CRITICAL THINKING AS A MEANS OF RESISTANCE IN INFORMATION WAR

The article reveals the connotationof the key concepts “information war” and “critical thinking”. The study analyzes the features of information war as a manipulative technology and reveals the role of critical thinking tools (analysis, synthesis, interpretation) in counteraction to information sabotage. It has been proven that the process of information influence on public and individual consciousness is ambiguous – it can be either positive and contribute to raising the level of public awareness of urgent problems, or it can carry out information attacks with the aim of destructive influence on consciousness, cultivation of hatred and dispersal of the feeling of “treason”. It is argued that information manipulation affects the consciousness of a person through an avalanche of rumors, manipulations, and fakes, aimed at weakening and ultimately destroying the ability of self-identification and self-determination. This is an extremely dangerous situation that can lead to a state of disorientation if countermeasures are not used, one of which is the tools of critical thinking and fact-checking to evaluate information.