Nurture Critical Thinking

Today, the world is more digitised than ever before. Technology has brought all the information to our fingertips. But while we seem to be more informed, we’re becoming less and less thoughtful. Critical thinking, which was once a basic skill, now seems to be vanishing, especially among the younger generation.

Critical thinking is not just about being smart. It is the ability to question what we see, hear or read. Our ability to analyse facts and information and to make decisions after careful thought. But with the rise of the internet and artificial intelligence tools, students often rely on quick and easy solutions instead of thinking for themselves. Using AI might help complete an assignment quickly and easily but in the long run, it kills creativity and deep thinking among students.

This loss of thinking ability is hurting people in many ways. Let’s take consumerism for example. Influencers play a big role in marketing in today’s age. They promote different brands and their products and many followers, especially youth, buy whatever is being promoted by the influencers without any second thought. Why is this so? It’s because they don’t ask any questions. They don’t stop to think whether the product is good enough or worthy of their money. 

The trends on social media is another example. Many people follow viral trends not because they find them inspiring but because they cannot question what they’re seeing. Following blindly has become the new norm in today’s age. Another example can be seen in the spread of misinformation online. News spreads fast on social media, but not everything we see or read is true. Without critical thinking, people tend to believe headlines without checking the facts. This leads to confusion, panic, and wrong beliefs. 

Some people even act on false information, which can cause real damage in society. An even worse situation is that a lack of critical thinking is leading people to fall for scams. It’s not just the young people anymore; even the older people have fallen victim to these scams. From online fraud to fake investment schemes, people are trusting things at face value without fact-checking or verifying. The result? Loss of money, trust and sometimes even lives.

Our growing dependence on AI is also a worrying matter. It is true AI can indeed be helpful but over-relying on it can make us mentally lazy. Our brains need to stay active, to question, solve problems, and learn new things. If we stop using our minds, we risk becoming just shells. We become people who exist but don’t grow mentally.

Schools and parents also have an important role to play. They should encourage children to be curious, ask questions and think for themselves. Instead of only focusing on marks and results, education should teach students how to think, not just what to think. In the long run, this will help build a smarter and more thoughtful society. 

In this digital age, we must fight to keep our thinking alive. We should ask questions and challenge ideas. We should take time to reflect. Technology should support our thinking but it should not replace it. If we lose our ability to think critically, we may lose the essence of being a human.