How to Think for Yourself in the Age of Information

The Internet. Humankind’s greatest modern achievement. Like its ancestor, the printing press, the Internet allowed information to spread quicker than ever before. It upset the balance of power; putting information in the hands of the public.

The printing press allowed laypeople to put a magnifying glass on church and state. Over the centuries we became less trusting. More factual, more secular fringe voices were welcomed.

The Internet broke down the final barrier to accessibility: social class. Now the poor joined the middle and right in the feast for data. More magnifying glasses were turned in the direction of power. But one thing was going unnoticed: content creation.

Content goes totally unmonitored in the digital age. We have access to all information. And we also have equal power to create, curate, and spread our own ideas. We can even make up our own facts.

In this hyperreal state it feels as if nothing is real. We must point our magnifying glass in a different direction: back on the very information we are consuming.

The road to objectivity is not an easy one. But if you want to get to the bottom of the truth — and not your version of the truth — here are a few tips that will help.

Keep Your Bias in Check

From news and television shows, to the people we follow on social media, we have a tendency to entertain perspectives which reflect our worldview. We like to hear our opinions validated. We like to know that our hunches are true. When we see something online that doesn’t validate our beliefs, we’ll even go out of our way to find evidence to disprove the differing perspective.

Confirmation bias is one of our brain’s many cognitive shortcuts. A leftover from our tribal days. What was once an advantage during a culturally disconnected world, is now dividing the human race across new lines.

Tribes of thought. Safe spaces where facts are only accepted if they align with the group’s beliefs.

This is not the most productive way to think in a world that is becoming more diverse and nuanced. Gone are the days where ideas are entirely black and white. And perhaps they never were.

One way to trick our brains out of confirming our bias is through awareness. More specifically, being aware of the emotions firing off when we consume new ideas.

When watching the news (or anything new), do you find yourself agreeing/accepting what’s being said? Do you like the way it’s being said? Are the ideas presented clearly in-line with your view of the world?

If you find yourself accepting most of what’s said, it’s highly likely you are not being objective and that it was written to trigger your emotions and fanaticism for that particular subject.

Likewise, if you disagree with almost everything about a particular piece of content you’re consuming, chances are that again, you’ve lost your objectivity. If out of anger, you find yourself looking for evidence to discredit what you just learned, you might be falling under the spell of confirmation bias.

Know Your Sources

So now you know how to keep your bias under control. You filtered out the emotionally charged news sites and overly opinionated influencers. While browsing you come across an article that appears to be very objective in its interpretation of facts.

Ask yourself, is it trustworthy?

Whenever a piece of media quotes factual information, there should always be links back to the source material. If an article is fact-heavy and has no sources, then take it as an opinion, always.

What if there are citations but the article seems a bit too subjective?

Click on a few of the citations. Do they link back to independent institutions (e.g. universities, think tanks, credentialed experts) or simply other opinion pieces? A quick google search on the source material will usually highlight any red flags or conflicts of opinion.

The Real Agenda

Take a look at this article: Citronella Oil Benefits. At first glance it seems very legit. A huge “fact checked” button at the top. It’s on a website called DrAxe.com. He’s a doctor, an expert in his field. We can trust this.

Let’s take a closer look.

Many of the links in the article return to other pages on the site. Some even link to products for purchase. Scholarly information is also cited. This is usually a very good thing. Unfortunately, the research cited is too vague to confirm or deny the writer’s findings.

At the end of the article is a call to action. To sign up for a few lead-generating resources: a free eBook and training seminar. Dr. Ace even blatantly links to his own Amazon marketplace.

There may be truth in what is stated in the article. Citronella may have all the benefits that the writer claims. But unfortunately, there’s an obvious alternate agenda between the words. If we could name it, the agenda would be: “buy my products”. This agenda somewhat destroys any ounce of truth left in the article.

It’s so easy for our minds to be misled by reputable experts. We’re hardwired to trust authority and credentials, especially if we don’t know much about their field of study. But if we get down their agenda — the subtext behind their text — we’ll have a much better understanding of their credibility.

Fact-Checking Tools

In the early years of the Internet, there were very few ways to verify online information. Although there were less users, in many ways it was more lawless than today. I remember creating fake biographies for my high school friends on Wikipedia. You could literally rewrite history!

We now have tools and communities of free information evangelists, working around the clock to highlight instances of misinformation. You can verify the credibility of just about any factoid online. Here are a few of the tools that will help you sift through the facts:

Snopes fact-checks everything from breaking news, to rumors, and conspiracy theories. For each fact-checked story they assign 1 out of 16 ratings on the true/false spectrum. They openly and thoroughly explain each rating with copious amounts of sources.

Their team is also prohibited from donating, campaigning, or participating in any political party activity.

PolitFact and FactCheck can also be used to combat disinformation. PolitiFact operates in a similar way as Snopes. It also has a feature that highlights when politicians flip flop on ideas. Factcheck is primarily focused on verifying statements made by politicians.

The non-profit, non-partisan Rand Institute has a full list of disinformation fighting tools. Each listing includes details on site ownership, how the site maintains revenue, and whether it has current or previous connections with other tech companies.

Getting to the Truth

We are living in an infodemic. Misinformation continues to spread like viral video wildfire. The sensational nature of these clickbaity stories makes us want to share them far and wide; infecting others with our opinionated facts.

You don’t have to become an info-zombie. With the tools and knowledge above, you’ll be well equipped in your search for truth. Stay critical, stay curious, and always know: there are many sides to a story.