We are witnessing a deeply troubling reality as we watch younger generations struggle to identify their priorities, make sound decisions, or learn from their own mistakes or those of others.
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We do not want a generation that expresses love for its homeland through slogans alone. Rather, we want one that sees the nation as a daily responsibility and believes that personal success is inseparable from the country's progress, and that a prosperous society begins with the success of its individuals. We want a generation whose loyalty to Jordan is rooted in knowledge, understanding, and meaningful action—not in emotion or fleeting reactions.
We want a generation that embraces dialogue as its primary approach, rejecting exclusion, accusations of disloyalty, and character assassination. It should understand that disagreement is not a threat but an opportunity to broaden perspectives, that ideas can only be challenged by better ideas, arguments by stronger arguments, and that societies advance through their ability to manage differences constructively.
We also want a generation with a sound understanding of politics—one that recognizes politics is not about shouting on social media or endless polarization between rival camps. Instead, politics is about managing public interests, understanding balances of power, and assessing national, regional, and international priorities.
Likewise, young people must develop a solid understanding of economics. Much of today's public debate treats economics as though it were driven by wishful thinking. Young people need to understand production, investment, taxation, unemployment, public debt, entrepreneurship, and labor markets. They should know how governments make economic decisions and why there are no cost-free solutions to complex problems.
We want a generation capable of distinguishing between information and incitement, analysis and propaganda, responsible criticism and destructive attacks. We want people who know how to think, ask meaningful questions, seek evidence, compare viewpoints, and reconsider their beliefs when confronted with new facts. A mind that never questions itself inevitably becomes closed, regardless of how much information it possesses.
We want a generation that knows how to make decisions, manage its life, plan for the future, set priorities, and take responsibility for its choices. Modern life no longer rewards those who merely memorize information; it rewards those who know how to apply knowledge and make the right decisions at the right time.
We want a generation that forms opinions through a scientific process—starting with facts, analyzing them, and then drawing conclusions. It should not be satisfied with a short video clip, an anonymous social media post, or an unverified message circulating through messaging platforms. Opinions that lack a foundation in knowledge can easily become emotional reactions that are exploited to undermine nations.
Today's reality reveals that many of our young people possess tremendous potential, yet they are surrounded by an overwhelming flood of information, news, rumors, and fast-paced content that favors sensationalism over knowledge. As a result, many become "damaged goods" in an environment that thrives on diminishing awareness because they lack the critical thinking skills needed to evaluate information and make sound judgments.
The new mission of education should no longer be filling students' minds with facts, but teaching them how to deal with information. Education must move from delivering answers to encouraging questions, from memorization to analysis, and from reproducing ideas to critically evaluating them. A citizen who lacks critical thinking becomes an easy target for rumors, populist rhetoric, and disinformation, ultimately losing the ability to think independently.
When individuals develop critical thinking skills, they do not believe a story simply because it has gone viral, reject an idea merely because it challenges familiar beliefs, or accept an opinion solely because it comes from a famous figure. Instead, they learn to distinguish between news and rumors, authentic and manipulated images, reliable statistics and misleading figures, and professional analysis and political propaganda.
True investment in the future begins with building minds capable of independent thought—minds that are not afraid to ask questions or reassess their own beliefs. Such individuals are far less likely to surrender their ability to make independent judgments. A generation that thinks critically will be better equipped to protect its country from extremism, misinformation, division, corruption, and populism. It will also be more capable of innovation, productivity, and shaping the future.
