Question the Given

I have been in a phase of questioning the given assumptions of our modern mind, especially the Western, modern human “givens.”

That was the topic of my last two blogs—questioning two common narratives that are so widely accepted that almost anyone on the street would assume them to be true without much thought: we are the most wealthy generation and we are the most educated people ever.

Now, these are complicated discussions. You would think they require some level of definition. What do we mean by wealth? What do we mean by educated? What metrics are we using to judge these claims?

I am not necessarily arguing that these statements are wrong, or even fully wrong. I am simply asking for a more nuanced conversation—one that values the lessons of the past while still examining the present with honesty.

Because many of the narratives pushed through public education and media are accepted too quickly. They are repeated so often that they begin to feel unquestionable. But repetition is not the same as truth.

Humans are quick to fall into narratives. We love stories. We love clear, absolute statements. We love quick and easy answers. But life is rarely that simple. Most things carry nuance. Most ideas have layers. Most truths require effort to uncover.

That is why I think it is important to question what we are given.

To pause before accepting something as obvious.
To ask what is really being said.
To examine the assumptions underneath the statement.

This does not mean we must reject everything. It means we should think about everything.

There is value in being careful about what we absorb. Our modern minds are shaped constantly—by media, by education, by repetition. If we are not aware, we begin to think in patterns that were given to us, not chosen by us.

So question the status quo.

Be curious.
Be willing to think differently.
Be willing to be wrong.

Even if you arrive at the same conclusion as everyone else, you will be better for having actually thought it through. You will have strengthened your mind. You will have engaged in real dialogue. You will have exercised something that is becoming rare: independent thought.

And in doing so, you begin to see more clearly.

Through the noise.
Through the assumptions.
Through the fog.