A Definition of Critical Thinking

To think or not to think, that is the question

Abstract:
Critical thinking is a necessary tool to use to take in, process and respond to information in a complete, profound, and competent way. Most mass media outlets try to control the masses in terms of thinking patterns and buying habits, in order to create results that benefit their business models. People tend to follow what they are fed instead of questioning and thinking for themselves.

Treatment:
Do human beings critically think naturally? As defined by Wikipedia, critical thinking involves taking in new information and interpreting it, analyzing, debating, and evaluating the pieces of that information to find a context for judgments, assumptions, actions and outcomes. Critical thinking also requires the person to divest from egoism, motivations or prejudices to analyze information impartially and fully ("Critical thinking," 2010). Is this a common practice or do most societal influencers, specifically those found in mass-media communications, encourage people to take on prescribed ways of thinking instead of encouraging them to think independently?

In media, the top five conglomerates who own most of the air waves, publications, and news sources are: NBC, Time Warner, Walt Disney, Viacom, and News Corporation (Free Press, 2009). These companies are motivated by big business interests such as: advertising dollars, revenues, competition, and share-holder benefits. This is not to say that great information cannot be dispersed through media sources, as it is daily, but understanding the motivations behind the information chosen to be released is needed. Furthermore, it is important to understand that most media like to create jerk reactions, consumer buying habits and emotional responses that are expected by playing on the psychographics of particular demographics. There is no doubt that media outlets have influence over what people do and how they think, for better or for worse.

For example, the phenomenon known as the Oprah Effect can take a company from bankrupt to Fortune 500 from one short mention on Oprah’s show. “Oprah Winfrey is one of the most influential people in America. The Oprah Winfrey Show reaches 44 million people each week. And those numbers translate into big sales for the products Oprah recommends” (CNBC Inc, 2010).

Economist Craig Garthwaite, who published a paper on Winfrey’s influence, says “…that there is a plethora of anecdotal evidence—from companies like Philosophy and Ciao Bella—that sales jump dramatically, especially for any product picked as one of ‘Oprah’s Favorite Things’. After Ciao Bella’s Blood Orange Sorbetto was selected for that list, its website hits went from 75,000 per day to more than 3 million… if you can get 600,000 people to read Anna Karenina, obviously you have some market power” (Hornbuckle, 2009, para. 10). Oprah along with other media figures can create actions, reactions and habits in millions of people, by simply professing what people should think, feel and do, even if it involves reading epic novels.

This begs the question, do people think for themselves or are they simply puppets who are having their strings pulled? Most media bank on this latter statement. News junkets tell people what they should know, from a certain perception -often times biased- and people believe it. Some questioned the Shirley Sherrod incident, but many just blanketed her as a racist with no further knowledge. This is just one example of how people are easily influenced by media and often times will not dig deeper to find the truth.

Conclusion:

The truth usually sits below the surface and it requires thought, effort, research and critical thinking to find it. Who’s up for that task? Of course most academics love the pursuit of knowledge and will critically think to divulge accurate and intriguing information. Some consumers dig deep also. However, knowledge and ability to think has a lot to do with exposure. Are those consumers exposed to a great amount of information or a limited one chosen for them by the big media players, including advertisers? We can only think as large as our repertoire of information and knowledge allows, and that is why education is fundamental to expanding abilities to think, make decisions, and remain free.

References:

CNBC Inc . (2010). CNBC. Retrieved from http://www.cnbc.com/id/29961298/

CNBC . (2009). YouTube. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sV56-eU-lig&feature=fvsr

Critical thinking. (2010). In Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_thinking

Free Press. (2009). Free press: reform media transform democracy. Retrieved from http://www.freepress.net/ownership/chart/main

Hornbuckle, M.D. (2009, August 4). The Oprah effect. Inc.com. Retrieved from http://www.inc.com/articles/2009/08/oprah.html