West Newsmagazine 8-18-21

6 I OPINION I
August 18, 2021
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EDITORIAL
Critical Thinking Needed
By JACKIE GINGRICH CUSHMAN
For the past year and a half, we’ve been
told repeatedly to rely on science. First, Dr.
Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes
of Health told us not to wear masks; only
those in medical settings needed them.
Fauci then said we should wear masks.
Then people were seen sporting several
masks. We were told that there would be
two weeks to flatten the curve; then the
longer shutdowns came for what seemed
like a lifetime. Scientists initially said that
a vaccine could not be produced within
a year; when it was, the vaccines were
marketed as COVID-19 prevention by
the government, that they would prevent
COVID-19 – and there was a rush to get
people vaccinated.
Now, with the new Delta variant, breakthrough
cases are happening (though not
normally as severe). We’ve recently been
told we should return to wearing masks,
even if we are vaccinated. And this week,
Dr. Fauci said that the vaccines, which
have been made available by the Food and
Drug Administration under an emergency
use authorization, are as good as if they
were approved by the FDA, even though
they are not approved.
If your head is spinning, you are not
alone. It’s not just the recommendations
and regulations that are constantly changing.
The data is suspect, too.
This Monday, the South Florida Sun Sentinel
ran an article titled, “Florida COVID-
19 resurgence: Here are the numbers to
watch.” It included the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention’s so-called fact that
there had been 28,317 new daily COVID-
19 cases in Florida. They were sounding
the alarm on the high rate of COVID-19
cases. The problem is that, according to a
tweet sent out by the Florida Department of
Health, the data was incorrect. “The daily
case counts for Florida currently posted
on the CDC COVID Tracker are incorrect.
The current listing states 28,317. The accurate
data are as follows: Friday, Aug. 6:
21,500 Saturday. Aug. 7: 19,567. Sunday,
Aug. 8: 15,319. The 3 day average: 18,795,”
tweeted @healthyFLA on Monday, Aug. 9.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the CDC had
still not updated its record of COVID-19
cases to reflect the lower numbers provided
by the Florida Department of Health.
If we can’t trust the CDC to accurately
track the cases, we should take a step back
and rethink: Whom can we really trust and
what should we demand?
First, we need to have government institutions
that can be relied upon to provide
real data. I worked in corporate finance
for a $3 billion division. If you can’t track
items accurately, then your data means
nothing.
Second, saying you believe in science
can be detrimental to critical thinking and
understanding because it primes you to
give equal weight to scientific and pseudoscientific
information. It’s better to believe
in critical evaluation, and think, think,
think.
Thomas C. O’Brien, Ryan Palmer and
Dolores Albarracin recently published
a paper in the Journal of Experimental
Social Psychology, Volume 96, 2021, titled,
“Misplaced trust: When trust in science
fosters belief in pseudoscience and the
benefits of critical evaluation.” They used
experiments to determine if people could
be hoodwinked by inaccurate science. The
answer is YES!
“Participants who trust science are more
likely to believe and disseminate false
claims that contain scientific references than
false claims that do not,” they concluded.
Just the mention of a scientist or expert
leads the person to believe it must be true.
However, there is an anecdote. “Reminding
participants of the value of critical evaluation
reduces belief in false claims,” they
wrote, “whereas reminders of the value of
trusting science do not.” So, we need to
preface information with the need for critical
evaluation, or critical thinking.
According to the Foundation for Critical
Thinking, “Critical thinking is the intellectually
disciplined process of actively
and skillfully conceptualizing, applying,
analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating
information gathered from, or generated by,
observation, experience, reflection, reasoning,
or communication, as a guide to belief
and action.” It notes this on its website criticalthinking.org:
“In its exemplary form, it
is based on universal intellectual values
that transcend subject matter divisions:
clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency,
relevance, sound evidence, good reasons,
depth, breadth and fairness.”
Maybe all those who have “Trust Science”
signs, bumper stickers or T-shirts
should consider replacing them with items
that say, “We believe in critical thinking.”
The challenge with critical thinking is that
you cannot rely on others to do it for you.
You cannot simply rely on the so-called
experts. You have to do the work yourself.
• • •
Jackie Gingrich Cushman is a syndicated
columnist for Creators Syndicate and the
co-author of “5 Principles for a Successful
Life” and “The Essential American.”