Learning How to Think Again

It’s a Slippery Slope We Americans Go Down Without this Important Skill

A New Democraticus Series

We are in 2024, an election year, a year I call “the Year of the Precipice” for our democracy.  To better equip Americans to exercise their civic duty in this new year, we are beginning a new series in ‘Democraticus’ examining important ways of thinking and belief systems that can have a major impact on our democracy’s future. 

Dangerous Thinking Leads to Dangerous Outcomes for a Democracy

As we begin looking at these “democratic skills”, we will do that within the context of how the lack of these basic skills can lead to not just ignorance of the facts about our nation’s past, but our willingness to be lied to, gaslighted, believe wild conspiracy theories, as well as accept the Big Lie and ultimately to be radicalized into a shared victimhood and what effectively is a cult.

We will begin with what many believe is the most important skill Americans must have to properly carry out their democratic civic duty- critical thinking.

The Importance of How We Think in a Democracy

Think about the last few years when you have been watching the news or have been reading the news feeds on the internet.  What have you seen?  Often times you have seen images of the violence of the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection.  Or, you have seen interviews of Christian evangelists making statements about how they are “okay” with whatever Donald Trump says or does, even when it is clearly racist, misogynistic, goofy, or authoritarian (or all of those).  Or, you read where Christian evangelicals (so they call themselves) view Trump as God’s chosen[1] or anointed[2]?  Or you have watched and listened to the most recent former president make incredulous and often ridiculous, preposterous statements, often taking credit for things he had absolutely nothing to do with their achievement, but instead were initiated during his predecessor’s presidential administration.[3]

Did you ever wonder why these views and this type of speech and conduct is condoned, conducted, accepted, never challenged, and supported by these Americans?  It is not a small group.  Trump supporters comprise a sizeable group.  Certainly, Trump supporters are a mix of those who are highly educated and yes, it has been proven many “Trumpers” do not have  more than a high school education.  But, that does not mean they are unintelligent or uneducated, although with any population group that will be the case for a portion of them.  When you watch and listen to them being interviewed in the media, they seem to understand what Trump is telling them and are “okay” if it is not even half true.  They are clearly “all in” for Trump.  What is going on in their minds?

Sure, there are multiple factors in play here, but perhaps one of the major ones is the easiest to overlook or ignore- an absence of critical thinking.  Many Americans are very trusting of their leaders’ words, not ever questioning whether or not they contain even a scintilla of truth.  Not having critical thinking skills to distill, evaluate, analyze, and come to accurate conclusions as to the veracity of our leaders’ statements can be deadly for democracy.

For a Democracy’s Citizens, Critical Thinking is Critical

“…Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”[4]

Voltaire, from Collection des lettres sur les miracles, 1765

There is a reason the quote above from Voltaire is so relevant to today’s American democracy.  We have been witnessing the fruit of Americans “believing absurdities” since the 2016 presidential elections, if not before.  How we view our nation’s public affairs impacts how we engage with our “public square” civically.  With accurate critical thinking we can engage with our government constructively.

But, how can one do that if we cannot think critically? Without it, the quality of Americans’ civic engagement is degraded and changes dramatically.  And if you doubt the importance of critical thinking in a democracy, all one has to do is look at the events of January 6, 2021 in our nation’s Capital and see the destruction that an absence of critical thinking brought to our democracy’s doorstep.  This lack of critical thinking came closer to toppling American democracy than many Americans realize or want to admit.

How does critical thinking ignite or conversely, stop an event like the January 6^th insurrection?  Loss of critical thinking skills renders one incapable of understanding and differentiating the truth from fiction.  It weakens through manipulation the ability to understand and discern truth within the context of reality to the point it can alter one’s grasp of reality in the public square.  Without solid critical thinking skills our ability to exercise our most important civic duty, providing an informed consent of the governed as We the People, is severely undermined.  Without critical thinking, We the People are no longer in control.  Instead, we become the controlled.

Consequently, our inability to think critically makes us easy prey for manipulation by our leaders, something we will explore later.  A key question then emerges, without the ability to critically think, what are the chances of our being civically literate? They are low indeed, making the improvement of our nation’s ability to critically think of paramount importance to our democracy’s future.

What Exactly is Critical Thinking?

