AT a recent Raya open house, friend A discussed with friend B about the video clip controversy involving two personalities in the local showbiz industry. While A maintained that the clip was authentic, B was not convinced.

The conversation soon began to sound like a coffee-table political discussion. As the rest of the table buddies were forced to listen to it, it began to occur to this writer just how many out there were like A and B?

A seems like someone who gets bits and pieces of information from any source. Be it an article in a tabloid, a blog or simply hearsay, she is quite happy to accept anything at face value, as long as it is the first time she hears about it.

B, on the other hand, is slightly more critical and choosy when looking for news sources. Every piece of information he gets, he will check whether it is sound or some bogus argument.

With free services such as Google News available online for all to get information, it is a shame that there are still many As out there who would believe just about anything without doubt.

Google News for Malaysia (http://news.google.com.my) brings together headlines from over 4,500 English-language news sources worldwide, groups similar stories together and even shows them on your screen according to your preference. The service also lets you decide which subject interests you and which source you would like to read about it from.

Hopefully with such services, Malaysians will grow better reading skills and become wiser in digesting information. Professor Roland Paris of University of Colorado noted in his Web page (socsci.colorado.edu/~parisr/IAFS_1000/critical_reading.htm) that critical reading means thinking carefully about an author's claims, rather than accepting these claims at face value.

He wrote, "In both your professional and your personal life, you will likely be called upon to separate strong from weak arguments, to develop your own opinions based on evidence and careful reasoning, and to sort through and make sense of a confusing mass of information. Critical thinking and reading skills will allow you to do this."

This writer believes that reading is just like eating. You don't simply devour everything.