To Receive Information Correctly

Hello, everyone! How often do you use the Internet? Probably, you use it every day, don't you? Now, we can't live without the Internet. If your smartphones are taken away just for a day, you will be really suffered. It is so stressful for young people like us. The Internet is an essential part of our lives. On the other hand, the Internet also has some dangers. There is so much information on the Internet. Are you able to receive them correctly? Some of you may think you can, but please be careful. Sometimes knowledge interferes with our thinking. Today, I will show you the way to receive information correctly with an example.

In Japan, the declining birthrate is becoming a social problem. Look at graph1 below. This is a graph from the Cabinet Office's website. It shows the current status of Japan's declining birthrate. This graph shows the birth rate and the total fertility rate. The total fertility rate means the number of children born from one woman. if the total fertility rate increase, the number of children will increase in the future. Because of that, the Japanese government is trying to make an environment where is easy to raise children. Do you think the increase in the total fertility rate will really help the declining birthrate?

graph1

To tell you the truth, it's probably impossible. Please look at graph2. I made it from the data of the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare. I want you to pay attention to the grey graph. It is the top line of the bar graph shifted to the right for 25 years. In other words, it shows the number of people of the parent generation in that year. Did you find what I want to say?

graph2

Now, let's look at the entire graph again. Since the 1970s, the birth rate decreases rapidly. But around 1995, the decrease is slow. If we look at the grey graph, the parent generation in that year is increasing. We can think it is because of that. So, what can we expect about the future? Since the 1990s, the birth rate has decreased slowly, and the parent generation decreased rapidly. Even if the total fertility rate increased in the future, we can't solve the declining birthrate because the number of parents is so few!

The increase in the total fertility rate will help the declining birth rate. It is believed by many Japanese. I am not saying that this is totally wrong. What I wanted to share with you is that you should not believe everything you read. Please try to think of yourself once. That is the most effective way to receive information correctly.

Today's content is based on a book which title is "Zibunn no Atama de Kangaeyou (Think On Your Own)". It is written by Chikirin. She is a social blogger. She founded "Chikirin no Nikki (Chikirin's Diary)" in 2005. It has one of the highest access and readership numbers in Japan. The URL is below. If you have interest, please check that! 

https://chikirin.hatenablog.com/

Thank you for reading all of this! Think of yourself and decide the information is really correct or not. See you soon!