The concept of “critical thinking” can be found almost everywhere in American society today, especially in the field of education.  A review of literature and the internet quickly reveals a consensus on the importance of critical thinking ability society-wide, at all age levels, and in all sectors of the economy.  But what exactly is critical thinking? There are many definitions of the term floating around, all with similar components. Linda Henman PhD and founder of the leadership consulting firm the Henman Performance Group, defines it well saying critical thinking is:

“…a disciplined process for conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating information gathered from observation, experience, and reasoning. It is based on clarity, accuracy, relevance, depth, breadth, and fairness.”[5]  (emphasis mine)

Henman goes on to explain why critical thinking skills are so important today:

“When making difficult decisions, an individual or group engaged in strong critical thinking gives due consideration to careful observation and the relevance of arguments. These skills allow people to venture into the realm of the unknown. They may not understand the specific details of the new situations, but because they can weigh information and analyze it effectively, they excel in uncharted seas. These people also typically show a willingness to tackle problems and decisions that demand their skill set.”[6] (emphasis mine)

Critical Thinking’s Counterfeit

However, before going much further into delving into what critical thinking is, it is equally important to acknowledge what it is not, and to understand what today passes for its counterfeit. David French explores a major false idea that exists today that what is seen as critical thinking is what he calls “contrarianism”.[7] This counterfeit to critical thinking is quite simple- it takes a prevailing “narrative” (as an example, that vaccines control Covid’s spread and Covid related illnesses and death) and argues the opposite.[8] According to French, this “intense contrarianism” finds its roots in “deep antipathy against perceived ‘elites’ or against the ‘establishment’ on the left or the right.”[9]

Media outlets like Fox News have made it a highly profitable art of practicing this contrarianism by taking what they call “the narrative” (i.e., the conventional wisdom in the media or the political establishment) and “simply argue the opposite”.[10] All the while this faux critical thinking is portrayed as deep, insightful, and unbiased when in fact, it is far from any of those things. 

Why is contrarianism not critical thinking? It is because, as French argues, a true critical thinker holds all sides accountable for their mistakes. Universal skepticism is a trademark of a critical thinker. On the other hand, the contrarian “…commits a double error- he’s both excessively cynical and excessively credulous. He’s too quick to disbelieve one side and too quick to believe the opposite.”[11]

The Roots of Critical Thinking

A good place to start when examining critical thinking is to acknowledge its roots in the Enlightenment of the 1700s and early 1800s. According to historian Heather Cox Richardson, the English Wars of the 1600s gave rise to the philosophy that would create the American nation. John Locke, son of Puritans, formulated a different world view from the chaos of this period, one grounded in the Puritan belief that every man bore responsibility for perceiving the path God had foreordained for him. This required a person to constantly seek and absorb new ideas and information which meant one must learn. He concluded that humans were not born with ideas about the world, but instead, learned from experience.[12]  This required learning how to think.

Locke postulated that “…All knowledge came from trying out new facts and ideas. If men could figure out their own appointed path in the world, they would also discern the natural rules that God had established. New information could change one’s understanding, and this meant traditional patterns of society (i.e., birth, wealth, or religion) did not necessarily reflect these natural rules.”[13] Simply put, reason and self-interest, not one’s birth or social order were the true sources of authority and legitimacy. One of Locke’s most influential concepts was that of government being a social compact, one requiring the consent of the governed to enable them to live together in peace.[14] Hence, the idea of “We the People” was born, an idea which was revolutionary at that time, inspired our nation’s founders, and is considered the bedrock of our democracy.

However, as important as we Americans seem to believe the ability to critically think is, as well as its significant impact on our civic awareness and civic literacy, a review of literature and the internet quickly reveals that our national ability to think critically is at a low ebb. It shows we have drifted far from the Enlightenment ideals and concepts that so influenced this nation’s founders.

Canaries in the “Coal Mine”- Evidence in Education our Critical Thinking Skills are Lacking

Just a few (and there are many) of the “canaries in the coal mine” sounding the alarm for some time now about the poor ability of United States’ school students to critically think comes from the quite different worlds of higher education, data science, and journalism. Professor Bradley R. Gitz (Lyon College), writing for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, says: “Those of us who have taught in various institutions of higher education for some time often complain…that the quality of student writing has declined precipitously. Less frequently noted is the connection- that to write clearly one has to first think clearly. The spread of bad writing is thus a symptom of a perhaps larger ‘can’t think straight problem”.[15]

Certainly, evidence of bad writing by students equivocates to their poor critical thinking, but it points to even deeper problems. Journalist Terri Williams cites a MindsEdge study showing many millennials lack critical thinking skills. MindsEdge is a Waltham, Massachusetts based company founded by Harvard and MIT educators. Williams reports this study found that, when testing young adults between 19 and 30 years of age (both college students and recent graduates), with a test designed to assess their ability to detect fake news, that:[16]

·         only 24 percent were able to correctly answer eight out of nine questions

·         44 Percent could not correctly answer six out of nine questions

Willams finds this inability to discern false information to be problematic for more than one reason, including:

·         55 percent of millennials rely on social media for news

·         51 percent share social media content very often or fairly often

·         36 percent have accidentally shared inaccurate information”.

