Techno-Illiteracy and the Death of Critical Thinking (A Mildly Unhinged Rant)

So I saw this post from Hailey earlier about how "some people will say literally anything on the internet, and other people will believe literally anything on the internet," and honestly? It's given me proper thoughts about the sheer techno-illiteracy I've been witnessing lately.

I swear to god, now that I've been in IT education and will be going into IT as a job, I am so disappointed at the sheer techno-illiteracy of a lot of people. To put this into perspective, I may not know the intricate details of cider making but I do know it involves yeast fermentation of apples. That's the level of basic understanding I'm talking about here—not expertise, just... basic awareness of how things bloody well work.

But apparently that's too much to ask for when it comes to technology.

The Absolute State of Things

The thing is, we're living in an age where everyone carries a computer in their pocket that's more powerful than what sent humans to the moon , and yet people treat it like it's some sort of mystical black box. They'll happily tap away at social media apps without the slightest understanding of how data flows, how algorithms work, or why their battery drains faster when they have seventeen bloody tabs open in Chrome (which, by the way, devours RAM like a starving werewolf tears through a village sheep pen).

It's not even about being a programmer or understanding the intricacies of the AT Protocol (though if you're curious, it's rather fascinating ). It's about having enough digital literacy to not fall for the most obvious nonsense imaginable.

The Gullibility Problem

Hailey's observation really hits the nail on the head, doesn't it? The internet has become this echo chamber where misinformation spreads faster than actual facts, and people just... believe it. No critical thinking, no fact-checking, just pure acceptance of whatever confirms their existing biases.

I've seen people share "breaking news" that's actually satire from The Onion. I've heard stories of people's family members falling for conspiracy theories that could be debunked with a five-second Google search (which, ironically, they refuse to do because "you can't trust Google"). The same people who warned them not to believe everything they read online are now apparently forwarding WhatsApp messages about how 5G causes everything from headaches to the apocalypse.

Why This Matters (Beyond My Personal Frustration)

Look, I'm not trying to be elitist here. I understand that not everyone needs to know how to configure a Docker container or set up their own PDS (though I've certainly tried that , twice actually, with varying degrees of success). But for crying out loud, we need some baseline digital literacy.

When people don't understand how the internet works—even at a basic level—they become easy targets for:

Phishing scams (no, the Prince of Nigeria doesn't actually need your help)

Misinformation campaigns

Privacy violations (particularly prevalent with platforms like Meta and other centralised platforms )

Financial fraud

General digital manipulation

It's like watching someone drive a car without understanding that you need petrol to make it go, or that the brakes are rather important for not crashing into things.

Basic Preventions

From my experience, using common sense would easily prevent it. Checking with IT support at work, colleges and universities or even just ignoring junk emails if it doesn't look like anyone you know.

The Educational Gap

Part of the problem is educational, isn't it? We've got entire generations who were thrust into the digital age without proper preparation. The digital natives—Gen Z, my own generation—who grew up with technology often know how to use it but don't understand how it works . Meanwhile, older generations are still trying to figure out why their computer is "running slow" (it's probably malware, or a heavy operating system, Karen, and no, more RAM won't fix everything).

The Intersection of Ignorance and Arrogance

What really gets to me is the Dunning-Kruger effect in action. People who know just enough to be dangerous but not enough to be careful. They'll install random apps, click on suspicious links, and then act surprised when their digital life implodes.

I've seen countless stories online of people having to explain that no, computers aren't "broken" just because they have 47 browser toolbars installed. Or that maybe, just maybe, that pop-up claiming their computer is infected and they need to call a phone number immediately might not be entirely legitimate.

The Social Media Amplification Effect

Social media has made this exponentially worse. Algorithms designed to maximise engagement have created information bubbles where people only see content that reinforces their existing beliefs. Add in the fact that most people don't understand how these algorithms work (they're not magic, they're just maths with a profit motive), and you've got a recipe for digital disaster.

The same people who wouldn't trust a random stranger on the street will believe whatever their aunt's friend's neighbour posts on Facebook. It's maddening.

My Personal Stakes in This

I'll admit, this isn't just academic frustration for me. As someone about to enter the IT field properly, I'm genuinely dreading the prospect of dealing with the consequences of this techno-illiteracy daily. I know I'm going to be the one fielding support tickets from people who think turning it off and on again is some sort of mystical incantation rather than basic troubleshooting.

I'll be explaining to clients why their password shouldn't be "password123" (and no, changing it to "password124" doesn't count as an improvement). I'll be dealing with the aftermath of people clicking on obvious phishing emails and then acting shocked when their systems are compromised.

