Invest in a good BS-meter: Media literacy and critical thinking
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What do you get when you put a powerful computer in the pocket of billions of people? Don’t answer yet. First connect all those devices to each other through a worldwide wireless network and add one final ingredient: “Free” social media apps that are optimized for clicks and ad-views...
(Remember, when something is free, that means you are the product.)
So here’s what we get. A rapid transition to a new world where we can broadcast whatever is top of mind with zero friction.
We are eye witnesses to the digital emergence and proliferation of some complex and challenging phenomena:
Pseudoscience
Conspiracy Theories
Clickbait
Tribalism
Radicalism
Fake News
Misinformation
Disinformation
Propaganda
Internet Mobs
Outrage Culture
Cancel Culture
How does one survive in such a world? Develop critical thinking skills. Increase your media literacy. Protect yourself from the seduction of treachery and mediocrity. Invest in a good BS-meter. You cannot afford to just believe everything you hear or read.
Take it a step further. Don’t believe everything you think! Yes. At any given point in time, I’m likely to be wrong about more things than I am right about. So aim your BS-meter at yourself every now and then!
Further reading: Evaluating Information: Information, Misinformation, Disinformation, Propaganda