Conspiracy theories have a long history in US culture, as elsewhere. Paranoia & fear aren’t new. But critical thinking skills have been downplayed in education, by emphasising STEM over humanities/social sciences or deliberately rewriting civic education to be less critical. https://twitter.com/alistairburtuk/status/1347479091474259969

I’ve actually written about this. Evidence shows parents, teachers & politicians are the main barriers to critical thinking in curriculum. Students start somewhere when they think critically, & that somewhere is us. Not all adults like being questioned. https://academic.oup.com/pa/article-abstract/55/3/539/1456174

Trust me, there are days I rue strongly encouraging my kids to think critically, but over 16 years I can count on one hand all the times I’ve said, “Because I said so.” I encourage them to make counter-cases, with evidence. Touch wood, they’re very good bullshit detectors.