Critical thinkers vs emotional keyboard warriors

 

Malaysians get into emotional discussions about all sorts of things. Especially ‘netizens’, who are given an awful lot of latitude or air time. These keyboard warriors have strong opinions about all and sundry, while commenting fearlessly behind their screens.

When a celebrity recently had a meal in an internationally acclaimed restaurant that just opened in Malaysia, netizens were more interested in reprimanding her for not being concerned about the certification issued to the establishment by the religious authorities. This, instead of being curious about the food and service being as good as it’s claimed.

Maybe this is the reason why there are 52 Michelin-star restaurants in Singapore and 32 in Thailand. Malaysia, which I think is the real food capital of this region, has zero, zilch, nada.

We concern ourselves with unimportant sideshows rather than focusing on real pressing issues.

This is why even though continuous allegations are made about our politicians being tainted by corruption scandals, most Malaysians seem to have either forgiven or forgotten.

Rather, we happily get distracted by issues like celebrating a Japanese cultural festival in Malaysia or the bad-behaviour of some miscreants in an insignificant comedy club. All this while the problems of governance, managing talent, repairing race-relations and combatting institutional corruption, go completely disregarded.

As a nation and as a people, we seem to lack the critical thinking to discern the real issues. Malaysians keep falling for the ‘smoke and mirrors’ that deflect us from our genuine problems.

But only an empowered and informed citizenry can think critically.

However, in Malaysia, with such polarised views, only the loudest voices tend to get heard. It is the noisiest opinions that get circulated to common folk.

When no proper information gets to the ground, how can we can truly exercise our rights of citizenship, with participation, criticism and voting? Because the more informed we are, the better equipped we become to actively partake in decision-making processes.

We have to finally become critical thinkers.

Clinging on to parochial attitudes and the narrow narratives spewed by self-preserving politicians or specialist lobbying groups peddling their own agendas, makes us citizenry into ‘sheeple’.

We must reason and not meekly accept. We must actively learn about things, rather than just passively assimilate information.

All Malaysian citizens have the right to question any idea and challenge any of the prevalent assumptions. Isn’t this a fundamental tenet of citizenship of every nation?

No one can hoodwink us by bending history and harking back to tacit agreements from the past to shut us up. Our generation lives in the here and now, and our problems are current, and need modern solutions.

When people in power use fear through outdated draconian laws to silence dissenters and quell critics, they want to disempower and block citizens from making informed choices about the things that actually matter.

If the authorities support or give standing to those who work for their own self-serving agendas, the narrative that common folks receive is murky and muddled up, at best.

As empowered citizens, we cannot rely on past information and perceived fears. The world is dynamic, and every situation needs to be examined in its present context.

To be critical thinkers, we must observe, analyse, interpret, reflect, and evaluate what is happening around us. New ideas and narratives should not frighten us. We must think without propaganda and brainwashing.

For instance, if a political activist or a satirist makes a public comment questioning someone in power, conventional conservatism will dictate that this person should be penalised for creating disharmony in a multifaceted society. But this is a dogmatic and outdated interpretation of how to maintain balance in our country.

If we are critical thinkers, we will see issues and events contextually. This enables us to make decisions rationally, and discern what is actually important and what is not. We will be able to evaluate if discord and disharmony was created, or if it was yet another diversion from the real problems we face.

Don’t we make decisions for our life, career, and the safety of our family only after careful and critical reflection? Then why don’t we learn to do the same for the survival of our nation?

For our country, we seem to decide on the basis of “…this is just the way things are done here” or “…someone told me that this is the way things should be done”.

Considering the state of the nation, it’s vital that Malaysians make every effort to become informed and empowered so that decisions are based on clear, reflective, and critical thought.

Instead of simply paying attention to the rantings of emotional keyboard warriors, our country will be much better served by encouraging critically thinking citizens. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.