Page 176 - Enabling National Initiatives to Take Democracy Beyond Elections

newDemocracy has produced two videos that are available online. https://www.newdemocracy.com.au/videos/ 174 A Project of the UN Democracy Fund (UNDEF) The third exercise is walking through critical thinking and biases. These clips walk through the concept of critical thinking and biases and some ways of thinking that will be helpful for participants when it comes to interrogating information. Critical thinking – this exercise is about training participants to examine the information they receive through 6 different aspects: • Clarity – Is a piece of information clear and specific? • Accuracy – Is a statement actually true or supported by data? • Relevance – Is the point relevant to the question? • Depth – Does the information address the complexity of the topic? Is it detailed enough? • Breadth – What other points of view might be missing? • Logic – Does the information make sense? Is it logically consistent? Biases – there are 6 types of biases that can shape how people think about information or a question, this exercise explains them and how to limit their impacts: • Anchoring bias • Group think • Blind spot • Confirmation bias • Information bias • Authority bias It will be useful to have these list as posters or handheld cards in the room as an ongoing prompt to assist citizens as they consider a range of information.