Intellectual dependency is a huge problem on the internet

Arielle Andrews, Contributing Writer

If you have ever watched a cooking TikTok, scrolled through the comments, and saw someone ask if they could remove the peanuts from a brownie recipe because they are allergic, you will believe me when I say critical thinking is at an all-time low. 

I have seen people ask for shirt details in TikToks when they could simply google “beige top.”

I have watched individuals start arguments online about something that was not said, could not happen or is just plain obvious. “Oh, you and your husband have tea and talk outside in the mornings? You must hate poor people, you privileged scumbag.” 

I have also read TikTok comments asking questions that are more apt for Google, or even still, your brain. “Wait, how do you know when someone’s angry? Do I have siren eyes?”

While I am not here to be ableist or comment on people’s mental capabilities and rationalizations, I have found a general trend of laziness online. What happened to critical thinking?

In an age where we have instant access to all our questions and other people’s opinions, we are letting go of our ability to think for ourselves. In other words, we are becoming intellectually dependent.

I would define intellectual dependency as overt dependency on other people to tell you what to do, how to feel, and most importantly, what to think.

Some would argue that intellectual dependency is born from a lack of common sense, but I believe its most likely predecessor for Gen Z is internet parenthood.

Typically, children grow up with their parents sponsoring their intellectual development, but in recent years, this has been relegated to the iPad.

Gen Z is the first generation to grow up with the internet and it shows. We have come to rely heavily on Google and TikTok comments to answer questions we stopped trying to answer on our own.

Google has taught us what to think, feel and do and it has only gotten worse with the onset of social media. We are so full of other people’s thoughts and knowledge that it is difficult to formulate our own.

Unlike my ancestors who thrived off instinct and intelligence, I am a culmination of every Wiki article I have ever read, and if you cut off my access to the internet I would not be able to function as a human being. I require the usage of the internet just to survive.

It is good to seek others’ advice, and I would be devastated to find that anyone took the opposite viewpoint from this article. However, I wonder how much the internet has diminished my critical thinking — and by extension, myself.

While part of me does not criticize intellectual dependency as a whole, a bigger part of me believes that intellectual dependency breeds insecurity. One huge aspect of developing our identities and independence is figuring out how to do things ourselves. 

The internet has robbed us of that. 

I grew up knowing the internet always held the solution to any one of my problems. I was raised on Facebook and Instagram and inject Twitter, now known as X, in my veins daily. When you are always surrounded by people who parade to know the secrets of the universe, you start to think less of yourself — less of your ability to think on your own. 

I deleted Twitter recently because I would watch something and wait until I read the comments to decide how I felt about it. I Google expert opinions before I decide how to act on anything. More concerning, I often get anxious if no one tells me how to do something and I freeze.

I can no longer imagine making a decision without doing extensive internet research. Hypocritically, even when making brownies, I sometimes question whether it is okay to forgo the peanuts. 

I know I am my own person, however, lately intellectual dependence has me believing I am a figment of millions of strangers’ ideas of a person.

The answer to intellectual dependency is relatively clear, just figure it out on your own, but it is more simple in theory than execution. 

In the meantime, I will continue rolling my eyes at TikTok comments while ignoring my own failures. 

The internet god intended — no critical thinking necessary.