“What’s missing?”
“What am I *not* hearing?”
These are the first questions I ask myself whenever I hear the news, watch a movie, take a class, or enter a Zoom meeting. Why does silence dominate one agenda, noise, another?
As a professor, I press students to hear another voice other than the one constantly in their ear, in front of their eye, prominently “app’d” on their phone, or emblazoned on a t-shirt.
What is most distressing in news coverage, Hollywood pulpiteering, or social media suspension is the idea that some other person might have a different view, another explanation. But we are often left with no countervailing weight, nothing to scale our measurements, against the pundits on the screen.
“Silencing” opposition takes place by downplaying, defaming, diminishing, or disparaging others. To silence opposing views – no matter the idea, person or event – conforms to an arrogance-arc: I know what you need to know and will tell you so.
Thanks to Heterodox Academy, I use this “Cognitive Bias” article with students https://bit.ly/2Z3GIjE
Thanks to INC., I use this article: “7 Mental Exercises to Make You a Better Critical Thinker”
https://www.inc.com/larry-alton/7-mental-exercises-to-make-you-a-better-critical-thinker.html