The Osservatorio has always operated in the realm of critical thinking, but today it speaks of independent thinking. What does this shift mean?

You all know that the world has changed substantially over the last 25 years. Today, search algorithms condition our browsing and lock us into increasingly smaller worlds, bringing us closer to people who already think like us and pushing away those with whom we might enjoy the pleasure of a debate.

You know that artificial intelligence is racing ahead, and therefore the speed of change will take increasingly longer and faster strides. You know that manipulation is a risk we all face every day; especially today, when information has no borders and propaganda—even between countries—is becoming a major issue.

And so, in these times, critical thinking had to be paired with independent thinking. What is the difference?

You all know that critical thinking is rational thought. It is a mindset that, when faced with a piece of news, leads you, for example, to verify the source. It leads you perhaps to search for data and to reason—using deductive or inductive methods—on how the author of that article reached their conclusions. It is, fundamentally, a system for analyzing the information that reaches you; a rational system to understand if it is reliable, if it is merely plausible, or if it is untrue.

Independent thinking, on the other hand, means something more: it means not giving up the courage to hold your own idea and to express it. It means doing so after having carried out the critical process, of course, but without joining the chorus and without ending up in a logic where the chorus is the place where you belong.