We live during a time of information overload. The social-media giants, like Face-book and Google, are aging. We are witnessing the rise of new fields of experts called “influencers.”
In past, if you wanted to be an expert in some profession or body of knowledge, you needed to have a degree. Today, you only need followers who will recognize you as an expert. Perhaps social media is simply an exercise in influence. Anyway, we have many more people who create content, along with the experts, and much more information to
sieve through. Its funny. My mom continually direct messages me the latest scare: ” The government will be spraying the skies with a deadly spray, so don’t go outside after 10:30 p.m.” or “People are walking around the neighborhoods passing out N-95 respirators, but if you take it and put it on, you’ll pass out.”
Social media has given everyone to leverage their abilities to influence others with information. If you’re not careful, you won’t know what to believe. Take any political topic, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and Fox and, sometimes, Politico, will present a conservative perspective while MSNBC, CNN, MSN, and others will cover issues from a liberal perspective. You can predict how they will cover issues. What is interesting is those rare occasions where they agree. Who is right?
And what about those conversations that we have with our friends and family, you know, the ones about religion. Someone is a Christian and the other person has left the faith, believing that Christ is a white-man’s religion, or some other situation. What about those run-ins with atheist who believe that anyone who believes in God is an idiot and opposed to science.
Don’t forget about those papers that require you to analyze some thinker’s reasoning, say, Sigmund Freud’s theory of the unconscious.
So, I think that it is very obvious that we need the ability to think clearly and methodically. This is what I call critical thinking. It is important in a world of information to be able to separate the good from the bad, the credible from the unreliable sources, arguments, and evidence. This will help us to make better decisions in our relationships, professions, careers, and personal lives. And that’s why critical thinking is important.