trend away from discussion

May I reply to Winston Chu's most excellent letter? I am a baby boomer, a child of the turbulent '60s, long before PCs and social media. We heard about major issues from TV, radio, newspapers, and magazines. Our response was public protest, often violent.

After the Tet Offensive in January 1968 proved that the media had been publishing government lies, we did not trust the media. It was openly known that media companies reported things with political bias. One should get reports from multiple sources to get the best picture. We knew that there are frequent inaccuracies in reporting and no report can ever be the 100% complete truth. We questioned and thought about everything. The important thing is that we thought and had discussions to try to determine the truth. We usually disagreed, but we had respectful and intelligent discussions. Not much was accepted at face value. Sadly, those times are long gone.

The internet provides instant and wide dispersal of everything from mostly truth to complete lies and junk. Intelligent and respectful discussions seldom exist. People simply believe whatever easy thing pleases them and decide everything else is wrong. They fight against the challenges of questioning and thinking. They would rather fight than think. We live in an increasingly dangerous world because too many people have become brainless as computers and the internet have replaced the need to think.

Mr. Chu, you are right to worry about what will happen when the young people take the helms of governments. I applaud your last paragraph, "If you only feel strongly about it because everyone else does, resist this trap. How we deal with this will define our generation and who we become. Heck, the world depends on it." Thank you for saying it so perfectly.

Rich Lorimer

Streamwood