I don’t want to give too much credit to people in the past, but disciplines like philosophy used to be celebrated more. Aristotle’s Lyceum, for example, included philosophy as a primary school alongside one for science.

The bombardment of bad/false information has never happened in human history like it does today. It has a reprogramming effect on peoples’ brains. They’re actively encouraged not to think critically. In fact, they’re told what to think instead of being presented with objective facts and encouraged to formulate their own opinions.

So in conclusion, I think it’s a bit of both. Humans have historically drifted towards irrationality and noncritical thought, but we used to celebrate and promote critical thinking more. At the same time, the current media landscape has a polluting effect like we’ve never seen before. It’s never been harder to consume news and information.