Not to get off topic but that is the problem I see in today's society. Too many people get their "news" now from randos on youtube because they were told not to trust the news authorities but the result is that they believe all kinds of lies and conspiracy theories. Now, I am not suggesting we should trust everything the mainstream news says, of course, they do have biases. We should always verify with evidence. But at the same time, when you automatically reject all evidence from any authority, you will be at risk of falling prey to misinformation and lies like we are seeing in the US today.
I'll nudge a little more OT - our biggest problem is a lack of critical thinking skills.
What is critical thinking?
Critical thinking is a kind of thinking in which you
question,
analyze,
interpret,
evaluate and
make a judgement about what you read, hear, say, or write. The term
critical comes from the Greek word
kritikos meaning “able to judge or discern”. Good critical thinking is about making reliable judgements based on reliable information.
Applying critical thinking does not mean being negative or focusing on faults. It means being able to clarify your thinking so that you can break down a problem or a piece of information, interpret it and use that interpretation to arrive at an informed decision or judgement (for example designing a bridge, responding to an opinion piece or understanding a political motivation).
People who apply critical thinking consistently are said to have a critical thinking mindset, but no one is born this way. These are attributes which are learnt and improved through practice and application.
In the academic context, critical thinking is most commonly associated with arguments. You might be asked to think critically about other people's arguments or create your own. To become a better critical thinker, you therefore need to learn how to:
1. Clarify your thinking purpose and context. We live in a world oversaturated with information of varying quality and relevance. To be an effective critical thinker, you need to focus on your own purpose and context, so that you can avoid information overload and keep track of your own line of thinking.
2. Question your sources. Not all sources of information are equally credible, accurate or relevant. Questioning your sources will sharpen your thinking, help you select the most appropriate information and prepare the ground for further analysis and evaluation.
3. Identify arguments. Arguments can be found everywhere. Whenever somebody is trying to show that something is true, or persuade somebody else to agree with them, you can identify an argument. As a student, you will find that the ability to identify arguments is one of the most useful critical thinking skills.
4. Analyse sources and arguments. To analyse something means to examine it in detail, explain and interpret it. For the purposes of critical thinking you need to be able to examine sources, arguments, theories and processes, and explain how they work. Good analysis also involves examining, interpreting and explaining the interaction of evidence, reasoning, assumptions, methodologies, claims and arguments.
5. Evaluate the arguments of others. Evaluation should consider and explain the relative strengths and weaknesses of your sources and the arguments they present. You need to be able to evaluate arguments, the claims that support those arguments, the evidence that supports those claims and the reasoning that connects them all.
6. Create your own arguments. Creating arguments consists of bringing together evidence, reasoning and claims and developing your own main claim. Creating arguments is also called synthesis, which means “placing things together.” When you create arguments, you bring together the insights from your analysis and evaluation. You also consider how your critical thinking might apply in the broader context, and what new insights and perspectives it brings.
