You can practice critical thinking while watching competition reality shows. This can be a good excise in awareness of your own biases, cognitive dissonance, and how easily you can be manipulated through storytelling.
1. First, pick your favorite competitors across the first couple of episodes.
Try to understand your own criteria for why they're your favorites, so you can adjust if they reveal new parts of themselves or new behaviors as the show progresses.
For instance, I value authenticity, people like myself, marginalized people, those with the best reason to win, competent players, and anyone who isn't one of those abusive personalities. (I do think lying is within the spirit of a game and not necessarily disqualifying.)
2. Notice when your favorites begin to change and why.
The editors will center a few contestants in any given episode. Notice if who you are rooting for ever changes *only* for this reason.
Stepping out of the narrative, are you suddenly pulling for someone you previously didn't like? Is there a good reason that aligns with your consistent criteria, or are you just being led by the focus of whoever is in the protagonist position?
For example, right now I'm watching the second season of Million Dollar Secret. Everyone's suspicions are circling around two targets for elimination. I keep catching myself rooting for the dudebro and against the smart girl. Because that's the editorial POV.
But I actually favored the smart girl in the *last episode*. I still like her. The bro has not actually won me over. But because I've been pulled into his perspective narratively, I empathize with him automatically. It simply bypasses my reasoning center.
I've become aware of this at several points and reminded myself that I'm rooting for her. I keep getting pulled back anyway.
#CriticalThinking #SelfAwareness
#RealityShow #RealityTV
Mx. Luna Corbden 🪿🐸
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2026-05-30 21:11:09 UTC
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"content": "You can practice critical thinking while watching competition reality shows. This can be a good excise in awareness of your own biases, cognitive dissonance, and how easily you can be manipulated through storytelling.\n\n1. First, pick your favorite competitors across the first couple of episodes. \n\nTry to understand your own criteria for why they're your favorites, so you can adjust if they reveal new parts of themselves or new behaviors as the show progresses. \n\nFor instance, I value authenticity, people like myself, marginalized people, those with the best reason to win, competent players, and anyone who isn't one of those abusive personalities. (I do think lying is within the spirit of a game and not necessarily disqualifying.)\n\n2. Notice when your favorites begin to change and why. \n\nThe editors will center a few contestants in any given episode. Notice if who you are rooting for ever changes *only* for this reason.\n\nStepping out of the narrative, are you suddenly pulling for someone you previously didn't like? Is there a good reason that aligns with your consistent criteria, or are you just being led by the focus of whoever is in the protagonist position?\n\nFor example, right now I'm watching the second season of Million Dollar Secret. Everyone's suspicions are circling around two targets for elimination. I keep catching myself rooting for the dudebro and against the smart girl. Because that's the editorial POV. \n\nBut I actually favored the smart girl in the *last episode*. I still like her. The bro has not actually won me over. But because I've been pulled into his perspective narratively, I empathize with him automatically. It simply bypasses my reasoning center.\n\nI've become aware of this at several points and reminded myself that I'm rooting for her. I keep getting pulled back anyway.\n\n#CriticalThinking #SelfAwareness\n#RealityShow #RealityTV",
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