Why is it essential to develop critical thinking?
Critical thinking is a globally necessary competence, useful in today’s job market and everyday life. The ability to think critically can be a beneficial skill, contributing to developing creative thinking, clear reasoning and rationality.
In this text, we will briefly discuss:
- What is critical thinking?
- How does political science contribute to the development of critical thinking?
- How does critical thinking relate to social media?
What is critical thinking?
Critical thinking shows that we all operate under uncertainty and limited rationality conditions – we do not have complete information to make entirely objective decisions. But knowing this also leads to the realisation that we can’t trust anyone completely. No one is quite right – we are all affected by internal and external circumstances, so the truth is very relative – only from someone’s situation and point of view.
Therefore, critical thinking is the ability to evaluate the information we receive, distinguishing between what is factual and what is false. Critical thinking allows us to make objective judgements about our surroundings and solve even the most complex problems.
Critical thinking enables us to think and express our ideas clearly and understandably and make good decisions. Critical thinking is developed by organising and evaluating information and having a wide range of perspectives. In other words, critical thinking is not acquired spontaneously but is created through study and learning. The bachelor’s and master’s degree programmes offered by VU TSPMI provide the tools to build critical thinking competence.
How does political science develop critical thinking?
One of the competencies provided by political science studies is critical thinking. Graduates of political science programmes receive a universal education and learn to analyse information critically.
During their studies, lecturers engage students in political crisis resolution simulations, hackathons on topical issues, group analyses and creative tasks. With practical knowledge, political science graduates can evaluate information from different perspectives.
The critical thinking acquired in political science studies enables them to analyse and evaluate political phenomena independently and compare and evaluate world political events in a historical context. In other words, to critically assess the factors of the environment around us.
How does critical thinking relate to social media?
Information literacy is an essential element of critical thinking. The overwhelming flow of information can make it challenging to choose the correct information, making it necessary to select sources of good quality.
When selecting information in the media, we recommend:
- Check sources;
- Check the information;
- Pay attention to the resource and check the information several times.
In light of the ongoing war in Ukraine, we are sharing sources recommended by VU TSPMI researchers where you can find reliable, up-to-date information.
However, it is worth remembering to check the sources yourself.
Western media:
- https://foreignpolicy.com/projects/ukraine-russia-border-crisis/
- https://www.ft.com/content/77ab8dcf-cb02-4e57-aff0-85c8a84f5a1f
- https://www.foreignaffairs.com/
- politico.eu
Twitter:
- https://twitter.com/RALee85?t=aI4ov060f6m5CaH5PHxNKw&s=09
- https://twitter.com/KofmanMichael?t=RqVmb59FNr6Y93MT6O35Nw&s=09
- https://twitter.com/ChristopherJM?t=G4dijOQGJMiaxrX_WLvhVQ&s=09
- https://twitter.com/maxseddon
- https://twitter.com/ASLuhn
- https://twitter.com/olgatokariuk
- https://twitter.com/Reevellp https://twitter.com/ukraine_world
- https://twitter.com/andersostlund
Ukrainian:
Telegram:
- https://t.me/s/zerkalo_io
- https://t.me/s/rfrm_io?q=%23RFRM
- https://t.me/s/thinktanksbyy
- https://t.me/KyivIndependent_official
Russian non state media:
