The opposite day whereas doomscrolling, I seen one thing I hadn’t clocked earlier than: the web felt boring. And but, in some way, it additionally felt exhausting. My mind was unstimulated whereas being overstimulated. And I don’t suppose it’s simply social media anymore.
It’s the whole internet.
Which implies we’re now dwelling in a spot the place data reveals up immediately, nevertheless it’s additionally blended in with half-truths, AI deepfakes and content material that’s designed to maintain us clicking. Now that ChatGPT is getting ads, I’m finished attempting to sift by way of the whole lot and suppose more durable about each single factor I see on-line.
The internet is engineered to punish critical thinking
For a long time, I thought the solution to internet chaos was better critical thinking. I believed that by contemplating each angle and researching the whole lot was one of the simplest ways to maintain up. And whereas that strategy is smart in principle and is accountable, it isn’t sensible, neither is it the best way the web ‘works.’
You see, I’ve realized one thing uncomfortable: vital pondering has quietly change into a legal responsibility on the trendy web. Do not get me mistaken, crticial pondering is not dangerous. However the web is engineered to punish it. The best way the web works now’s designed to:
- reward engagement, not accuracy
- pull you into countless context
- provoke emotional reactions
- blur the road between truth, opinion and hypothesis
- make “believable” really feel like “true”
When you’ve ever clicked one hyperlink to “shortly examine one thing,” then seemed up 25 minutes later questioning what simply occurred, you already know what I imply.
And AI didn’t create that system. It simply made it sooner. ChatGPT didn’t make me much less good, it made me extra drained. Actually, ChatGPT is without doubt one of the most helpful instruments I’ve ever used. It helps me brainstorm, summarize, plan, rewrite, examine choices and get unstuck when my mind feels prefer it’s spiraling.
But it surely additionally launched a brand new temptation: the sensation that I can get a clear reply to the whole lot, immediately. And that’s the place issues get difficult.
As a result of ChatGPT is so fluent, so assured, so quick, it could possibly make “finished” really feel like “true.” It will possibly make “sounds proper” really feel like “verified.” Even when it’s not.
The rise of “true enough”
The rise of AI isn’t a reason to panic. It’s a reason to adjust how we engage with information now. Because when AI becomes part of your daily workflow, your attention becomes the real cost.
Large language models aren’t built to verify truth. You have to do that yourself. And the internet has trained us to rely on shortcuts like fluency, confidence and social endorsement. So if something sounds reasonable, we stop checking.
That’s when critical thinking fails, not because we’re careless, but because nothing feels suspicious enough to trigger deeper verification. It feels complete. Neutral. Helpful. Which is exactly why it spreads.
My breaking point wasn’t misinformation, it was mental load
Here’s the part that not a lot of people get, everything we see online is asking something from us. Every post wants a reaction. Every thread wants an opinion. Every debate wants you to weigh in. Every “quick search” has turned into a mini research project. And soon, every ChatGPT response will be a reason to buy something.
Even when the content seems harmless, the experience can be mentally expensive. After 20 minutes of “just checking” social media, I’d feel more scattered, less motivated and less able to focus on anything meaningful. That’s where critical ignoring comes in.
How to practice ‘critical ignoring’
Critical ignoring doesn’t mean believing nothing. It means choosing not to engage deeply with low-value information. Instead of asking, “Is this true?” you ask: Is this worth my attention at all?
That one reframing changed everything for me. Because the internet is full of content that isn’t technically false. It’s just not worth your time. And in the age of AI, that’s the difference between staying informed and staying overwhelmed.
The 4 rules I’ve put into practice after a week
To see if critical ignoring actually worked, I gave myself four simple rules.
- Rule #1: If it triggers emotion first, I pause. If my first reaction is anger, panic, smugness or “wait, WHAT?” I don’t engage. No replies. No doom-scrolling.
- Rule #2: I don’t fact-check inside the content. Comments aren’t verification. Threads aren’t sources. If it matters, I leave the platform and check elsewhere.
- Rule #3: I treat AI answers like drafts, not sources. ChatGPT is great for summaries, brainstorming and clarity, but it’s not final authority. I treat AI output like a first draft: useful, fast and not automatically true.
- Rule #4: I ask one question before engaging. Would I care about this tomorrow? If not, I move on.
The habit that helped most: stop going deeper, go wider. The biggest mistake I used to make was fact-checking inside the content. I read the thread, scanned the comments, followed the argument. That’s exactly what the internet wants.
Instead, I switched to lateral reading. When I see a claim now, I open a new tab, do a quick search, check multiple credible sources, and look at who’s making the claim and why.
It takes under a minute, and it works way better than reading 400 replies or trusting one AI-generated summary.
The takeaway
After a week of practicing “critical ignoring,” I feel less manipulated.
I scroll less without trying. I’ve stopped getting angry at strangers because I’m not getting pulled into fake debates. In an environment begging for a reaction, I shrug. Most importantly, I feel mentally lighter, like I’ve stopped carrying around unnecessary urgency.
And I realized something else: I don’t want ChatGPT to feel like a feed. I want it to remain a tool. Critical ignoring helped me keep it that way, and I’m not going back. Because AI is embedded into everything now, that means the volume of convincing information is only going to increase.
You can’t analyze and verify it all. So the most important skill isn’t better thinking. It’s better filtering. I’m not trying to outthink the internet anymore. I’m trying to out-ignore it.
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