To varying degrees, humankind has always been an experimental society, however, the import of spreading the experimental mindset and applying it to gain a more accurate understanding of ourselves has never been greater. Adopting an experimental mindset can help us deal with some of the formidable challenges we currently face. Consider how it could help reduce the damaging effects of the misinformation which spreads through social media.
In addition to the numerous societal issues, on a personal level, evidence suggests that frequent use of social media makes it harder for us to focus with undivided attention. Regular use of social media is also associated with increased stress, anxiety, loneliness, and a predisposition for detrimental behavior including alcoholism, smoking, eating disorders, and even suicide. An experimental mindset can help us apply critical thinking to the barrage of misinformation that we experience on a daily basis from social media and other news sources.
To be considered accurate, scientific knowledge must satisfy rigorous standards of proof and withstand evermore effective methods of testing. Similarly, when we apply critical thinking skills in our daily lives, we take a skeptical attitude toward new information, requiring proof before accepting something as factual. This approach involves separating our emotional responses from thoughtful evaluation and establishing that the sources are reputable and authoritative. Rather than just believing some provocative piece of information, a critical thinker asks: “How would this argument look from another perspective? Who is the target audience? What have the authors promoted and with whom have they been affiliated? Are essential facts missing? Is this message attacking any individual or group? Are there other sources for this information? Applying such questions when we interface with social media and other news sources can empower us and reduce our exposure to manipulation.
It’s also important to question am I only finding information that confirms my prior belief? Sometimes the way you search for a topic will result in multiple results that confirm what your search term implied. For example, if you search “Was 9/11 a hoax?” Just the pairing of 9/11 and the word “hoax” will result in numerous search results all declaring that yes indeed 9/11 was in fact a hoax. Clicking on information that confirms your bias can start you down a rabbit hole that’s hard to crawl out of.
Other critical thinking techniques include discerning whether a relationship between facts or data is causal — one event causing another, or correlative — one fact or data point appearing to increase or decrease when a second fact or data point increases or decreases. Correlative relationships should not be mistaken as causal. So while the number of coats sold and the amount spent on heating have a positive correlation, the relationship is not causal. Buying a coat does not cause and is not caused by spending more on heating, but is caused by a third factor, cold weather. Recognizing the difference between correlation and causation is a key component of an experimental mindset. Some websites provide examples of correlative relationships between comically unrelated data points such as cheese consumption and people who die tangled in their bed sheets or the cost of postage and google searches for “I am dizzy.”