The value of critical thinking in today’s society

Fake news, which emerged at the dawn of new technologies and social networks —which amplify their impact— is, unfortunately, fashionable. The best way to deal with fallacious arguments is to develop critical thinking to analyze what we read, hear or see before accepting it as true.

Critical thinking is the ability to analyze and evaluate the consistency of reasoning.

Critical thinking is by no means a new concept, in fact its origin dates back to ancient Greece: Socrates and his maieutics, Plato and his dialectic, Aristotle and his rhetoric. Although it was not to them but to the philosopher Max Black who is credited with the paternity of the term, which he used as the title of a logic book in 1946. Neither the Greek masters nor Black knew anything yet about what we now know as fake news, but yes of the reasoning capacity of the human being.

WHAT IS CRITICAL THINKING AND ITS IMPORTANCE TODAY

There are as many definitions as experts have dealt with the subject, but perhaps one of the simplest and most precise is the one made by Francis Bacon —not to be confused with the painter— in 1605. "Critical thinking is having the desire to search, the patience to doubt , the fondness to meditate, the slowness to affirm, the disposition to consider, the care to put in order and the hatred for all kinds of imposture". From a more modern perspective, critical thinking is understood as the ability to analyze and evaluate the consistency of reasoning, especially those statements that society accepts as true in the context of everyday life, such as fake news, especially currently relevant due to their proliferation and rapid viralization.

Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

Critical thinking is having the desire to search, the patience to doubt, the fondness to meditate, the slowness to affirm, the disposition to consider, the care to put in order, and the hatred of all kinds of imposture.

Fake news, in fact, has a lot to do with what is known as the bandwagon effect and this, in turn, with the critical analysis of reality, or rather, with the absence of it. The term refers to a psychological theory according to which individuals adopt behaviors and ideas for the mere fact that a large majority of people do so without questioning or analyzing anything previously. The best antidote against this tendency is the promotion and development of critical thinking.

WHAT IS CRITICAL THINKING USED FOR? ADVANTAGES

The critical sense helps us to discern between mediocre and brilliant arguments, to distinguish valuable information from dispensable information, to dismantle prejudices, to find well-founded conclusions, to generate alternatives, to improve communication and, ultimately, to be owners of our thoughts and act accordingly. Although it is a cognitive activity closely related to reason, the purpose of critical thinking is action-oriented and applicable to any aspect of our day to day, including problem solving or decision making, so its scope of Influence goes from personal to work.

Can critical thinking be acquired? Some experts consider that it is, especially if this training begins in the school stage. In adulthood it becomes more complicated, but there are some attitudes that can help: analyze information in small doses —the importance of details and the search for nuances—, practice curiosity and skepticism —ask questions and contrast through from other sources—and question everything they tell us—especially if it is in line with our own beliefs.