Not knowing something used to be considered the first step toward learning.

Today, it feels more like disgracing seven generations of your family.

Somewhere along the way, admitting uncertainty became socially riskier than confidently repeating something you saw fifteen seconds ago on X, accompanied by a blurry screenshot, three fire emojis and the words “DO YOUR RESEARCH.”

We’ve reached the point where everyone is expected to have an informed position on geopolitics, constitutional law, epidemiology,  artificial intelligence, military strategy, macroeconomics, climate science, the Middle East and whichever obscure historical event has suddenly become the internet’s personality because someone explained it porly in a 37-second TikTok.

I don’t know exactly when this happened, which I appreciate is a dangerous way to begin an essay. But if I had to guess, I’d award partial custody to social media.

The algorithm doesn’t reward curiosity. It rewards certainty. Nobody has ever gone viral by saying, “That’s an interesting point. I’ll read a few........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)