Consuming Information in Today's World
Recently I was having a conversation with a friend and he posed a curious question: 'What governs the world?' I know many people will provide an array of answers to this interesting question like I did. He intimated that the world is ruled by information. Therefore, what or who controls the information you have access to will eventually control you.
Thinking about his answer brought a few things to mind. I remembered learning about the theory on how the human brain works, which is discussed in the book 'Thinking, Fast and Slow', by the late Israeli-American psychologist, Prof. Daniel Kahneman. In the book, he discussed two systems of thinking: system 1, which is dedicated to a fast, emotional way of thinking; and system 2, which focuses on a slow but rational approach to thinking.
With system 1, when you receive information, you respond automatically with little to no thinking effort. Although useful, system 1 can mislead you to accept things that are untrue. On the other hand, system 2 involves a painstaking process that allows you to spot errors in the thought process and remove them.
But why is it important to know all this? Our world has been transformed to an extent where, now, we are exposed to a deluge of information--social media has become a part and parcel of our lives. Surprisingly, the information you come across on social media platforms can be misleading. Knowing this and having a process for evaluating information to ascertain its credibility is crucial to responsible living.
In August, I was fortunate to attend the 43rd Habitable Planet Workshop. In this workshop, among other things, Dr. Carl Palmer, an atmospheric scientist, provided training on how to use system 2 to critically consume information. He offered five principles you can use in evaluating information. Here, I present them to you:
1. Assume all ideas are untrue until proven otherwise (empirically/statiscally).
2. Be especially careful of familiar ideas/those you are inclined to believe in. Anything you like or is from your culture is a red light.
3. Always check: "If this is true, what else must be true?"
4. Always check if the mechanism is clear and reasonable. That is, it never breaks the laws of physics.
5. An extraordinary claim needs extraordinary evidence.
As our world is brought closer by technology through social media, the need for us to develop a critical awareness to information is crucial. This is extremely important if one is aiming at preventing himself from being deceived by others.
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