Hold that thought: Your essential guide to ‘critical ignoring’

There’s a reason humans can’t turn away from a scrolling feed.

PREMIUM

Once upon a time, attention to detail helped our species survive. As various creatures developed invincibility, invisibility and other superpowers, the human brain — attached to a uniquely defenceless body — evolved to gather data from its environment in a constant stream, analyse it in real time, and use that analysis to define opportunities vs threats, fight vs flight.

In the digital age, this skill has proven to be deeply damaging. Faced with a scrolling feed, the human cannot turn away. The endless flow of data can cause stress and anxiety, disrupt lifestyle and sleep cycles. Analysis-paralysis strikes from time to time. What to order for lunch; what to read next; when to turn it all off and go to sleep — all become decisions that are unreasonably hard to make.

To make matters worse, a lot of the “information” flooding the brain via online platforms today is inane, untrue, or maliciously deceptive, a phenomenon referred to as the infodemic.

It will take new cognitive skills to tackle the endless stream of information and misinformation. An umbrella term for such a set of skills has now been coined: “critical ignoring”.

A research paper published in Current Directions in Psychological Science in February — authored by Anastasia Kozyreva and Ralph Hertwig of the Center for Adaptive Rationality at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Germany; and cognitive psychologists Sam Wineburg of Stanford University and Stephan Lewandowsky of University of Bristol — coined the term and described it as a key digital literacy habit that can help humans navigate the infodemic.

Critical ignoring involves learning how to resist low-quality material that is designed to be cognitively attractive, partly by resuming a more active role in controlling one’s information environment. Here are the three steps the researchers recommend.

Self-nudging

This involves actively designing one’s digital environment so as to meet one’s need and reduce temptation. Most social-media users have been doing the equivalent of wandering through Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, for years, gobbling up whatever catches the eye. Self-nudging is, essentially, an information diet.

“Instead of relying solely on self-control, self-nudging aims to minimise, even eliminate the temptation altogether,” says Kozyreva. Deactivate, for instance, the most distracting social media apps, at least for sporadic periods of time.

Regular digital audits are an important part of this step too. They ought to be guided by questions such as: How much of your online engagement involves friends and family? How much is spent with strangers? How much of the time spent online brings no value to your life? Bring these numbers to levels that are deliberately chosen, rather than randomly expanding or contracting.

“Much of our feed tends to be suggested posts. Focus only on posts from people you follow,” adds habit coach Ashdin Doctor. “This is crucial, given that we are living not in the age of information but the age of curation.”

Lateral reading

“It is often impossible to know the real agenda behind a site or a post simply by examining it—the trick is to not waste time doing so. Instead, a person can follow the strategy of professional fact-checkers known as lateral reading,” states the paper.

Until recently, so few people had access to the publication of material that the written word retains a patina of authenticity by default. Amid fake news, zombie statistics, political polarisation and artificial intelligence, it is even more vital to change this mindset of trust by default. Do this by vetting posts that demand your attention, through the use of authorised external sources on the internet. “Ask the question: Who is behind this article or post? Research the author or organisation and their claims elsewhere on the web,” Kozyreva says. “Go past the first page of searches on Google and don’t forget to verify the counter-claims too,” Doctor says.

Do not feed the trolls heuristic

The strategy of internet trolls, science deniers and conspiracy theorists “is to consume people’s attention by creating the appearance of a debate where none exists,” as the research paper puts it. The first step towards tackling this is to resist engaging, thereby denying what is often the primary reward: attention.

“Do not respond, correct, debate, retaliate, or troll in response. Instead, block trolls and report them to the platform,” the researchers suggest. This can be done at the personal and community level, with users and groups verifying content and reporting malicious users.

If spending time online, it’s important to use platforms with strong moderation policies. It’s vital for platforms to develop the first line of defence against such malicious agents through debunking and content moderation, says Kozyreva.

Critical ignoring should, of course, extend to setting the screens aside altogether. Music can help do this. Calm, familiar tunes are comforting for a reason that can be traced back millions of years too. Studies suggest that familiar rhythms are the equivalent of a hushed breeze in the leaves; they reassure the brain that there is no new stimulus to be observed; nothing to assess; all is as it should be. One can simply, relax.

This is a skill we’re at risk of losing, and it is a vital one to keep.