Posted by I have been obsessing quite a bit about the development of critical thinking in a world that is plagued by misinformation and shortcuts to get to a “fast answer”. Top tips to do this and that, 5 secrets of success, 10 ways to impress your boss. The speed of now is permeating across all generations and we seem to operate in blissful ignorance of thinking about what we see and watch.
Too smart for that
If you are like my 11-year-old, you generally think you can’t be scammed or deceived by fake news. Generally “too smart for that” would come implicit in an eye-roll if you try and talk about the possibility of something from YouTube not being real and people getting paid to show off the products they use. Absolute truths are spelled out by half-a-hearsay that someone got from tik-tok. A couple of weeks back she even went to Dr. Google for medical information. I shrug at the danger that such a behaviour creates. As I participated in a workshop about digital in school this week, my key question to the teacher was how did they get the kids not to be absolutely dismissive of the information that was being passed to them and actually take some of the examples of what can go wrong closer to heart. I worry we think only other people get deceived. My key priority for their training is to develop critical thinking skills.
May Contain Lies
I have been on a quest to go through quite a few books about critical thinking and how to make sure we assess what we read and see everywhere (internet, printed media, dinner with friends), and I came across Prof Alex Edmans book May Contain Lies. I must say I have been reading it with pause, and I consume one simple chapter at a time as I take notes and do highlights on my kindle. Slowly, I want to ensure I digest the information given to me and slowly bring this awareness into my daily life. I am not here to do a book review (not yet at least), but one of the things I learnt was not to take articles based on studies for granted without the studies, not to take studies for granted without the data and even not to take data for granted without seeing it without segmentation and not to take the data that seems to be accurate as evidence without comparison for other inputs. Complex? Maybe, but worth waking up to this reality.
My initial shock areas, where I really wanted the data to say otherwise but it may not?
- Impact of women diversity on boards
- The benefits of sleep
- The 10000 hours rule
- The benefits of breastfeeding on IQ
I am not here to tell you that these were all lies but they are certainly not as much truths as I used to believe. You will need to read the book to dig deeper. (no affiliate!)
A paper deep read
This morning, I started the D^3 AI in Marketing course, and just as I got to the end of the first unit, there were a few final statements as the course started by reminding us about the limitations of AI.
“This guideline aligns well with our Institute’s research that indicates that this human-AI collaboration is critical for successful knowledge work (source), but selecting the wrong business problem (source) or relying on the AI too much (source) can lead to detrimental business results.”
Whilst there was a 4-bullet summary of these limitations, I decided to start applying my learnings from the book and actually click the link to the sources. First step, there was an actual study behind the quote. That is not bad. Second step, I actually read the first academic paper (the other 2 are on my queue). Third, I applied a whole new lens to it, which is where it was a new experience, as I read it with a new set of questions in mind:
- Was the author looking for any truth to be confirmed? Am I looking to confirm my own beliefs?
- Did this author apply black and white thinking or reasoning?
- Was there data to sustain the conclusions? And was the data sustained across different segments?
- Was the data really evidence and not justified by something else?
Needless to say, I did not move forward from Unit 1 on my AI course, but it’s OK.
A new way of reading
Once you start looking at a research study or news article with a couple of these key questions, you won’t ever read it the same way. Granted, I took much longer to read and I have not even made it to the end of the 81 pages. Part of the process also demonstrated how our brains got used to consuming smaller amounts of information vs. the large papers and text books that I was used to go through in Uni. It gave me an extra incentive to train my ability to focus and sustain an analysis in a single theme for a longer period of time. For someone with many interests this is hard, but it is part of the focus I want to exert in my learning and in my business in 2025.
A few months back, I was caught in a misinformation train and it took a friend to get me out and ask whether I had stopped to think about it. The signs had been there, but I did not take the time to stop and investigate or even think about the plausibility or causality of the data in front of me. I am committed to avoid more of these in the future. Training our critical thinking is like training another muscle. It needs hard work, intentional practice and come readjustments along the way. Neuroplasticity is hopefully an area where research is not full of lies and we can indeed reshape our brains over time. There may be injuries too, but at the end of the day, our minds will be stronger.
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