Everybody sees themselves as a critical thinker. Think they’re right?
We have a thinking problem. Specifically, there seems to be a short supply of critical thinking among a substantial portion of our society. I suspect you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who’d disagree with that opinion as stated. Unfortunately the bigger problem is that if you asked anyone, “Do we have a shortage of critical thinking in our society today?” they’d answer affirmatively, but would probably presume two things:
a.) They didn’t have any problems with critical thinking and were in fact themselves deep and critical thinkers.
b.) The deficit in critical thinking was occurring on the opposite side of any number of ideological debates from them.
In other words, everybody agrees that “we” collectively suck at critical thinking, but that the problem is those people over there who disagree with my carefully reasoned and sensible analysis. Such circumstances make it difficult to improve the situation at all, but today I want to focus on a more specific and timely stumbling block to critical thinking: contrarianism.
Sheeple Come In Different Forms
In the year of our Lord 2025, I think it’s pretty commonly accepted that a person who always accepts the official story on any and everything might be naive, and lack critical thinking skills. There’s even a derisive term for these people: “Sheeple,” a clever portmanteau indicating a person’s willingness to follow the flock rather than think for themselves. The problem is that sheeple behavior comes in many forms, and intellectually crippling tribalism spills far beyond the ranks of those who don’t question “official” narratives.
Thanks to both mistakes and lies from governments, the media, corporations, etc. people have lost faith in those institutions, and that is certainly understandable. The problem is that reflexively believing the opposite of whatever the government/media/corporation/other institution says is not critical thinking. That’s contrarianism. For most people their contrarianism is unconscious, though I do frequently see people make explicit statements like, “I just believe the opposite of whatever XYZ says.” Contrarianism is easy, feels good, and feels justified. In truth, it is dumb, destructive, and should be shamed and ridiculed every bit as much as the credulous acceptance of suspicious official narratives unlikely to be true.
Let me be clear about this: Instinctive rejection or adoption of ideas or narratives based on anything other than careful, humble reasoning is not critical thinking. Rejecting or adopting ideas and narratives without specific, relevant reasons to do so means you are not thinking critically. Adopting anti-establishment positions merely because you instinctively reject anything that comes from a certain source, and you then embrace a contrarian source without critically evaluating it, means you’re not a critical thinker. You’re just being a contrarian, which is just another way to be a sheeple.
Many so-called contrarians are just people who think disagreeing is a substitute for thinking.
Economist and author Tyler Cowen
C’mon. Everybody’s doing it.
So getting specific, hopefully without getting lost in the weeds, let me provide a couple examples. If you oppose any and everything Donald Trump does purely because he’s Donald Trump, then you’re being an unthinking contrarian. “How dare the Chief Executive designate auditors to audit departments of the Executive Branch! This is illegal!” You may think it’s imprudent, and you might be right, but any President has broad powers over his Executive Departments, and plenary power over who “needs to know” regarding sensitive or classified info. You may think it is dumb the President is giving 22-year-old tech bros access to everything, and that’s an opinion you’re entitled to. What you cannot credibly say is that any President does not have the power to do so. He does. Parsing details about these kinds of things and trying to be honest and accurate in your opinions and statements is part of the process of being a critical thinker with integrity.
If you support Donald Trump and oppose the establishment on everything purely because he’s Donald Trump and they’re “The Establishment,” or “The Deep State” or whatever, you’re not being a critical thinker, and are just being a contrarian. “I can’t believe Zelenskyy and Ukraine started this bloody and brutal war with poor Putin and Russia!!! Thankfully Trump is gonna put those bloodthirsty, corrupt Nazi Ukrainians in their place.” Uh… What? Today I watched a video of a Trump Deputy SecDef nominee in his congressional confirmation hearing refusing to directly answer the question, “Did Russia invade Ukraine?” It was positively insane.
It’s perfectly fair to debate the justifications Russia believed it had to invade Ukraine, but the fact of the invasion isn’t up in the air. It feels like people have become so unthinkingly anti-establishment that the entirety of their thought process was, “Biden bad. Biden support Zelenskyy and Ukraine. Therefore, Zelenskyy and Ukraine bad. Putin and Russia at war with Zelenskyy and Ukraine. Therefore, Putin and Russia good.” Is that critical thinking?
Here’s the bottom line: If you find yourself in 100% agreement, or disagreement, with any politician, media personality, business or tech leader, non-canonical theologian, etc., then you’re failing in critical thinking. Critical thinkers examine and evaluate each idea on its merits, and do not instinctively and dogmatically follow (or oppose) any person or institution based on identity.
What Critical Thinking Actually Is
Most people think of “critical thinking” as thinking critically about the ideas of others. If that were true, then the more critical you are about the ideas of others, the better at critical thinking you are, right? Sorry, but… no.
Webster defines it as, “the act or practice of thinking critically (as by applying reason and questioning assumptions) in order to solve problems, evaluate information, discern biases, etc.” Not super helpful. Another term for it is “metacognition,” which if you understand the term is quite appropriate.
For simplicity’s sake, “critical thinking” is “thinking about thinking.” Specifically, in its most practical and beneficial form, it’s thinking about your thinking. Rather than a tool to attack and defeat the ideas of others (which it ultimately can be), critical thinking should manifest primarily in you thinking critically about your own thinking. Challenge your own assumptions. Ask yourself, “How do I know this to be true? Is the information factual and trustworthy? Is my logic sound? Where could I have gone wrong? How could I be mistaken? Am I just going with this because XYZ said so? What are the holes in my logic?”
Critical thinking is hard, and can cost you popularity with your tribe. In the last seven days I’ve been compared to a “radicalized Christian nationalist” from one side and accused of succumbing to “Trump Derangement Syndrone” on the other. That’s evidence to me that I’m living right, and rejecting ideological echo chambers. Not moderation for moderation’s sake, but trying to make independent judgments on different topics or ideas with integrity. It’s often not easy, or pleasant, or satisfying, but the health and direction of our society depends on a critical mass of citizens willing to reject tribalism, contrarianism, and other forms of sheeple behavior and embrace a willingness to evaluate facts and ideas on their own merit in pursuit of truth, rather than pledge unthinking loyalty to a specific worldview.
Contrarianism is a lazy and selfish habit that seeks to align truth and right with ourselves. Critical thinking is an act of humility performed to ensure we align ourselves with truth and right.
Try to spend a bit less energy thinking “critically” about the ideas of others so you can “beat them” in the ideological contest about whatever. Instead, spend a bit more energy critically thinking about yourself and the flaws in your own ideas and beliefs. If you’re will to commit earnestly to that, you’ll find yourself jettisoning some beliefs but strengthening others, thereby strengthening yourself and those with whom you engage in discourse. These days that seems critically important, and critically scarce.
Amplified Being 