Give us flair

It has been uniquely depressing over my life to witness how truly gullible people are. There are false prophets everywhere and they are followed off cliffs by eager disciples who can't be bothered to question whether what they are being fed makes any sense.

When I was young events like the Jonestown massacre seemed foreign and outrageously implausible and yet I have now seen worse. The age of social media and the internet have shown us the full power of how far some people will follow someone down a rabbit hole.

Intellectuals and subject matter experts who preach truth are too dull and perhaps that is the problem. Panache and a flair for the dramatic seems to draw the eyeballs and if you are entertaining enough you are suddenly credible.

This is the age that celebrates the carnival barker and the idiot, but I am hopeful that with the next correction the pendulum will swing back.