An ordinary human’s guide to……………. Critical thinking 🧠

This series hopes to break down key sustainable terms and ideas to make them more accessible for everyone to understand and use to make change. If you are already are familiar with these ideas, refresh your mind and use your knowledge, but if this is new to you, read on and learn!

Critical thinking, a skill once reserved for the realms of academia and philosophy, might not be the first thing you think about when it comes to sustainability. But in our modern world, it is one of the most essential skills that everyone in the Anthropocene must develop to help us make progress in the future.

Recent news has not made for happy reading. In fact it’s been downright depressing and unbelievable at the same time. How is it that some people make it into leadership positions when their citizens had the choice of vote and voluntarily made that decision? How is it that entire countries and governments can backtrack against decades of science to prioritise immediate profits over long-term life on Earth? How did we get here again?? This is where an important distinction comes in: we need to be citizens not consumers.

So first of all, what do we mean by critical thinking? A quick web search will bring up loads of definitions for you, but in essence critical thinking means questioning the information we encounter in the world around us and formulating our own thoughts, rather than passively accepting what others tell us. This can include consulting multiple information sources or pieces of evidence, evaluating, analysing and using this to make informed decisions. In today’s world, where influencing is big business and it is people’s jobs to convince you to consume without thought, or the rise of AI that will flood our information rich world with fakes and misinformation, this skill is only getting more and more crucial. How many times have you seen trends take off just because it appears popular, or herd mentality set in just to blend in with the crowd? In order to safeguard our world for a sustainable future, it is vital we are able to respond to the information around us in a way that doesn’t take it at face value and allows us to use our own brains and opinions to logically work towards solutions.

We know that the human brain is an incredible organ and one of the most powerful structures we are aware of. Even with the rise of advanced technology, your brain is one of the most intellectual and advanced things you’ll ever own, but it needs practice and use to keep it healthy and on best form. So how can we bring critical thinking into our daily lives? All we need are some simple questions. Next time someone makes a bold statement, a narrative goes viral online or the media pushes a certain headline, ask yourself these…..

What?

• What is it this media/person is trying to tell me?
• What response do they want me to have?
• What are they trying to make me feel?
• What narrative are they trying to push, what agenda does this fit into?
• What are my personal thoughts?
• What aspect of sustainability does this affect, e.g. nature and gender equality?

Where?

• Where has this information come from? Is it a trusted source, word of mouth, something seen on TikTok?
• Where in the world has this originated from? Is this representative of everyone or is it a more localised opinion?

When?

• When was this information published? Has it had access to the most up-to-date science and information?
• When was this information released? Are you actually seeing more about a certain topic or are people adding more to a topic now it has become popular?
• Especially when it comes to climate and sustainability, the science has been clear on this for so many decades that it is important to think critically of anything more recent that disagrees with the fundamental information. On what grounds are claims being made?

Who?

• Is the author of this information a trusted source and a reliable voice on the subject?
• Who agrees with this information? For instance, is it something the majority of scientists support?
• Who is funding this information, such as research findings? Are they influencing the conclusions that can be drawn? Has it been requested by a particular political party?
• Who is this information targeted at? Who are they looking to influence or recruit to their cause?
• Who gets to create this information and who has access to consume it?

How?

• How have the conclusions from this information been drawn? Research, personal experience or just drawn from thin air?
• How has the information been presented? Is the author leading you down a specific path, or do you have access to all the data?

Why?

• The ‘so what’?
• Why is this information being presented this way? In what ways will it benefit the creator or push a certain agenda?
• Why does it matter? Is this important for you, your local community, on a global level?

Now, I appreciate that those were a lot of questions, but the bottom line is this – as citizens we have our own power and influence and we have something those in power can never have: the power of collective action. We don’t have to think the same as our leaders, we don’t have to act like them, we don’t have to accept everything they implement (I’m talking about recent changes made that don’t help us make progress in areas like the environment and society, rather than general anarchy and rule-breaking, do not take this as I sign to break the law!). If you’re reading this in a country lucky enough to have free speech, it is important we utilise our rights to disagree with policies and make our voices heard, whether through writing to your MP, peaceful protest or making your voice heard online or within your social circles. Otherwise actions we don’t agree with will keep happening because it’s assumed we don’t care enough about them to have an opinion. When a leader, or an influencer or just a loud voice, makes a statement, just take a moment to think: Is that right? Is there a wealth of evidence for that? Do I actually agree? And if I don’t, am I confident in my own actions to carry on behaving according to my values rather than following the crowd?

Example: The debates surround housing in the UK – What is actually driving demand for housing, is it population growth or changes to living arrangements? How many homes are actually going unused or underutilised? Why do we have a right to live over that of other species? Why is economic growth always prioritised over other forms of growth? Why is profit being billed as more important than nature? What happens when this narrative is used and who does it connect with? Where in the country will be most impacted, and where are there places of environmental and social significance? Who is telling us that this is the most important issue, and who agrees with them? When did this debate begin and what timeframe is being put forward? What is the government trying to do by pushing this particular narrative? What are my personal thoughts on the issue? 🤔❓💭

We can stand up for nature, human rights, climate action and social issues, but those in charge will not make it easy. The most important thing each of us has is an incredibly powerful organ inside our heads that allows us to make our own minds up and act in a way that is true to ourselves. Like never before, we have to champion truth, facts and progress in an age of fakes, misinformation and regression. Practice critical thinking, be the maker of your own opinions and encourage others to do so too. We all need to keep our heads to face this challenge. Remember, we as humans are more than consumers, we are citizens first. Never forget the power you have 💪

Until next time, I wish you a peaceful, safe and positive week wherever in the world you are. Where are you reading from? Drop us a comment, let’s celebrate our global community! 🌍