Critical Thinking

Did you ever have a discussion about where to go out to eat and the suggestions that are being made are for restaurants that serve food you don’t like?  It’s not a simple, “Well, ok – let’s go.”  It ‘s a full out discussion up to and including an argument.  How about meeting someone who is afraid of dogs?  Every just stoop down, pet the animal and instantly convince them they are totally wrong?  I didn’t think so.  Some things we as human beings are adamantly opposed to changing our minds about.  Doesn’t matter who suggests it.  Doesn’t matter how it is framed.  We are not going for it and you cannot make us.  Why then to we instantly believe every single piece of propaganda that we read on Facebook?

I can take a photo of anyone I know; embellish it with a quote that I have made up out of thin air and post it to my news feed.  Within seconds, people will be commenting and siding either for or against that person.  It’s almost effortless.  So why do people believe every one of these posts that we see?  Someone sitting in a room off somewhere that we don’t know and will never meet is generating this nonsense to stir the pot – AND IT’S WORKING!!!!

We see a news clip of a portion of a sentence of someone speaking which may be totally out of context having missed the statement in its entirety and we then form an opinion about that individual in seconds.  This is how we are electing our government leaders!!!!   Then, we spend the next how ever many years complaining about them not living up to the promise we had of them in our minds. 

Here’s the skinny:  We don’t know these people.  We know what the media and the man behind the computer lets us know about them.  Just like anyone else.  Everyone has good qualities and bad.  Everyone of us has good and bad days.  We take one second of one’s life and run wild with our opinions and hang on to them for dear life.  Try this on for size: “I’m not buying what you’re selling.  I need to investigate this further before I jump on your crazy train.”

It’s called critical thinking for a reason.  It takes work.  It takes opening your mind and heart to the possibility of the whole picture – not just one grouping of words.  It takes looking for the good (which is often more difficult to see).  Give it a try today.  Really examine what you are taking in as information.  Then let’s talk about what you are seeing.

The Roaring Ellie