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Manea Vartan
Professor Ogbara
English 101
09/15/2015
Do Millennials Lack Critical Thinking Skills?
Critical thinking has impacted the lives of many, from great philosophers to young children. Its
value is immeasurable as it is a skill full of benefits. In fact, every human being has the capacity to
develop critical thinking skills. Nevertheless, the discoveries and improvements in diverse sectors have
greatly affected the amount of critical thinkers. In other words, as time goes by, fewer individuals utilize
critical thinking in their daily lives. Therefore, although one may disagree, countless millennials lack the
necessary critical thinking skills as the advancements in technology have propelled dependent thinking.
As decades pass by, more and more generations disregard the importance of thinking critically as
they simply do not understand its true meaning. Critical thinking is essentially self-thinking which results
in using ones own knowledge in order to obtain the truth. It can be used in nearly any situation as every
aspect of live may be analyzed through the use of endless questions. Nevertheless, as Carl Sagan stated,
if you are open to the point of gullibility and have not an ounce of skeptical sense in you, then you
cannot distinguish the useful as from the worthless ones, and if you are only skeptical, then no new
ideas make it through to you. Hence, to use critical thinking efficiently, one must be skeptical and openminded. If one solely depends on past experiences, then one of his or her characteristics may ultimately
outweigh the other. Ultimately, this would prohibit one from truly thinking critically. For instance, being
lied to by the person that we consider to be the most trustworthy individual may make us utterly skeptical
about rather anything. Moreover, in Critical Thinking by Bell Hooks, the author asserts that it involves
first discovering the who, what, when, where, and how of things- finding the answers to those eternal
questions of the inquisitive childe- and then utilizing that knowledge in a manner that enables you to
determine what matters most (1). As one may notice, this is when the fundamental characteristics

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introduced by Sagan become compelling and imperative as critical thinking essentially demands
judgment and profound analysis. Even though this tool remains utterly beneficial, the continuous
advancements in technology have made the young generation neglect the value of critical thinking.
The exponential increase in the use of social networks has hindered the capacity of diverse
individuals, in particularly, the millennial generation, to develop critical thinking skills. It is important to
understand that the term millennials refers to individuals born between the 1980s and 2000s. They are
considered to be the most affected by the advancements in technology as they essentially grew up with
the diverse technological innovations. Today, one can navigate through the various social media sites in
order to share thoughts and ideas, view the news, meet new people and maintain relationships. For this
reason, advances in social networking have firmly influenced personal opinions. Moreover, compared to
previous generations, millennials spend the most amount of time on social media. This is due to the fact
that many, including myself, simply cannot neglect social media for one single day. Meanwhile, with the
help of media, influential individuals are deliberately sharing their opinions which significantly impact
the beliefs of the readers. For instance, a picture posted on twitter by Taylor Swift of herself drinking
alcohol may send a message to the young dedicated fan that consuming alcohol is amusing and
pleasurable. This is highly alarming as it is due to the naivety of the individual and the failure to analyze
and question the image. Moreover, when one idolizes a person, he or she firmly believes that the person
is perfect, and thus, every word expressed by the idol may seem correct to him or her. In other words, he
or she is so focused on becoming just like his or her idol that critical thinking is completely neglected.
Hence, it is said that well-known figures have a great impact on public opinion. Meanwhile, social media
is a critical distraction as it prevents one from studying efficiently. After all, compared to studying or
doing homework, how many hours per day does a student spend on social networking sites? The answer
is most likely over twice the amount of time spent studying. I have been in this situation, and I must
admit that it did not end well. I spent the whole afternoon communicating with my friends on social
media rather than finishing my assigned work; therefore, the distraction led to an unsatisfying grade on

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the homework. Aside from communicating and sharing personal opinions, social networking provides
instant news. However, it is important to understand that most of the news happens to be biased as
objectivity may never be fully reached. Moreover, since each person perceives information differently
due to personal beliefs, the fast spreading news on social media is mostly untrue.. Hence, by the time it
reaches the millennial, the details of the event may have changed at least 10 times. To illustrate, a person
may decide to write an article about the ideologies of a presidential candidates. While reading this article,
supporters of the candidate will praise his ideas; meanwhile, opponents may begin using fallacies. In
other words, they may state that the candidate neglects the poor or that he is racist. As this belief
circulates on social media, more and more people will begin to believe the opponents. As a result, the
candidate will be frowned upon by many expect due to a lie. Generation Y has become so accustomed to
this easy and simple method of communicating, sharing ideas, and also obtaining news from
acquaintances that laziness has disabled them from finding the need to question and analyze nearly
anything. Hence, Hooks demand for rigorous evaluation, and the need for skepticism and openmindedness, set forth by Sagan, may never be achieved. In addition to influencing millennials, the
advancements have made internet an important source of information.
The use of internet has allowed the millennial generation to instantly acquire facts without any indepth thinking involved. In a sense, obtaining answers is only a few clicks away; therefore, using critical
thinking to derive the truth has become a secondary source. Todays society can easily gain access to
internet through smartphones, tablets, laptops or computers. Moreover, children are given such
resourceful devices from a very young age that it is difficult for them to truly discover and learn the true
meaning of thinking independently. Nevertheless, it must be said that internet is a rather convenient
source as it leads to frequent multitasking. However, this prevents individuals from acquiring a better
understanding of the information as processing diverse facts all at once is rather difficult to attain. Put
differently, the brain simply cannot simunatiously pay attention to the streams of information. For
example, we cannot understand the impact of WW1, the theory of relativity and the scientific method all

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at the same time. Essentially, obtaining information from the internet does not require them to think
independently. Previous generations were exposed to diverse perspectives and opinions; therefore,
seeking the truth was relatively difficult as they had to spend time doing research and coming to their
own conclusions. As a result, they had to use their critical thinking ability. Today, countless millennials
assume that the information found on the internet is unquestionably true as it is provided by so-called
experts or gurus. However, they must understand that objectivity may never be fully attained. Moreover,
knowing that an answer can be found in less than 10 seconds is rather intriguing and compelling to many
as it means that they have more spare time. Generation Y is surrounded by advancements that discourage
them from applying any critical thinking.
As Bell Hooks stated, Children are organically predisposed to be critical thinkers (1). This
means that the ability to enhance critical thinking skills lies in the individual. The improvements in
technology have indeed hurt the thinking abilities of generation Y, as they are the first generation to be
fully surrounded by technology. It is a serious matter as aiming for success, in particularly, academic
success, may become utterly difficult for millennials. Moreover, thousands of them appear to be unable to
possess both skepticism and open-mindedness. They have simply become too lazy to go out of their way
in order to derive the truth. If the way they utilize technology does not change soon, then future
generations may never form their personal viewpoints and broaden their knowledge. Hence, with change
and endless practice, critical thinking can be mastered by millennials.