Last week the UK saw the biggest far-rightA range of ideologies that emphasise social order, racial purity and the elimination of opponents. mobilisation on its streets since 1935. While people feared for their lives, 5,000 miles away a right-wing billionaire was fanning the flames.

At the height of the unrest, Elon MuskA South African-born entrepreneur whose companies have included the online payment service PayPal. helped spread a false claim that British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer was building camps on the Falkland IslandsA remote South Atlantic archipelago with a population of just over 2,800. It is a British Overseas Territory. to imprison rioters.¹

It has sparked a debate over how best to stop misinformationIncorrect or misleading information unintentionally presented as fact. It can be contrasted with disinformation or deliberate lies.. Bridget Phillipson, the secretary of state for education, is bringing in changes to the curriculumThe subjects studied at school or during a course. to teach students critical thinking skills.²

Phillipson's announcement, experts say, is based on the understanding that there are only two ways of cutting off the flow of misinformation.

The traditional method is to prevent misinformation from being published at all. This is one of the purposes of the Online Safety ActA UK law regulating "harmful" online speech and media, passed in October 2023..³

But social media has made this task much harder. Lies spread on X and Facebook too quickly for the police to catch.

That makes stemming the flow of misinformation nearly impossible. So the other option is to teach people how to recognise false ideas.

If we teach people critical thinking skills, experts say, they will question everything they read and be more likely to spot falsehoods.

Some say this is simply restoring centuries of wisdomBeing wise, having lots of experience, knowledge and good decision-making skills. . In the past we knew that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.⁴

For hundreds of years, the Church forbadeDid not allow. ordinary people to read the BibleThe collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity. The Bible includes the Old Testament and the New Testament. because it thought without proper training and education they would only misinterpret it.

While the idea that ordinary people should not read the Bible was stuffy and elitistRegarding other people as inferior because they lack power, wealth, or status., it is true that without specialist knowledge it is easy to misinterpret things.

So the answer, some say, is to promote not just knowledge but wisdom, and ensure that everyone has the skill to tell good knowledge from bad.

Has critical thinking become life's key skill?

Yes: We can no longer hope to stop misinformation at its source. It travels too quickly, crosses borders too easily. Our only defence against its deadly influence is critical thinking.

No: Critical thinking is not enough to defeat misinformation. Even the most clear-thinking of us is still vulnerable to falsehoods that confirm our prejudices about the world.

Or... Critical thinking is an important weapon in our armoury, but it cannot be the only one. We need a more holisticIn medicine, it is a rounded approach to healing that considers mental, social, and physical factors as interconnected. approach to online misinformation. So far, politicians have been slow to catch up with this reality.

FOR YOUR SUMMER READING CHALLENGE CLUE GO TO STEP SIX IN THE SIX STEPS TO DISCOVERY BELOW.