Critical thinking and awareness should be the individual and collective foundation of an advanced civilization, and instead this is precisely what is being deliberately and systematically annihilated.

If you don't think for yourself, someone will. And they'll make you pay for it, too.

I have never tolerated academic arrogance, regardless of the discipline. When certain figures present themselves as elitist and exclusive purveyors of solutions to personal or collective problems, often ignoring, for convenience, the structural causes that generate those problems, the cycle feeds on itself, even financially. Critical thinking is a protection against these alienating systems that normalize dysfunction. Studying is useful, but it is no substitute for autonomy and introspection. Indeed, studying any subject without critical thinking is just another form of indoctrination.

What I find dangerous—and this is where I see social control—is the increasingly widespread idea that human beings can't make it on their own—obviously, they're annihilated and conditioned from birth—and must delegate to paid, "educated" intermediaries. Once it was the priest, another time the scientist, now it's the psychologist's turn. I believe, instead, in individual responsibility and power: without self-awareness and the ability to observe internally, any knowledge risks becoming a crutch in times of distress (only for those who can afford it, obviously), not true change.

Awareness and critical thinking skills are free resources and do not require intermediaries, which is why they are constantly under attack.

The system fears those who become aware and therefore autonomous, because self-awareness brings with it the realization that, to evolve, intermediaries have never been necessary trained and approved by the same system, which in fact almost makes one think that they were hindering that evolution.

The point is, if you don't think for yourself, someone will think for you (for a fee).

PS: I certainly don't mean to imply that expanding the offerings of psychology courses is in itself an attack on critical thinking, but I recognize a pattern and a dangerous drift already underway. The key is integration: if we are finally willing to recognize that the solution lies in greater individual and therefore collective awareness, then every field, every discipline should integrate and support the cultivation of critical thinking, dedicating space and resources to it.

This broader reflection arises from this article: Massimo Recalcati, professor at the University of Milan. The Domination of Psychology and the Delegitimization of Philosophy — Stultifera Navis

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