Not only can these students not critically think, but they also help their peers in doing it poorly as well. Williams points out that the MindsEdge survey is consistent with a Stanford University survey which found “…high school and college students were unable to distinguish between a news story, an ad, and opinion piece, and college students actually fared worse than high school students.”[17] Not only did the college students do worse than the high school students taking the survey, but according to Williams, the MindsEdge survey found “…61 percent took critical thinking in college while 13 percent were not sure if they took a critical thinking course or not while in college.”[18]

Perhaps the most important takeaway from the research and reporting on developing critical thinking among the nations’ students is two-fold. First, is whether it is being taught at all. Some educators contend that it is, others say no.  Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, how is critical thinking being taught? Or, can it truly be taught, as much as developed in our students? Rob Jenkins of the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal subscribes to the view that while many colleges and universities claim they teach critical thinking, in fact, they do not. Jenkins attributes this to the “de-constructivist” teaching approach in prevalent use now in higher education. With this de-constructivism, creating meaning (of something read by a student, for example) is entirely subjective, based on the experiences of the reader. This results in students “deconstructing” their learning based on their own subjective emotions or experience, instead of basing it on facts, analysis, and empirical evidence.

Education Is Not the Only Problem When It Comes to Critical Thinking

Interestingly, data scientist Tony Yiu does not lay all the blame for our substandard critical thinking at the feet of our education system- he blames it on entertainment, television, Netflix, and the multitude of other images and videos we can watch on-screen. Yiu maintains that “…because we are constantly watching things where everything is already visualized for us, we spend much less time reading, thinking, and exercising our imagination.” He argues that visual entertainment is a huge impediment to development of critical thinking as it is “…predominately image based and fast paced, leaving little to the imagination. And therein lies the problem.”[19]

Though they come from quite different professions, Glitz, Williams, and Yiu are saying much the same thing- we are not thinking well critically. The education field at all levels has embraced the need for critical thinking, but it has divergent views and approaches about how to best develop critical thinking in our nations’ students.

The Impact on Us When our Critical Thinking Decreases

One of the first casualties of our inability to critically think becomes our lack of willingness to expose ourselves to, much less seriously reflect on, others’ views and beliefs. This is especially so if the views and beliefs of others are diametrically different from, or opposed to, our own. When we do this, we do it to our own detriment. As Brooks explains: “There is evidence that, the less we become exposed to opposing viewpoints, we become less logically competent as people”.[20]

Brooks uses the work of David Blankenhorn[21] to spotlight the rise in several modes of weak political thinking in the past decade. Notable among these thinking modes are:

·         “binary opinions (“I am completely right, so you are completely wrong”)

·         seeing any uncertainty as a mark of weakness

·         motivated reasoning (looking only for evidence that supports your own opinion, which is easier when one can curate one’s own news and social media)

·         argumentation ad hominem (“You have selfish and immoral reasons for your own opinion”); and

·         a refusal to agree on any basic facts (“Your news is fake news”).[22]

Binary Thinking- Our “Go to” Method of Thinking

Blankenhorn’s work points to the importance of “content” (i.e., facts) to critical thinking, but also to “how” one thinks. While binary thinking is an important starting point for understanding our various modes of thinking, it is important when becoming a strong critical thinker to understand the different ways of thinking. If we understand these various ways of thinking, we can learn to recognize factual from non-factual arguments, as well as identify arguments based on sound logic, while avoiding those that are specious or flatly incorrect. Binary thinking is something we humans do a lot of. It often is a sound way of thinking, but not always.

