Critical Thinking Is Not a
Default Mode

The best advice offered to a public struggling to keep pace with tech advances and a wildly weird internet? Think critically.

We don’t object to the advice.

We do object to the assumption that people can turn critical thinking on or off as if it’s a default setting.

Critical thinking is a trained skill. Not an instinct. And definitely not something picked up by osmosis or by transference from sitting next to the smartest kid in science class.

A fair amount of online arguments is now human vs. bot. Think about that.

Spend any amount of time reading social media message boards, and you’ll find plenty of successful adults struggling to navigate today’s information ecosystem — not because they lack intelligence or a moral compass, but because “critical thinking 101” is not standard education fare. (A fair amount of those online arguments is now human vs. bot. Think about that.)

Current events increasingly point to this growing gap. In the past few weeks, we’ve seen exactly why this matters: Google removed several of its AI-generated health summaries after they were found to contain misleading and potentially dangerous information — including inaccurate explanations of liver blood test results and erroneous screening advice — raising concerns that everyday users could make harmful decisions based on them. Experts described these inaccurate summaries as “dangerous” and “alarming.”

It’s simply everyday people asking everyday questions — Am I sick? What does this test result mean? — and being presented with authoritative-looking answers that are simply wrong. When people haven’t learned how to judge evidence, evaluate sources, and recognize uncertainty, confidence becomes persuasion. That’s how misinformation sticks.

AI’s Impact on Thinking Skills

The concern isn’t limited to health searches. In fact, a new study from the American Association of Colleges and Universities and Elon University’s Imagining the Digital Future Center of more than 1,000 college faculty found that roughly 90 percent believe AI is decreasing students’ critical thinking abilities — a finding educators link to an overreliance on AI for answers rather than authentic analysis.

What we have is a very real human problem. Critical thinking — the ability to evaluate claims, recognize bias, and weigh evidence — has always been hard. What’s changed is the environment: a media ecosystem that amplifies speed, emotion, and repetition over accuracy.

Our education system has historically treated “thinking skills” as implied, or something that belongs in philosophy classes — not something woven into everyday learning. And when curriculum time is tight, the first things cut are often the ones that take time: inquiry, analysis, discussion.

Developmental psychologists and educators have long documented why this matters. Children in the upper-elementary years are at a stage where they’re capable of developing the reasoning skills that underlie judgment and analysis — and where schools can either strengthen those skills or let them atrophy — depending on whether reasoning is actively taught and practiced. But if those muscles aren’t built early, they don’t automatically emerge later. Put another way: The 10-year-old kid who can’t put together that a hot stove = burnt fingers will be a 34-year-old who regards burnt fingers as a way of life.

Raising Critical Thinkers

If we expect the next generation to function in a media world that includes whatever the next level of social platforms, AI content, deepfakes, and algorithmic amplification will be, children need systematic training in reasoning, skepticism, and source evaluation — not rote learning and test prep. The ability to memorize won’t save them from the perils of the internet.

But there’s something parents can do, as well. Don’t rely solely on a school’s curriculum. Start with strategy games and logic puzzles — activities that require planning, reflection, and comparison — anything that encourages a child to see the next move. Read together and ask questions like “Why might this be true?” or “How would you check that?” These simple habits build the mental muscles they will need to navigate a complex information environment.

Until we recognize that critical thinking must be taught, practiced, and strengthened like any other skill, we’re just reacting to symptoms instead of curing the disease.