How Do We Find Good Information? – Part 4: Accepting Uncertainty and Learning How to Evaluate Information

Part 4 of the Davidson Institute series, “How do We Find Good Information?”

• Part 1: Why Finding Good Information Feels So Hard
• Part 2: Where are you already getting information and what’s your goal?
• Part 3: Making Sense of Conflicting Information and Trusting Your Role as a Parent
• Part 4: Accepting Uncertainty and Learning How to Evaluate Information
• Part 5: Finding Support, Setting Boundaries, and Moving Forward

Will there be an answer for everything? 

No. Although, we know everyone wishes that there was an easy answer.

Once you get into this PG/2e space, you might feel like you want to get a PhD to be able to understand your child. And there are parents in this community who have. (And many thanks to them as they continue to expand the PG/2e professional network and pool of available resources!) But, no amount of research can replace the day-to-day learning that comes from simply being with your child, observing their needs, and tuning into their experiences. You won’t be able to hit “pause” on parenting, but you may find that every moment, every interaction holds its own lessons, helping you understand your child in ways that no textbook can teach. The answers are unfolding in real time, through your connection, and that’s where the deepest understanding lies.

Sometimes, the answer that you get to a parenting question is uncomfortable. Often answers involving trial and error can be frightening because they acknowledge that no one knows how the future is going to turn out. The benefit of taking a trial-and-error approach that aligns with your values is that you’ll be grounded (in these values) when you’re faced with the unknown. Sure, you don’t know if your kid will wind up successful, but how is your family defining success? Can you make a definition that sets everyone up for success and acknowledges their strengths?

Try This: Give yourself permission to imagine a parenting ideal, an answer for everything. Spend some time thinking about all of the ways that your life would be different if that ideal were true. What would that answer give you? Get specific, focus on the nitty gritty for a moment. 

 Now, take one small piece of that imagined ideal, and take 10 minutes to move towards that. If your ideal is more time with your kid, have a snack together. Watch a funny video together and have a laugh. Do one action (that takes 10 minutes or less) that moves you toward your own ideal answer. 

 Whatever action you take isn’t going to make everything perfect forever. But even your small actions can help you lean into your personal and family values to create a meaningful life in the face of uncertainty.  

Okay, but where do I look for information, and how do I know what holds weight? 

It is a quality over quantity game. Lean into community wisdom, but vet it thoroughly. Not all community advice will be grounded in a full understanding of your child’s needs, so apply discernment and critical thinking.

This question might be best answered by thinking through some of the tenets of media literacy and thinking about how to be media literate when reading about PG/2e topics:

• Investigate your sources. Who is making claims here? How do they know what they know? For example, if you’re looking to pick up a book about misdiagnosis in the gifted population, you might want that person to be a clinical professional to ensure that they have the proper training, experience, and legitimacy to be making the claims that they do about diagnoses. Expertise comes in many forms. Everyone is informed and changed by their experiences, knowledge, and opinions. There is no “objective, unbiased” sources. It’s important to consider what those biases are and how they inform the media you’re consuming.  These days, many people have internet or social media profiles that are worth exploration to better understand their points of view. In particular, if your source is saying things about “experts in the field” disagreeing with them or disregarding their point of view, ask yourself: Why? Are they disagreeing with an underlying premise or issue with methodology? Or, are they twisting understood premises and methodologies for their own means? Are they bringing up perhaps overlooked factors or understudied facets of an issue? Or, are they calling into question settled debates to appeal to fear and doubts? Are they trying to advance the conversation with new insight or research? Or, are they shutting down the conversation by saying there’s only one answer?
• Trace the claims. As you know, it’s good practice to cite sources and credit other influential thinkers. As you are reading and thinking critically about information, trace the claims being made to their original source and context. A claim may sound completely ludicrous until it’s traced to the original concept, or, on the flip side, something might sound reasonable at first until the full context of their claim is revealed. For example, you might have a negative reaction to a book titled Doing Poorly on Purpose. But when you read the description of the book, you realize that the author is an expert in underachievement and centers the student’s dignity in writing about motivation, which opens your mind to listening to them.
• Corroborate the information. If you hear a claim for the first time, it’s a good idea to corroborate that claim with others. Is the source that you heard from the sole proprietor of this information, or have you tapped into a conversation that you weren’t previously privy to? Often truthful claims will have multiple corroborating factors. Sometimes though, especially in emerging subjects like neurodiversity, singular thinkers emerge before consensus forms. For example, conversations about PDA profiles in America are still emerging, and there are only a few professionals writing about it in this country. Does that make them illegitimate? No; the conversation about PDA was started a while ago outside the United States. American researchers are bringing up something that has yet to be culturally explored.
• Think about the purpose. The author created the media you consume for a reason. What is that reason? Think deeper than what they might originally tell you, but don’t necessarily assume that the most cynical answer is the truth unless you’re given evidence. For example, a content creator might make posts that are trying to “raise awareness” about autism. But upon closer inspection, they only talk about their child’s autism on posts that are sponsored by a supplement company. That might indicate that they aren’t being entirely truthful about “raising awareness.”
• Understand the rhetorical methods being employed. Rhetorical devices can be used to beef up an author’s legitimacy, the claim itself, or even how much you believe a claim. Every author uses rhetorical devices to appeal to their audience, bring cohesion to their piece, and narratively paint a picture. Cultivating awareness of rhetorical strategies can help you to figure out which one’s work when used on you to help you believe and disbelieve claims. It may also be worthwhile to cultivate an awareness around different types of logical fallacies.
• Check in with yourself. Does this information confirm what you already know? Does this information challenge what you already know in a meaningful way? Are you feeling more empowered and knowledgeable after doing this research? Did this research meaningfully add to your view of the world? The purpose of this step is twofold: First, confirmation bias is real. It’s important that we don’t get stuck in echo chambers, and we are addressing facts and reality. Secondly, fear mongering is a powerful force. Fear can make up feel like down and left feel like right. So, checking in with yourself to ensure that you’re regulated and clear-headed can help you think critically about what you consume.

It’s worth mentioning here that you’re likely going to come up against the following obstacle: Someone’s claims seem credible; nothing is giving red flags, but you just don’t like what they have to say. That’s okay. That’s why we have a lot of professionals in the PG/2e space that talk about similar things. You are going to resonate more with some thinkers and ideas than others. It’s okay to move toward those thinkers and apply more of what they say to your life. This doesn’t mean that everyone you don’t vibe with is not legitimate in their field, is unethical, or is wrong.

Explore This: The National Association for Media Literacy Education and Media Literacy Now both have resources to beef up your media literacy skills and start this discussion with your Young Scholar!  

Permission Statement

This article is provided as a service of the Davidson Institute for Talent Development, a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to supporting profoundly gifted young people 18 and under. To learn more about the Davidson Institute’s programs, please visit www.DavidsonGifted.org.