Educator Clay Drinko describes binary thinking (sometimes called dichotomous thinking- ever heard of a “false dichotomy”?) as a way of thinking where “…even complex concepts, ideas and problems are overly simplified into being one side or another. The gray area in the middle is ignored or often goes unnoticed. Binary thinking helps us feel a sense of certainty. In a complex world, binary thinking can feel comforting.”[23]

Other Ways of Thinking and Impediments to Critical Thinking We Need to Know About

For that reason alone, the binary thinking we often use has its limitations. Internet blogger Oz Chen argues that binary thinking is dangerous as it can “divide people and cause extremism, and also reduce people to a set of arbitrary set of variables.”[24]  As often as we use binary thinking, and we do use it frequently, there are other critical thinking skills that civically literate Americans must have to perform their civic duties in a democracy.  Next we will explore other ways of thinking to enhance critical thinking.  We will also take a look at impediments to critical thinking skills that we must be aware of because they are used to manipulate us and prevent us from being strong critical thinkers.

We will continue exploring topics like this gone that are not given near enough time and emphasis in our civic education efforts, if they are even taught at all. Democracy is so important.  But it’s hard to keep, and it’s easy to lose.  It’s up to us, and only us, to protect it.  Support democracy, become a Democratist!  Spread the word!

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[1] The Biblical Story the Christian Right Uses to Defend Trump, Why Evangelicals are Calling Trump a “Modern-Day Cyrus”, by Tara Isabella Burton,  Vox, March 5, 2018

[2] At Far-Right Roadshow, Trump is God's 'Anointed One,' QAnon is king, and 'everything you believe is right' (yahoo.com), Los Angeles Times, by Sarah D. Wire, October 12, 2023

[3]Data show Trump didn't 'build' a great economy. He inherited it. (nbcnews.com), by Dante Chinni, August 23, 2020, 7:18 CDT .

[4] Voltaire, Voltaire on Capitol Hill, February 16, 2021, foundation.wordpress.com/2021/02/16/voltaire-on-capitol-hill-can-make-you-believe-absurdities-can-make-you-commit-attrocities

[5] “The Critical Nature of Critical Thinking”, by Linda Henman, Henman Performance Group, https://henmanperformancegroup.com/talent/the-critcal-nature-of-critical -thinking/

[6] “The Critical Nature of Critical Thinking”, by Linda Henman, Henman Performance Group, Ibid

[7] “What the Russian Invasion Teaches About the Right”, by David French, The Third Rail, March 18, 2022

[8] “What the Russian Invasion Teaches About the Right”, by David French, Ibid

[9] “What the Russian Invasion Teaches About the Right”, by David French, Ibid

[10] “What the Russian Invasion Teaches About the Right”, by David French, Ibid

[11] “What the Russian Invasion Teaches About the Right”, by David French, Ibid

[12] How the South Won the Civil War, by Heather Cox Richardson, Copyright 2020, pg. 4, Ibid

[13] How the South Won the Civil War, by Heather Cox Richardson, Copyright 2020, pg. 4, Ibid

[14] How the South Won the Civil War, by Heather Cox Richardson, Copyright 2020, pp 5-6, Ibid

[15] “The Decline of Thinking”, by Bradley R. Gitz, April 3, 2017, 2:21 a.m., The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2017/apr/03/the-decline-of-thinking-20170403

[16] “Study: Nearly Half of Millennials Get an ‘F’ In Critical Thinking”, by Terri Williams, GoodCall, https://www.goodcall.com/news/critical-thinking-011043/

[17] “Study: Nearly Half of Millennials Get an ‘F’ In Critical Thinking”, by Terri Williams, GoodCall, Ibid

[18] “Study: Nearly Half of Millennials Get an ‘F’ In Critical Thinking”, by Terri Williams, GoodCall, Ibid

[19] “The Death of Critical Thinking”, by Tony Yiu, December 26, 2019, Medium, https://tonester524.medium.com/the-death-of-critical-thinking-2dfed875bd5

[20] Love Your Enemies, by Albert C. Brooks, pg. 31, Ibid

[21] “The Top 14 Causes of Political Polarization”, American Interest, May 6, 2018, https://www.the-american-interest.com/2018/05/16/the-top-causes-of-political-polarzation

[22] Love Your Enemies, by Albert C. Brooks, pg. 31, Ibid

[23] “How to Avoid Binary Thinking and Think More Clearly”, by Clay Drinko, Lifehack, https://www.lifehack.org/881768/binary-thinking

[24] “Binary vs Spectrum Thinking”, by Oz Chen, Mental Modes, https://ozchen.com/binary-vs-spectum-thinking