We’ve all been there.
Someone shares something with you they believe is especially newsworthy, whether it be on social media, via email, or in person. You look at what they shared, your face scrunches up a little, and you sigh. In some cases, it’s satire they mistook for actual news; embarrassing, but it happens to the best of us. In other cases, the source is dubious, and they simply failed to apply a credibility sniff test. And sometimes they’re passing on misinformation and they’re either completely ignorant to the fact or complicit in pushing a false narrative.
Between my time as a senior leader in the Army, serving as a college professor, and as a social media misfit – feel free to Google “Doctrine Man” – I have had an incalculable number of news stories and leads shared with me. Oftentimes, they come with a sense of urgency: “Get the word out!” or “This needs to be shared widely!!”
In every case, I took pause, skimmed the story, and confirmed its accuracy. I verified sources. If I didn’t know the author, I spent some time researching their background. Then I let the story percolate… meaning, I let strategic intuition take over, taking the time for my brain to provide reasoned insight.
When my credibility is on the line, I don’t leave anything up to chance. I am not going to be responsible for spreading misinformation.
Teaching Critical Thinking
During these moments, we typically bemoan the decline of critical thinking in our society. Has social media made us stupid? Why can’t people think for themselves? Was Idiocracy actually a documentary?
When it comes to our growing lack of critical thinking skills, education takes a fair amount of, well… criticism. While we might joke about our public education system, it’s not at all funny that critical thinking skills are lacking in most adults. The Reboot Foundation, which produces an annual “state of critical thinking report,” found that while 95% or adults believe critical thinking is a crucial skill, 60% of those respondents reported not having ever studied – or likely practiced – any form of critical thinking. On average, critical thinking skills were found to be lacking in 86% of the adult population.
In a 2024 article on the lapse in critical thinking in our education system, the Critical Thinking Institute listed five main reasons why this problem plagues our society.
1. Teachers have not been taught how to teach critical thinking.
Frankly, if 86% of the adult population lacks this skill, convincing the other 14% to teach it to everyone else is a bridge too far. This then becomes a self-perpetuating problem.
2. Education has valued knowledge over thinking.
Much of the education system prioritizes the acquisition of knowledge over the application of that knowledge. This is like teaching someone what a hammer is without them learning how to use it. Big problem.
3. Educators believe they’re teaching critical thinking when they’re not.
If you haven’t been taught critical thinking, it’s a safe bet you won’t be able to teach it to someone else. I’ve done the math. It checks out.
4. Grades aren’t based on critical thinking.
Typically, grades are a measure of performance, not effectiveness. The nuance required to assess critical thinking requires a deep knowledge of the skill set.
5. A class structure of madness.
The burst method of teaching – an hour on this subject, an hour on that subject – actually teaches students that how they think is less important than what they think.
Putting Information Literacy to Work
Each morning, my business strategy course begins with the same activity: a student steps up in front of the class and presents a review of an article related to the topic of the week. The requirement is relatively basic and provides an opportunity for me to assess their ability to present in front of a group, an inescapable reality in any workplace.
The assignment also gauges their ability to critically evaluate information that might present an alternative perspective or challenge the material we discuss. As part of their task, the students gauge the credibility of both the source and the author and provide an overall quantitative assessment of the article.
It’s an exercise in information literacy, a fundamental application of critical thinking in a world where we’re inundated with information. Now, truth be told, I had never heard the term before last week. I was in a breakout session at a teaching conference and that was the topic of discussion. It was an, “oh, I do that” moment. Like a lot of things we do in life, sometimes we learn later that there’s actually research and a taxonomy behind what we do in practice.
I first practiced information literacy as a student in the Army’s School of Advanced Military Studies, where anything you said or wrote was subject to deep scrutiny. You learned quickly to apply critical thinking to every piece of information put in front of you, to apply the five fundamentals of information literacy.
Identify involves recognizing your need for information and understanding the type of information needed, then identifying specific sources. Find entails locating and gathering information using various methods ranging from the use of artificial intelligence to good old-fashioned library research. Evaluate involves assessing the credibility, accuracy, and relevance of the information found. Apply focuses evaluated information toward a designated purpose, whether for research, professional growth, or personal acquisition of knowledge. Acknowledge is simply giving credit where credit is due – properly citing sources and adhering to ethical practices.
When we complain about the decline of critical thinking, we really don’t have to look much further than information literacy. If we spent a little more time teaching people how to think and a little less time telling them what to think, maybe our critical thinking skills would turn a corner, and we wouldn’t be so susceptible to misinformation. But that’s a big maybe.
