Even if you’re not active on Facebook, you’ve still probably heard about the problem of fake news. Fortunately, Google and Facebook have both pledged to take steps to reduce the prevalence of fake news sites. However, the problem is simply that the sites exist. They can be highly entertaining. Take this example of a headline on a news magazine at the grocery line, “Prince Charles Seized the British Throne in a Palace Coup.” Nowhere else was it reported that tanks stormed into Buckingham Palace. Elizabeth II is still the Queen, but it’s reported that Charles usurped his son in the race for the crown. In case anyone has forgotten, Charles is next in line for the throne. He doesn’t need to beat out his son for the monarchy.
Fake news has always been around. The problem isn’t fake news, it’s how society responds to the news. Most of us can critically think about the headline above. We know it has to be fake because we didn’t hear about it on other news channels. Our culture is founded on the right to free speech. Magazines and newspapers can and do publish inaccurate or untrue “news.” It’s up to us to think critically about the information we’re given.
Confirmation Bias and the News
One belief as to why society is so quick to believe fake news is because of confirmation bias. This phenomenon also explains why we dismiss real news. It’s our natural reaction to dismiss information that conflicts with our core beliefs. We keep believing what we already believe without challenging our point of view. The path of least resistance is simply to accept only information that confirms our beliefs.
We choose the path of least resistance because it’s difficult to have our core beliefs challenged. However, it can be very rewarding to step into a new river to be shaped by new beliefs and different information. We walk a more enlightened journey when we challenge our beliefs and don’t believe everything we hear and see.
Choosing Critical Thinking
We all have our biases, whether we have only partial, distorted or even prejudicial information. When we choose critical thinking, we commit to analyzing and assessing our thoughts through discipline and self-correction by transcending our own biases. The Foundation for Critical Thinking defines it like this: “Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.”
This sounds complex, but it’s really pretty easy. When you’re a critical thinker, you must:
- Raise questions about the problem
- Gather relevant information
- Test your conclusions against other standards and criteria
- Be more open-minded
- Recognize consequences of your actions
- Communicate with others to find solutions for complex problems
Critical thinking isn’t about remembering dates and facts necessarily. It’s about taking general ideas and making connections between them to evaluate information critically. You have to question your beliefs and ask better questions to get more data about the situation.
Very little of our everyday thinking is critical. Most of the thinking we do happens automatically. Much of what we say that is later regretted happens because we forget to think critically. It’s this type of thinking that lets us not only evaluate our own work, but to generate arguments that allow hard decisions.
If you’ve been to college, you know that you only get so far by regurgitating the textbook’s information. At some point, your professor expects you to think harder and better. You can solve more complex problems when you think up solutions that no one else has considered. Critical thinking prevents you from being manipulated. It’s not easy, but when you develop these skills, you become a better person.