Intellectual Inequality: The Power of Cogitation
Author
Winther, Frederik Poulsen
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2018
Submitted on
2018-05-31
Abstract
This thesis examines how people exercise critical thinking and make meaning when engaging with contemporary media and political communication. Drawing on Critical Psychology, Social Representations Theory, and cognitive psychology on heuristics and dual-process thinking (e.g., availability), it develops a historical and conceptual framework for meaning-making. This framework is applied in a theoretical content/thematic analysis of two media cases: the TV program Ghost Hunters and a political speech by Mette Thiesen from the Danish party Nye Borgerlige. The analysis focuses on language use, appeals to expertise, the interplay of emotion and reason, and strategies for making the unfamiliar familiar, highlighting how such devices shape judgment and decision-making in public discourse. The findings suggest that discourse and media analysis can productively complement social representations and cognitive approaches to reveal the role of language and common sense, that a new TV-derived media form is emerging, and that social media may wield more influence than is often assumed. The thesis underscores the pivotal role of culture in contextual critical thinking and recommends future work combining these perspectives with Rational Choice Theory.
Dette speciale undersøger, hvordan mennesker udøver kritisk tænkning og skaber mening i mødet med nutidens medie- og politiske kommunikation. Med afsæt i Kritisk psykologi, teorien om sociale repræsentationer samt kognitiv psykologi om heuristikker og dobbeltprocesser (fx tilgængelighed), udvikles en historisk og begrebslig ramme for meningsdannelse. Denne ramme anvendes i en teoretisk indholds-/tematisk analyse af to typer medier: tv-programmet Ghost Hunters og en politisk tale af Mette Thiesen fra Nye Borgerlige. Analysen fokuserer på sprogbrug, påkaldelse af ekspertise, forholdet mellem følelse og fornuft samt strategier til at gøre det ukendte bekendt, og belyser, hvordan sådanne greb påvirker vurderinger og beslutningstagning i offentligheden. Resultaterne antyder, at diskurs- og medieanalyse frugtbart kan supplere sociale repræsentationer og kognitiv psykologi i afdækningen af sprogets og “sund fornufts” rolle, at en ny tv-afledt medieform er ved at opstå, og at sociale medier kan have større indflydelse end ofte antaget. Specialet fremhæver kulturens centrale betydning for kritisk tænkning i kontekst og foreslår, at fremtidig forskning kombinerer disse perspektiver med Rational Choice Theory.
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