Clickbait: Enlighten Me!

A couple of months ago I came across an article on Facebook that had gone “viral”. Interested in why the article has so many shares and intrigued by the edgy title, I clicked the link to read more. Nodding  my head in agreement with some points the article made, but I began to wonder who this mystery writer was that I am allowing to have influence over my thoughts and feelings. When I scrolled down to the bottom, I was surprised to find that whoever this person was, they had absolutely no credentials or qualifications to give me advice. This person could have been the most confused writer in the world, but thousands of people were taking their words to heart and sharing with others!

Of course bloggers and amateur writers (such as ourselves) are not out to trick anyone, but rather to share their thoughts about a specific topic. But as a scientist in training, I can’t help but to question the validity and credibility of what I read. As I continue learning about the Enlightenment period, I see similarities in our own day. Although a focus on knowledge and intellect had been a focus since  the beginning of the Renaissance period, it wasn’t until the Enlightenment that people began to not only seek after learning, but after the right kind of learning that was supported by facts. Much like the scientific literature of our day must be verified by experts in their fields, the Enlightenment period gave rise to men such as Francis Bacon, Rene Descartes, and Galileo Galilei. These men were among the first to call for scientific proof of discoveries rather than just words and theories.

As I look back at the progress that humanity has made since the beginning of the Enlightenment period, I would argue that this push for scientific evidence and support has been one of the most influential occurrences for our time. Although we still enjoy the clock bait that contains the musings of the most passionate closet bloggers, fact checking is truly what has led to the progress we have made as humanity in science. This has allowed for us to build off of the humanistic ideals of the Renaissance as we work together and build off of previous research that has been done in order to solve the of the greatest problems that face humanity. Thanks to the scientific process established in the Enlightenment period, we can seek enlightenment that is of the highest quality.

Image source: https://thenextweb.com/facebook/2016/08/04/facebook-officially-declared-war-clickbait/