Welcome to 2017. I hope it becomes the year critical thinking comes back into vogue.
Critical thinking is always a touchy subject for people. Everyone wants to believe he’s an independent thinker, individually consuming facts and arriving at the one, true truth.
Unfortunately, that’s just not the case anymore. We are a nation driven to the edges, camping out with like-minded people on Facebook or Twitter. It doesn’t matter if you prefer Rachel Maddow on MSNBC or Sean Hannity or Fox News.
We spend the first minute of conversation trying to figure out if the other person is with us or against us. We’re so enamored with the “No Spin Zone,” as Bill O’Reilly calls it, that we’re anxious to trip people up on their preconceived notions without acknowledging our own.
We want facts to be fun or at least controversial, to the point some people think we’re in a “post-truth era.” Frankly, we’ve lost sight of the line between news and entertainment.
In full disclosure, I straddle that line every day. We try to present the news in a way you’ll find interesting and enjoyable to read. And, every Sunday, I dive over that line in this column, presenting my view of the world as a middle-aged white man, raising kids in northwest Ohio.
When I’m supervising our news side, though, our goal is to tell people where we got every piece of information we have. That’s transparent. It’s accountable. And it gives you, the reader, the chance to go back and check our work.
In 2017, I fully suspect you’ll find more information directly linked to our articles on LimaOhio.com. We want you to understand precisely where we found our details, and we welcome a rational conversation if you see something we don’t.
Rational is the hard part, though. I’ve talked to enough irate callers during the past two decades to know most people haven’t read a story all the way to the end. Some of them haven’t even begun reading. Routinely they feel under attack because their preconceived notions are under attack.
It’s as if an alternative point of view somehow weakens their belief systems. If your belief systems are that shaky, you need some reinforcements anyway.
For instance, I love listening to atheists trying to take down God. Understanding how they try to attack the idea of a creator — usually by tearing into man-made constructs such as the church or hypocritical people — helps me understand how to redirect their anger. I can hear their facts and agree with some of them while coming to entirely different conclusions.
It doesn’t hurt to consider an alternative point of view. Yelling “you’re wrong” doesn’t prove anything. Neither does interrupting or insulting someone. Listening intently, weighing their facts and presenting facts you know are more likely to alter someone’s point of view.
It works on Democrats. It works on Republicans. It even works on that vast majority of people who are somewhere in the middle, including us crazy libertarians.
If you don’t trust your local newspaper, that’s fine. Find additional resources to supplement your knowledge. Look for more facts. Watch shows hosted by people who don’t agree with your ideas, so you can understand their viewpoint. You can admire their use of the data. Sometimes, if you dig deep enough, you’ll even find some of your perspective might only apply to you.
You’ll never know, and you’ll never grow, unless you’re willing to hear things that make you uncomfortable and let your critical thinking take over.
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