Speaking of phishing emails, I actually received a suspicious one to my college email a while back that looked dodgy enough to make me pause. Rather than just deleting it or, god forbid, clicking on anything, I contacted the college's IT support to check if they'd actually sent it. They hadn't. I deleted it after getting confirmation, though I never did find out if it was actually a phishing attempt or just poorly designed legitimate correspondence. The point is, I knew to be suspicious and ask questions—and I can be naive at times like anyone, but I knew when to seek help rather than making assumptions.

It's like being a mechanic in a world where nobody understands that cars need maintenance, and then everyone's surprised when their engine explodes.

What Can We Actually Do?

Honestly? I'm not sure we can fix this entirely. The horse has rather bolted from this particular stable. But maybe we can make some incremental improvements:

Better digital literacy education: Not just "how to use Microsoft Word" but "how the internet actually works and why you should care."

Critical thinking skills: Teaching people to ask "who benefits from me believing this?" before sharing that outrageous news story.

Basic security awareness: Password managers exist for a reason, people. Use them.

Understanding of algorithmic bias: Just because something appears in your feed doesn't make it true or important.

The Silver Bullet Fallacy

Right, so here's where I'm going to lean properly into my special interest, because there's a perfect analogy here that actually makes sense. Please bear with me.

In werewolf lore (well, the more recent archetype spun by 1941's The Wolf Man), everyone knows about the silver bullet—the one surefire way to stop a lycanthrope. It's simple, it's definitive, and it gives people a sense of control over something they don't really understand. The problem is, real solutions are rarely that straightforward.

People approach technology with the exact same mentality. They desperately want the silver bullet solution: the one antivirus program that will protect them from everything, the one password that's both secure and easy to remember, the one social media setting that will preserve their privacy forever. They want simple answers to fundamentally complex problems.

But here's the uncomfortable truth: there is no silver bullet for digital literacy. There's no single download, no magic setting, no one weird trick that will make you immune to phishing, misinformation, or privacy violations. It requires ongoing education, critical thinking, and—perhaps most importantly—accepting that technology is complex and constantly evolving.

This silver bullet mentality is precisely what leads people to install seventeen different antivirus programs (which actually makes their computer less secure), or to believe that using incognito mode makes them completely anonymous online ( it doesn't ), or to think that one "computer cleaning" software will solve all their problems (spoiler: it won't, and it'll probably install more bloatware whilst pretending to help).

The reality is that werewolves in good fiction are far more nuanced than "monster that dies to silver"—they have complex motivations, social structures, and vulnerabilities that go well beyond metallurgy. Similarly, technology problems require sophisticated, multi-layered solutions rather than the digital equivalent of "have you tried silver bullets?"

Pack Dynamics vs. Digital Mob Mentality

Since I'm already embracing my lycanthropic obsession, let me extend this analogy a bit further. If people understood technology the way werewolves understand pack dynamics, we'd all be significantly better off.

Werewolves (at least in decent fiction) know their position in the pack, understand the social structure, and most importantly, don't just blindly follow any alpha that howls loudly enough. They have established hierarchies based on experience, wisdom, and genuine leadership qualities.

(This also applies to actual wolf packs, by the way, since they're typically familial units rather than the dominance-based hierarchies that popular culture imagines.)

But humans on the internet? They'll follow any influencer with enough followers, believe any conspiracy theory with sufficient memes, and share any content that makes them feel intellectually superior—regardless of whether it's actually true or beneficial to the "pack." It's like having a werewolf society where everyone follows whoever howls the loudest, regardless of whether they're leading the pack off a cliff.

Fighting the Digital Tide

Look, I know I'm probably shouting into the void here. The people who need to read this won't, and the people who do read it probably already agree with me. It's the classic problem of preaching to the choir whilst the congregation burns the church down because someone on TikTok told them it was haunted.

But maybe, just maybe, we can make small improvements. Maybe we can teach one person to think critically about what they see online. Maybe we can convince someone to use two-factor authentication (seriously, it's not that hard). Maybe we can stop the spread of just one piece of misinformation.

Or maybe I'll just continue being frustrated by the state of digital literacy whilst simultaneously being fascinated by the technologies that enable this chaos. After all, the AT Protocol is genuinely brilliant even if most people using it don't understand how it works.

Anyway, that's my rant for today. Time to go back to pretending I have my life together whilst quietly despairing about the future of human-computer interaction.