What terrifies me is the thought that knowing the answer everyone sees is wrong and everyone being incapable of thinking critically about it. Maybe this is a timeless problem, but I fear it getting worse.
It's both, I think. It seems to me that it happens during periods of fast technological advancement. We just happen to be living through a sustained period of that.
The historical precedent is that it slows down again after people get a chance to take in the new reality. I am not sure how comforting that is.
That's what already happens when people read newspapers.