As a wise consumer how do I feel About the Alison Cameron Video Watched in Class

First off, I feel it is extremely important as an active member in today's society to think about the things we see and hear in the world around us. We shouldn't simply give in to the strategic advertising and 'skewed' information that is so readily available in the media. We need to be constructive, active interpreters so that we can make rational decisions based on information received.


In class we watched a documentary video by Alison Cameron. I will use this piece of material  how to try to be wise consumer of information.


This video spoke on how physical exercise in our schools can improve students grades significantly. 
The very first hesitation I had to this movie was that the topic of physical fitness and living a 'healthy' lifestyle is very popular in media today. The first thoughts that came to my mind is "well is this just another government funded project that is meant to sway me into wanting to live a more healthy lifestyle"? In know way is promoting health a bad thing, but being aware of what could potentially be the underlying motive behind research can prove important. The reason I say this is that if a consumer of knowledge we allow such institutions as the government to sway our thinking without being critical of it, we may fall into the trap of repeating it over and over again. That is a scary place to be because then in essence one is allowing someone else to run our lives.


The next hesitation I have is that the video only showed one study. We need to be very careful not to overgeneralize. The fear would be that I would make a conclusion based on this one study and it would skew every other study I watched or read after this point, because in my head this would be the 'written word'. Very closely aligned with this is the fear that this one study is the defining word and simply shutting down and never having an open mind in the future when it comes to this specific topic.


My last hesitation as a consumer of information is the authenticity of the source in which information comes from. Who is the author? What is their experience? Where are they from? Where have they been? These are all questions a wise consumer should be asking. 


As for this specific video, I have seen a lot of supporting evidence so I feel strongly that the information is valid and concrete. This is a decision I was able to make through the above steps.