Do you ever think about times past, say the Roman Empire, and wonder if everyone there accepted stories, such as all the many gods they had -- gods who were very human and many of them of not very good character. Or all the explanations for the rise of the Romans, or Greeks, or the nature of "barbarians"? From the small amount I have read about it, I guess not everyone believed the accepted tales, and many were caused heartburn having to keep their true beliefs silent, or became cynical about all the myths. It could be dangerous to say what you thought, if it differed from 'accepted' belief. But what did the common people think, in general? I guess we will never know, because they left very little of substance to tell us how they lived, what they thought.

I think to times ahead: will the future people say "how could they survive in those times [our times, us], with all the misinformation they had, with all the 'noise' in the system? Did they all swallow that guff?"

I want to tell them: no, there were a few of us who were skeptical, who did not proclaim certainty about the answers to all questions. In truth, we did survive, but not well. Proof of how dearly all that "noise" cost us is seen in all the violence, the wars, the dysfunction in our societies. We have made noticeable progress over earlier civilizations in some areas, in others not so much.

I suppose this is all to be expected if we accept that we are evolved from earlier animals. Imagine the first pre-human who one day had time to spare from the daily hunt for food, who started to become aware, who looked around and said "Hey! What is all this 'stuff' around me? Who am I? How did I get to be here? Am I alone? What does all this mean? SCARY!!!! I think I want to forget about it, run away. This 'awareness' is too much for me!"