Thank you for your response as to what you believe is critical thinking and for providing this example which explores the process of critical thinking. Warren Smith is definitely an interesting person. Have you watched this YouTube short film Secret Scholars (i=3SrobDWy4uqUFU7X).
In your opinion, are your political viewpoints the result of your own critical thinking? Can you say that you absolutely never make assumptions which are preconceived based on your own societal influences, biases, and life experiences? Do you agree that critical thinking can sometimes be based on false premises or flawed logic? Does critical thinking guarantee the truth?
1. I have not seen that video, will check it out, thank you.
2. My political viewpoints are based on my values and what I think is good for our country. When I used to drive from NJ to Massachusetts when I was young, very few radio stations came in during parts of the trip so I made due with random stuff on AM radio. I ended up listening to a guy who, to me at the time, made a lot of sense. Just common sense stuff. Turned out it was Limbaugh. I didn't listen much after that, and didn't follow politics until 2016, because it became unavoidable. Online "tests" put me as libertarian with a conservative slant.
I do always make assumptions when I see something. That's human nature. If they seem important, or I'm going to discuss them here, I do additional research. Of course mistakes can be made, but it's a better approach than what is happening with funk. I am genuinely concerned for folks and how they are manipulated by big tech, agents of chaos, and algorithms. I have seen way too many videos of folks "protesting" only to find out they have no idea of the subject they're protesting about, or they are protesting based on incorrect information.
It's creating too much angst, and too much mental instability.
But nothing guarantees truth these days - too many nefarious actors are at play. But anything is better that consuming what you're fed and passing it along, whether it's true or not.