I started this little project as a quick PowerPoint presentation for one of my graduate school classes entitled Teaching History & Political Science. In this particular assignment, the gist was to design our own TEDTalk, dedicated to a topic that we felt would improve the education system. Since I truly believe that we live in a contemporary world that is very complex, we need complex thinking and reasoning skills to help students understand the world around.

Thus, my in-class TEDTalk was complete and to PowerPoint I went; The Importance of Thinking Skills.

I don’t think many educators, at least from my experiences, want to come to grips with the fact that students are not getting their supplementary educational exposure from almanacs and encyclopedias anymore. Students are spending most of their times on their phones and computers; or, even in simpler terms, on the internet. With unlimited tidbits of information coming at our kids’ way during every possible second of the day, students need to be instructed how to interpret fact from fiction. It’s information overload! Instead of trying to pretend it’s not a thing and teach the same way we have been doing for hundreds of years, education needs to adapt to this trend in learning. Mitchell Kapor, a pioneer of the personal computing industry, has been cited as saying “getting information off the internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant.” And it’s true. When looking for one little fact, students can find something misleading and easily end up down the long, winding rabbit hole of misinformation.

It’s no secret that just because something is on the internet means it is true. There is a ton of ‘bunk’ presented as factual or credible on the ‘net, but are students well-equipped enough to know fact from fiction? James Randi, a world-renowned skeptic, recently said something in a trailer for a movie about his life that struck a chord with me; “No matter how smart or well-educated you are, you can be deceived.” As grim and chilling as it may sound, it’s certainly a call for educators to buck up and start teaching better research skills and critical thinking in the classroom. While we may all still be able to be deceived, at least we can try to cut down our chances of that happening.

So, let’s do a little experiment, shall we?

I recently came across the following photograph during an Google search for Abraham Lincoln.

How do we know this doesn’t depict true events?

Well, we use logic, reasoning, and we trust experts, to come to conclusions that Abraham Lincoln, unfortunately, did not ride grizzly bears, while holding the Declaration of Independence and an assault rifle. While it may seem like common sense, we do activate prior knowledge and logic to come to a conclusion that this picture isn’t real. It takes milliseconds, but we process the information.

But why does it seem like some information is immune to this?

Let’s jump back to 2005 for a second, shall we? Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast, Pope John Paul II passed away, and the Chicago White Sox won the World Series for the first time since 1917.

And a movie called Loose Change was released.

Loose Change is a documentary about 9/11 conspiracy theories, and what Vanity Fair described as “the first Internet blockbuster.” The 80-minute film promoted the idea of answered questions and suspicions regarding the terror attacks of that day and, in large part, helped launch the 9/11 Truth Movement, whom essentially dispute the “official story” of September 11th. The Movement claims hundreds of thousands of members from all walks of life, including but to limited to students, architects, engineers, college professors, etc. Countless books, movies, and other sources of media have been released to help promote their beliefs, ideas, and theories regarding 9/11 and I have personally seen “9/11 Was An Inside Job” stickers on light poles and cars in my fine city of Boston. While the beliefs range from the mundane (the U.S. Government let the attacks happen) to the downright wacky (no planes hit the World Trade Center) the general consensus amongst members is pretty similar. The Movement is certainly powerful and has a huge internet presence. If we asked a group of high schoolers to prepare a project or report on that fateful day, there is a very good chance that they will encounter Loose Change or any other 9/11 Truth Movement-related information.

But is Loose Change accurate? Well. Not really.

Many organizations have released debunkings of the film, such as Popular Mechanics, The Guardian, and, heck, even the U.S. Department of State! Other internet users have released debunkings as well (clicking link will open a .doc attachment.) It can be said that the film is riddled with errors and faulty logic, and even Korey Rowe, one of the producers of Loose Change, claimed that the team intentionally left errors in the movie so that viewers would “research the events…and come up with your own conclusions” which seems…odd.

Anyway, considering that the film was revised three more times (Loose Change: 2nd Edition Recut [2006], Loose Change: Final Cut [2007], Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup [2009]), it stands to tell that perhaps the original movie, a film that has reached millions of people, might have had a lot of fibs in it. However, despite some of their self-admitted errors, those same statements are still propagated widley by 9/11 Truth Movement members. Despite falsehoods, members of 9/11 Truth have stationed themselves at Ground Zero, passing out pamphlets which repeat much of the “may be fact, may be fiction” information found in movies such as Loose Change, marched to the offices of World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein while shouting “murderer” and have implicated, whether knowingly or unknowingly, the Fire Department of New York for “manslaughter” on September 11th.

But it doesn’t stop there. Similar movies and information have launched boatloads of other “movements” such as those who feel the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School was staged or didn’t happen or that the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings were a hoax. It really never ends and considering that a Google search such as “Sandy Hook hoax” yields over 700,000 results, I’d say teaching critical thinking and logical research skills is paramount in the contemporary classroom.

The main point here is how the internet, while amazing for students, can be damaging to any skills they may have in logic, reasoning, and critical thinking. The videos for various conspiracy theories are sharply put together and rarely discuss dissenting opinion and views; very much the antithesis of critical thinking. If students are not sure how to dissect certain pieces of information and apply solid research skills, they can easily believe these theories.

And if students believe one crazy theory, getting them to believe another isn’t hard to do.

In a 2013 article for Slate, author William Saletan discovered that “once you buy into the first theory…the next seems that much more plausible.” Saletan’s evidence comes from a 2013 poll of 1,200 registered voters conducted by Public Policy Polling, which supports Saletan’s theory.

If we accept and allow students to believe certain theories or ideas without being held accountable, then when will it be “acceptable” for a student to wander into a history classroom and doubt the validity of the Holocaust?

So how can we improve? Mainly, everyone needs to know how to spot credible evidence. If “I saw it on YouTube” is your best defense, then I’m sorry, you got nothing. Let’s not have students learn about peer-reviewed sources and scholarly articles until they’re college students. Have everyone realize that overwhelming evidence trumps little anomalies every time. Remind them that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence and extraordinary reasoning. We need to trust experts in their respective fields. It seems after 9/11, everyone in the 9/11 Truth Movement became a metallurgist or a demolition expert. If 99.99% of experts in a field agree on something, should we not agree with them? The goal here isn’t to sway opinion, but rather for students to build their beliefs on facts, which cannot be disputed. If they could, then I could technically convince you that Abraham Lincoln did ride grizzly bears.