The internet has facilitated an explosion of information. Unfortunately, the information literacy skills of most information consumers have not kept pace. Amidst all the noise online, effectively determining what is true or false requires conscious, deliberate, and thoughtful effort.
These days anyone who adopts a belief or makes a claim based on information they have seen, heard, or read needs to be especially careful. It is a good idea to be skeptical of all new information until one has had an opportunity to double-check its accuracy.
Sources of information
As a high school and college student I didn’t understand why my instructors were so picky about the “Reference List” (APA Style) at the end of my papers. Later, as an English teacher, I taught my students to put a “Works Cited” page (MLA Style) at the end of their papers. When asked why, I told them it was so that anyone who read their paper could learn more by checking their sources.
Nowadays, even more important than allowing your readers to check your sources, it is important for a writer to indicate that they have sources. Of course anyone has the right to expound their personal views, but, if we are honest, most of our opinions actually came to us from some other source that we decided to believe.
Critical thinking skills
There are two critical thinking skills that everyone needs to develop (especially in the data-saturated world we now live in):
- The ability to recognize when a claim is being made.
- The ability to distinguish a fact claim from a judgment claim (opinion).
Both of these skills are completely independent of one’s social, religious, or political beliefs. That is to say, one can identify claims, facts, and opinions by their characteristics – by definition. Identifying them is completely independent from how one might feel (one’s opinion) about them.
Claims
A claim is an assertion that something is true. In formal writing “Claim” is a synonym for “Argument.” A persuasive, or argumentative, essay begins with a claim that must then be supported in the paper with reasons (logical support) and evidence (data and examples that prove the reasons are valid). The evidence then must be documented (in a Reference List or a Works Cited page).
In daily conversation people make claims constantly:
- I like/don’t like this.
- You should do/should not do that.
- So and so is good/bad, smart/stupid, a friend/an enemy.
- This political party is good/noble/righteous.
- That political party is bad/corrupt/evil.
- This policy is good/smart/effective/needed.
- That policy is bad/stupid/ineffective/unnecessary.
People may spontaneously give reasons for their claims, but, unless challenged, they rarely provide evidence to back up their reasons. In informal conversations, this may not matter.
On serious topics (such as science, religion, and politics) however, a person’s reasons for the claims they make are central to the conversation. Accordingly, if you wish to be persuasive, you should not only have good reasons to support your claims, but you should be prepared to provide evidence to back up your reasoning.
Anytime someone makes an assertion, or statement of belief, about any topic, they are making a claim. There are two types of claims: claims of fact and claims of judgement (opinion). It is important to know the difference.
Facts
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.
Daniel Patrick Moynahan
True facts can be supported by evidence. A fact claim that is made without evidence is, by definition, an unfounded assertion. As such, the claim does not deserve serious consideration. Yet people make unsupported fact claims all the time. And they often act as if their claim is true simply because they believe it.
The first thing one should do when faced with a fact claim is to ask the question, “What is the evidence for (or against) this claim?” Assuming there is any, the quality of the evidence should then be considered.
- Is the evidence relevant to the claim?
- Is the evidence without bias?
- Is the evidence accurate?
- Is the evidence current?
- Is the evidence specific?
A legitimate fact claim can always be supported by clear, well-documented, mainstream, evidence. Facts are true. Since they are based on reality, they can be attested to by multiple, qualified, expert witnesses.
Any fact claim should be verified before one believes it, and especially before one shares it. All kinds of nonsense is spread around the internet by people who do not check the facts before repeating a claim.
Opinions
Opinion is personal and, usually, emotional. Opinions cannot be proven or disproven. They are either a matter of personal taste or a matter of personal choice.
However, there is a great difference between an informed opinion and an ignorant opinion. If an opinion is based on false information, it is a misguided and potentially dangerous belief.
For example, if a parent chooses to believe the false information put out by the anti-vaxers, she is potentially exposing her children (and others they come in contact with) to a number of dangerous diseases.
There is an unfortunate tendency for people, especially less-informed people, to assume that their opinions are facts. These people are difficult to educate because they already believe they know the truth. In addition, people with hardened opinions often find it easy to demonize those who have opinions different from their own.
Ignorance has consequences
People who cannot distinguish between facts and opinions are easy prey for those who tell deliberate lies. They cling proudly, and stubbornly, to “MY OPINION” while remaining blissfully unaware of how they are being manipulated.
People who lack critical thinking skills can easily confuse opinion with truth, propaganda with knowledge, and even fantasy with reality. In the voting booth they tend to support demagogues. If elected to office, they oppose common sense policies and promote fascism.
A well-functioning democratic republic requires an educated and enlightened citizenry. With a third of our citizens, and more than two thirds of the Republican party, apparently unable to separate fact from fiction, the future of the United States looks bleak.
Sources
“Daniel Patrick Moynahan,” Wikipedia.
“Objective and Subjective Claims,” TIP Sheet, Butte College.
“Argument: Claims, Reasons, Evidence,” Department of Communication, University of Pittsburgh.
Timely and clear. It is important to consider the difference between the standards of evidence accepted by a court and the standards of “evidence” accepted by a lynch mob, or even, say a Fox News or Face book pundit, a “Stop the Steal” insurrectionist, or even the Arizona Republican party in hiring their QAnon supporting Cyber Ninja to conduct a third audit, without supervision, of the Mariposa county ballots.
Another powerful thought provoking news article.
Thank you for posting it Brian.