To those with a bit more age and life experience than myself, I ask if you have noticed a rise in "categorical thinking" over time. To clarify, I mean thought processes that are mostly surface level and focus on attributing qualities or conclusions to things based on observable characteristics. Sort of "they display x so they must be y which means z"

The solution to ads may lie in stricter advertising rules. For instance, banning ads designed to manipulate rather than inform and setting standards for this criteria. Or even banning some advertising practices outright that are common methods for coercive or subtle influence. Imagine if a mouthwash commercial couldn't show an isolated women clearly stressed out about her breath to subtly ingrain an insecurity in their target audience.