Where is The Limit of Questioning More? A Study of The Proper Use of The Concept of Critical Thinking

Abstract

Critical Thinking is a sum of abilities that are more and more required today in this world of disinformation. Critical Thinking even started to become a philosophy of life where people must carefully evaluate the information they encounter. However, this statement of „think critically” has started to be used by entities who promote false theories, fake news and unsound arguments. For example, the motto of the controversed news outlet Russia Today is „Question more”. Another example is that on the social network of Instagram, the hashtag #criticalthinking is used in posts that promote the theory of the flat earth, that promote antivaxxing movement and so on. If we are to be put in an average person’s shoes, how would we know which critical thinking is the right one? How would we know who to believe? This paper’s aim is to emphasize the importance of critical thinking standards and criteria and to analyse them in order to make the difference between a proper use of this statement and an abusive and alleged one. Keywords: critical thinking, fake news, thinking standards, question more.