The Critical Mindset
There is an obvious knowledge gap between critical thinking and being an attention seeking pessimist. I’ve observed and noted plenty of failed attempts at critical analysis by journalists and bloggers. Pseudo-criticism is a more common technique with bloggers, as opposed to mainstream media journalists, mostly because:
1. Bloggers can get away with (almost) anything because there are little to zero barriers of entry to start a blog and express yourself. Keep in mind, there are barriers to entry in finding a solid reader base. The lack of barriers of expression are healthy for the internet, but unhealthy in developing a critical mindset if you aren’t at least aware of them.
2. It’s an easy, but pathetic, method to get attention for your blog. If you try to stir up emotions by making false claims, character defamation and ad hominems without merit, your content will be garbage and your reader base (if any) will be just as bad, even if you rack up controversy fueled page views.
Although a critical analysis of anything often requires traces of contrarianism, you can observe plenty of bloggers providing checklist anecdotes to complex issues. Readers assume that by saving an article in their Delicious account, starring it in their Google Reader or just skimming the text, will make a substantial difference on their lives and productive output. Although this is a start, you make a difference by thinking critically about yourself, and actively improving your thought process and actions based on the difference between where you are and where you’d like to be. For some, this may mean disconnecting from your computer.
Keep in mind that I can’t claim to be a expert critic myself, but I’ve observed and noticed certain practices that have helped me. Where most people fail in critical thinking is listening. People love to talk, especially about themselves. Developing a critical mindset requires more listening than speaking. There is a good chance that in a situation where this practice will pay off, you will know less than your counter-party. Instead of interjecting your opinion and comments, it’s more important to ask questions. Not only will this engage the speaker, but it will allow you to better grasp the content so you can have an informed, knowledgeable opinion down the road.
Reading critically can help develop the critical mind as well, specifically by questioning ideas you instinctively agree with. It’s important to trace the roots of your agreement, and track back to the original mindset that caused you to agree, whether it’s your education, culture or political views. The same goes for instinctive disagreements. If you only have a superficial reason backing why you agree or disagree with a certain concept, you’re probably not thinking critically.
Finally, I believe writing plays a major role in developing a critical mindset. There is a major difference between saying what you think, and writing what you know and believe. Although they both can prove to be beneficial exercises, writing allows you to visually observe your argument and track how it progresses from start to finish. The mere practice of researching a topic, extracting what makes sense for your argument, and taking a concise point of view is not an easy task, but it forces you to think critically. Your engaging both sides of the brain by actively pulling and disposing of information while you read, and pouring it back out when you write. Lawyers are typically excellent writers because they are forced to go through this exercise daily.
The critical mindset take years to develop, but being actively aware of its existence is a place to start, specifically by reading, writing and listening critically. The bottom line that any educational or intellectual environment, including the internet, is about how you learn as opposed to what you learn. If you do it right, then the results will follow.
