Thinking for yourself is less about having a magical instinct and more about using a better process. Stanford’s misinformation research points to lateral reading, which means leaving the page, opening new tabs, and checking whether a source is actually credible before you trust it.
A simple filter helps. Ask who is making the claim, what evidence they are using, and who benefits if you believe it. Then compare the claim with a second or third source that does not depend on the same publisher, influencer, or product page.
That is usually enough to catch the worst nonsense. You do not need to become cynical. You just need to become slower than the lie.
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