Germany’s Federal Agency for Civic Education has recommended that people should take four steps in order to help to distinguish real news from fake news.
Look closely.
Think for yourself.
Think critically.
Check sources.
Good advice, as long as people know how to ‘think critically’. It is to be hoped that programmes of ‘civic education’ include the development of people’s skills of critical thinking.
In his new book (‘Rationality: What it is. Why it seems scarce. Why it matters’), the Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker has argued in favour of
In a recent interview in the ‘Financial Times’, the writer Joyce Carol Oates responded to the question ‘What is the greatest challenge of our time?’