SEEKING THE TRUTH
When I was teaching a freshmen course on adjusting to college, I was responsible for introducing the concept of critical thinking. It wasn’t any easy topic for me to wrap my mind around much less to teach it to uninterested freshmen. What was my basic message? Don’t just trust what you hear or read. You need to know the sources and substantiate the validity. Ask questions and solve problems. Challenge your own bias. Critical thinking is like the “scientific method” for analytical thinking. I suspect academicians will cringe when they read my layman’s explanation of critical thinking.
I think critical thinking is hard. First of all, it takes effort and sincere interest in understanding and seeking the truth. As has been true forever, young people are taught to memorize facts, figures and formulas. I am not saying that’s not necessary, but there is a general criticism that young people “can’t think” or choose not to think because it takes too much effort. Heck it’s not just young people.
My son falls into the category called millennials. As he grew up, I labeled his age group as the instant gratification generation. Technology changed rapidly as did the Internet and access to information and misinformation. The younger generations have grown up with such instant access to everything almost anywhere and perhaps less patience to explore and evaluate the sources.
Critical thinking is hard because there is information overload from television and the Internet. The filters to ensure accuracy of what we see and read are minimal. We have to care enough to build our own filters. Additionally, as I aged, I realized that what I had once considered as reliable news sources are actually entertainment and are not providing balanced views. What I see and hear is being filtered but not by me. If there is a specific issue, chances are I am not being exposed to both sides of the issue so that I come to an informed opinion. For example, I don’t understand climate change. What’s the truth? What’s being hidden from us? The Ukraine-Russia war coverage focuses on the atrocities of the Russian military, but is there a story that isn’t being told? We don’t know because media chooses what we see easily.
One of my more recent mistakes is reading Twitter posts. It’s become a really bad habit and a big waste of my time. Sometimes it like rubbernecking on the interstate when you drive by an accident. You can’t help looking. It violates my goal of seeking the truth. I look at Facebook posts for funny stories and pictures, pictures of friends and pets, and recipes, for the most part. I don’t use Facebook as a reliable news source. Why would I give much creditability to Twitter?
We need to know the sources and use our critical thinking skills. That, however, takes work. How badly do we want to know the truth? Maybe if the topic is very important, we will make the effort to evaluate what we hear and read. For the most part, I don’t work at being well informed. I don’t know how to recognize disinformation less fight against it. But, I don’t repeat what I can’t feel comfortable is factual.
I have been watching Agenda-FreeTV on YouTube and following Steve Lookner (anchor and founder) on Twitter. Lookner is careful with his comments and retweets in an effort to not spread uneducated speculations and misinformation. When I have listened to him, I hear him preface statements with words like “this person hasn’t cited sources” or “I can’t validate that this is accurate.” He kicks people out of the chatroom for spreading misinformation. He provides entertainment, but I do think he tries to be factual.
I asked a journalism professor about how to find trustworthy news sources. I didn’t get a good answer other than public broadcasting. It’s sad. It seems that we prepare young people for media careers, but their ability to present unbiased news may be influenced by media ownership or advertising revenue. Maybe I am being too cynical. What does the audience demand or at least expect?
When I talk to my 80 something year old cousin, he tells me he doesn’t watch television except for NHK World Japan. His wife is Japanese-American. He considers this source as reliable, objective and educational and a delightful source of entertainment. He has great respect for Japanese culture. No social media for him. Bravo. I think he has found a source of truth.
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