If you’re reading this, take out your smartphone or get to a computer.

Go to Google and search pandas. Take a moment to look at your screen and realize what you’ve done. You’re welcome.

At your fingertips is an immense library full of information on pandas. Scholarly papers, websites and videos, each with its own comment section providing even more insights on what you have just digested.

What do pandas eat? Got it. Where do they live? Got it. How many of them are still in existence? You get the point.

Everything you could possibly want to know, plus some stuff you might not want to know, all right in front of you.

With this amazing technology in our grasp, why did the National Science Foundation find that in 2014, one in four Americans still believed that the sun revolved around the Earth?

I just searched “How fast is Google search?” and my results came up in 0.56 seconds. That fast. Right there whenever you need it. Almost every answer for almost every question. For most people, it’s no further than the palms of their hands.

According to the Pew Research Center, nearly two-thirds of America’s total population owned a smartphone in 2015. This is up 35% since 2011. In fact, 15% of Americans’ only access to the internet is through a smartphone.

According to Gartner Dataquest, those who don’t have a phone can use one of the two billion personal computers around the world.

So why, with all of these resources at our disposal, are there still people who are unaware or shrug off such a basic scientific fact as the Earth revolving around the sun?

The answer is just plain ignorance. People who don’t know the information are simply refusing to see fact after years and years of analytical data proving that the Earth revolves around the sun.

If one in four Americans don’t even know the Earth revolves around the sun how can someone expect them to understand the scale of global warming or the crisis in the Middle East?

No matter your stance on basically any issue at this moment in time, you must realize that we, as humans, are in the middle of a major turning point in history.

As you read this, the most outlandish election in the United States’ history continues, and global warming poses a significant threat around the world. As  Americans, however, we, the people, have more rights than ever before in history.

These extreme circumstances call for intense ideas. The legacy of our time can only be written if we all grab the pen together.

I think it’s high time we start holding ourselves and those around us accountable for knowing the facts before we act. That we make sure the “greater good” really means the greatest good.

False information is unacceptable in a time where what’s real can be found within a few clicks and 0.56 seconds.

The facts and answers are always present in the daily wave of panic and entertainment. It just takes some curious hands to find them.

So you got a question? Go ahead Google it. Then once you’ve found your answer, do not simply accept it. Question more, ask more.

Expand and heighten the vision of yourself and those around you.  After all, knowledge is power, so be powerful.