Critical Thinking, Critical Consumption, Cultural Humility, Cultural Competency - Why We Need It All.
Last Updated: October 2024
Introduction: The Importance of Questioning
I question everything, especially because I never really used to at a young age.
When I was younger, I took everything as it was, exactly how it was handed to me. I was never taught how to think or how to ask questions - I guess I was also just never curious in that sense.
It never occurred to me that questioning the information presented was necessary to being a critical consumer. It could also be that I’m a little slow, but either way, critical thinking is a necessary skill that needs to be taught at the elementary school level.
Understanding the Relevance of Critical Thinking Today
With a high presence of the media, it’s important that we understand just what it means to be consumers and how to be mindful of this consumption.
We don’t necessarily have to “academically” think about what we’re reading, watching, or listening to, but it’s a good rule of thumb to keep questions rolling in your mind.
Whether we notice it or not, the media that we consume favors the dominant, white community. We can see this coined in the term, algorithm bias*. Well, how do you know that it’s biased? You create your algorithm. While that is true, with modern technology—cookies specifically—we are creating our algorithm. However, let’s go a little further back to discuss the creation of the algorithm and what happens within modern search engines.
In 2018, Noble (2018) found that Google is perpetuating narratives and giving power to dominant groups through their algorithms. It can be implied that this is all subconscious because of a lack of racial knowledge and representation. Whether consciously or not, it still negatively impacts marginalized groups. This, in turn, trickles down into every aspect of the internet that we consume.
Search engines specifically become impacted by the algorithm bias. For example, if you look up sh*t like “casual outfits,” do you notice the demographic? Or just when you look up anything, period? This can be on any search engine, like Google, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube, etc.
When you have to specify who you’re looking up—for example: Asian girl light brown hairstyle—it just implies that looking up “light brown hairstyle” doesn’t include Asian people. If you look up “light brown hairstyle,” what’s the demographic?
I didn’t have to type “White girl light brown hairstyle”; it’s the implication and non-inclusive way of reinforcing that the status quo is white. It may seem so minor to some, but it just reinforces white dominance.
Furthermore, the algorithms themselves have shown and proven to disproportionately impact underrepresented and marginalized communities, as shown in Noble’s (2018) research.
The Impact of Algorithm Bias in Media Consumption
This is why inclusivity and representation are SO important. If you don’t question what you look up on the internet or just what you consume on the internet, it can lead to a lack of critical thinking skills.
The thing is, we can’t just put this all on the consumers. What about the creators of these technologies? There needs to be some accountability within that realm, too. There needs to be a real change; there needs to be true representation and inclusion within these tech companies to prevent instances in which underrepresented communities become disproportionately affected by biased algorithms.
I don’t want to disregard performative actions that occur either. It takes more than just having someone as a “face of diversity and inclusion”; it’s not the flex you think it is, Mr. Institution. Listening, learning, and seeking different experiences and stories from all different kinds of people is what’s going to really help with learning and understanding what inclusivity and representation really means. You have to really step outside of your own circle to learn from and listen to others, to create true change within society.
With that important tangent, let’s circle back to being critical consumers of the media. As mentioned, it shouldn’t be put solely on us to seek and question the media that we consume; there should definitely be change created within these tech spaces, which is also part of an even longer conversation that I am so glad to talk about, too. But, that’s not necessarily what we’re talking about now.
Becoming Critical Consumers: Responsibility Beyond Individuals
With being a critical consumer comes being a critical thinker. This helps to understand and dig deep into what the media is trying to say and make you think about the ways you consume media. Who posted this? What are their beliefs? Is there already bias embedded by the owner of this media post?
In other words: Always do your own research.
Fostering Critical Thinking Skills in Education
That just felt necessary to say. You can’t just believe everything that is handed to you. Question it. It’s okay to. That’s not what you’re taught in school growing up. You’re not taught how to think or how to learn (I mean, unless you’re a curious learner, which I was not, haha). You just “learn” random “facts” and sh*t. That can be part of a larger conversation, and to get a glimpse into it, read more here!
We are taught to basically memorize and regurgitate facts. It was rare that someone wanted to learn because no one really taught us how to actually learn or really have fun with learning. No one truly connected with the material that was presented to us. You’re basically just taught how to memorize things, how to take information as it is—and barely on how to critically think, be problem solvers, be culturally competent, and exhibit cultural humility.
That’s just a small snippet into what the education system should be implementing into their curriculum, especially in schools that have large populations of underrepresented communities.
I just think that implementing all of this into the education system and granting more money and resources to the education system would be a proactive approach to social justice.
It’s an institution (UGH), so it makes it a lot harder to try to get things like this implemented—like cultural competency, cultural humility, and all that. We’d be teaching children to question what’s presented to them, as they should, and, unfortunately, there are a lot of places that would definitely oppose this. It’s definitely a more progressive approach, which would, unfortunately, create a lot of chaos and backlash. That is also part of a larger conversation.
Conclusion: The Path Toward Empathy and Social Justice
With all that said, be aware of what’s being put out on the internet in whatever capacity. Understand that representation and inclusion are important in all aspects of media consumption. Representation and inclusion are important for communities and individuals. Representation helps with connection, and inclusion helps with cultural competency and cultural humility. All of this, in turn, helps build empathy and helps us strive toward social justice.
xoxo,
kaels
too bad ain’t me<3
Maybe I’m an overthinker, maybe this was just a tangent, but I do think everything I said holds truth.
*I learned about this in a class I took - Tech Inequality in the Silicon Valley. Keep an eye out for a blog post regarding everything related to this, that way you can fact check me and my sources (;
Noble, S. U. (2018). Searching for black girls. In Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism (pp. 64–109). NYU Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1pwt9w5.6