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Media And Critical Thinking Analysis

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Asking questions, analyzing, making observations, defining, and listening: what do all these processes have in common? They are all skills related to critical thinking. Critical thinking is defined as the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment (Lau 1). Without critical thinking individuals would struggle to see beyond the media bias and political propaganda they encounters daily. When emotions drive decisions, those decisions are not thought about critically. Feelings can confuse one’s ability to think critically and instead of basing decisions on sound consistent logic, decisions are based on instinct and lack of information. In order to think critically an individual must learn to become self-aware and …show more content…
A feeling of overwhelming joy can, for example, cause someone to stop thinking about the negative sides to situations or further question and research. Allowing emotions to mask the situation can lead to an automatic acceptance which masks the real problem under the happy delivery. When events are presented in a way which evokes a positive emotional response the motive is rarely questioned and this type of response is the desire of most media today. Media viewed on a daily basis can be misleading because “the media can create certain moods or feelings in their consumer, causing them to consume more of this media” (Gunter 135). Media depends upon individual’s assumptions and emotional responses to limit their willingness to ask relevant questions and think independently about the messages sent to them. When a feeling of anger occurs the ability to think rationally is negatively impacted and situations may no longer be properly analyzed. The emotional response of “anger, for example, provides the motivation to respond to injustice” (Solomon 10). A lack of objectiveness can cause judgments to be biased and therefore decisions made are not thought about critically. To think critically about an idea one must separate the ideas from how they make us feel and ask relevant questions that will inform our ability to analyze, …show more content…
Being open to different ideas allows for the opportunity to examine what is influencing any judgements and make adjustments to thoughts and responses thereby improving the critical thinking process. The chance of a positive outcome increases when proper critical thinking occurs. Achieving objectivity is important for proper critical thinking but, removing all personal opinions can be difficult, “while it is probably impossible to eliminate all bias, each person can strive to be aware of his or her preferences and alert to situations where the bias can be damaging” (Guralnik 1). This elimination of bias may require the adjustment of previously assumed ideas and interpretations. Recognizing assumptions and biases and allowing new valid information to replace or alter ideas, increases an individual’s ability to make a good decision. Being open to accepting new information and new realties will increase critical thinking skills.
When assumptions are made and information is interpreted an individual’s ability to think critically is affected. Becoming self-aware will allow for recognition of assumptions and help to keep emotions out of the critical thinking process. Positive outcomes are more likely to occur when a decision is based on facts,

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