Trust in politicians may be at an all-time low; yet there’s a quieter, and in many ways deeper, threat to democracy in the way feelings and opinions are so often allowed to overshadow facts and expert insight. When that happens, public conversation becomes blurred, as if clarity itself has slipped out of reach. Confident claims start to carry the same weight as careful evidence, and the people who shout the loudest begin to drown out those who’ve spent years studying the issues that shape our common life.

It’s easy to see why this happens. Facts can feel slow, demanding, or inconvenient, while opinions offer something quicker and simpler, a shortcut that seems to spare us the effort of wrestling with complexity. Yet democracy rests on the willingness of ordinary people to stop, listen, and think with generosity and humility. Experts aren’t flawless, but their work – tested, challenged, and refined – gives us the best chance of understanding the world as it really is, rather than as we wish it to be.

If we want a healthier public square, we need to nurture a spirit of curiosity. That means reading beyond the surface, noticing where information comes from, and speaking with people who see things differently without slipping into suspicion or scorn. It asks us to value substance over spectacle, patience over instant certainty, and truth over the comfort of hearing only what we want to hear. Democracy grows stronger when we choose that slower, braver path: the one that leads us back to honesty, compassion, and shared responsibility.