We are surrounded by lies and distorted and misleading news in the digital age and lying is no longer limited to humans; "robots" have participated in it as well. This massive flow requires a mental capacity to critique that information and news, to uncover their truthfulness and falsehood, and to reach their goals and intentions, not to mention the doubts raised about beliefs and ideas.
Global statistics indicate that 60% of people worldwide believe that news organizations regularly publish false stories, and 94% of journalists see fabricated news as a major problem. Furthermore, 500,000 fake videos were shared on social media in 2023, and a significant portion of the social media audience believes that the news published on these platforms is biased.
This large flow represents a danger, as propaganda and misleading information lead to polarization of public opinion, and crises that enhance extremism and hatred, given that digital media is central to our human lives, and everyone is exposed to this huge flow, especially youth, who are the group most engaged and using digital media. Additionally, the subjection of digital media to marketing factors has increased the flow of incomplete, incorrect, and false information to market products and services. This leads to a erosion of our critical capabilities, especially since this flow comes through various media outlets including newspapers, the Internet, television, and radio.
Critical thinking is a necessity.
Critical thinking has multiple definitions, but what distinguishes it the most is that it is rational, purposeful, and uses cognitive skills. It is capable of dealing with problems and crises, developing a rational and logical approach to decision-making. Critical thinking remains the ability to question, test assumptions and previous dogmas, and a passion for uncovering ambiguity; it involves examination, interpretation, evaluation, reasoning, and reflection, as well as the ability to make balanced decisions and justify positions and actions. The University of Louisville defines critical thinking as: a disciplined cognitive process that involves the active skill of conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating information gathered or created through observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a basis for belief and action.
Critical thinking skills include the ability to analyze and evaluate information objectively, which is essential for making correct and beneficial decisions. One way to develop this skill is to avoid accepting preconceived notions without question and to subject them to doubt, demanding that these assumptions provide evidence for their validity. Additionally, examining them from multiple angles while assuming their inaccuracy or limited usefulness allows the mind a degree of freedom to think without prior constraints.
And how wonderful is the saying of the proof of Islam, Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali: "He who does not doubt does not look, and he who does not look does not see, and he who does not see remains in blindness and misguidance, for doubt is the first degree of certainty." This was also established by the historian Will Durant in his book "The Story of Civilization," saying: "Philosophy begins when a person learns to doubt, especially the beliefs he cherishes, the doctrines, and the axioms or established truths that he believes in and holds sacred."
However, critical thinking should not be a destructive mind, nor should it be merely a deconstructive mind focused solely on critique without seeking a new path or considering legitimate interests. What grants that critical mind strength, or commits it to a constructive methodology, alongside its critical ability, is essential. The English philosopher and theologian John Henry Newman was correct when he said: "Critical consciousness removes the shrubs of error – which is certainly a good thing – but it cannot plant the seeds of truth. It burns the weeds but does not fertilize the fields." Therefore, our critical thinking should not be limited to either extreme: believing in everything or doubting everything. There are issues and matters beyond the realm of belief, just as there are many that lie outside the realm of doubt.
Despite this, critical thinking is important because it provides the ability to evaluate information effectively. It protects against many cognitive biases, allows for the development of a person's mental abilities, and reduces the intensity of intolerance and hatred. It also serves as a safeguard against being deceived and manipulated. Training a person in critical thinking enables them to make better decisions.
The Mind and the Skill of Critique.
Research has shown that critical thinking skills can be developed through education and training. Although some individuals possess a natural talent for critical thinking, the most significant factor in shaping critical thinking skills is learning, training, and acquiring those skills. Therefore, focusing on the mind is essential to achieving the ability to critique. In his book "Sayed al-Khater," Ibn al-Jawzi warns that "if a limb remains idle from the work for which it was prepared, it will become ineffective and extinguished. The intellect is occupied with contemplation, examining consequences, and inferring from the visible to the invisible."
In his book, he addresses some of the causes for the neglect of critical thinking, one of which is the following of customs and traditions. He states: "I have seen many people who do not act based on evidence, and their evidence may be customs, and this is the ugliest thing that can be." He warns about others who do not understand the purpose, even though they acknowledge the evidence, saying: "Among the people are those who affirm the evidence but do not understand the purpose that the evidence indicates." There are also those who personalize issues, which weakens the ability to convey information and creates wide spaces for bias. He says: "Do not take your religion from one whose knowledge is scant, even if his asceticism is strong.
The Syrian thinker Khalis Jalabi published a book titled "On Self-Criticism" four decades ago, in which he encouraged the practice of criticism within Islamic movement frameworks. He believed that the inability to achieve goals stems from internal reasons that require criticism and correction. He cited the Holy Quran, specifically the verse: "Say, 'It is from yourselves.'" (Al-Imran: 165). However, he pointed out an important issue, which is that the pursuit of discovering the delay of the outcome from the cause is one of the essential aspects of self-criticism. Moreover, there can be no renewal without self-criticism, as criticism always precedes renewal.
The great poet Al-Mutanabbi wrote a long time ago:
"What benefit does my brother in this world gain from his sight if the lights and shadows are equal to him?"
The poet Al-Mutanabbi said this line as a reprimand to Sayf al-Dawla al-Hamdani, the prince of Aleppo, when he listened to those who were slandering him. Sayf al-Dawla did not employ a method of doubt and criticism in their words, but rather he allowed their words to drive him to distance himself from Al-Mutanabbi. He should have verified the news and been careful about severing ties; hence, for someone who disables the sense of sight, light and darkness are equal, just as for someone who disables the function of the mind in thinking and criticism, what is beneficial and harmful, good and evil, become equal to him.
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