A free course by Rachelandthecity
Your brain is being exploited. Here’s how to fight back.
A complete course on how your mind works, how it gets manipulated, and how to think clearly in a world designed to confuse you.
58 essays in 8 modules
The video series
Go Doubt Yourself: Critical thinking in politics
Short episodes, one habit of mind each, tried on something real from your feed. New here? Start with Episode 00.
Every episode
The course
Eight modules. One framework.
Read them in order for a full course, or jump to whatever looks useful. Every essay stands alone.
Nothing matches. Try fewer words.
Module 01 5 essaysHow Your Brain WorksThe machinery being exploited. System 1, System 2, and the cost of cognitive shortcuts.
- The Two Systems: Fast, Effortless Thinking vs. Slow, Hard WorkThe foundation. How System 1 and System 2 shape every decision.
- The Law of Least Effort: Why Your Brain Is LazyYour brain is optimized for efficiency, not accuracy.
- Mental Shortcuts: How Heuristics Shape Our WorldviewThe rules of thumb your brain uses and how bad actors exploit them.
- The Coherence Trap: Seeing Is BelievingWhy a story that hangs together feels true even when it isn’t.
- The Power of Suggestion: How Priming WorksYou’re being primed constantly. Here’s how it works.
Module 02 5 essaysSocial and Emotional BiasesHow social pressure, emotion, and memory distort your thinking in ways you don’t notice.
- The Echo Chamber: Why We Reject Truths We DislikeThe psychology of motivated reasoning.
- The Ultimate Defense Mechanism: Self-JustificationHow we rationalize mistakes instead of learning from them.
- First Impressions: The Halo EffectWhy one positive trait makes us assume everything else is positive too.
- The Malleable Past: Why We Can’t Trust Our MemoriesMemory isn’t a recording. It’s a reconstruction.
- The Flock: Understanding Herd Mentality and Social ProofWhy ‘everyone is doing it’ is such a powerful manipulation tool.
Module 03 5 essaysLogic and ArgumentationA practical toolkit for understanding what people are actually arguing and where their logic breaks.
- Arguments vs. Fights: Defining the Conclusion and PremisesWhat an argument actually is, and how to find the claim being made.
- The Logical Bridge: What Is an Inference?How claims connect to conclusions, and where arguments break down.
- Reading the Fine Print: Unmasking Hidden AssumptionsEvery argument has hidden premises. Here’s how to find them.
- The Syllogism Test: How to Dismantle Bad ArgumentsA practical framework for testing whether an argument holds together.
- Translating with Trust: The Principle of CharityWhy understanding the strongest version of an argument makes you harder to manipulate.
Module 04 30 essaysLogical FallaciesThirty distinct flaws in reasoning that make bad arguments sound convincing.
- Personal Attacks & Misdirection
- Straw ManBuilding a fake version of your opponent’s argument, then defeating it.
- Red HerringChanging the subject so skillfully nobody notices the real question got dropped.
- Tu Quoque (You Too)Calling someone a hypocrite instead of addressing their argument.
- Guilt by AssociationDismissing an argument because of who else believes it.
- Genetic FallacyRejecting an idea because of where it came from.
- Ad Hominem: When the Attack Is PersonalAttacking the person instead of the argument.
- Emotional & Coercive Tactics
- Appeal to EmotionWhen fear, pity, or outrage replace evidence.
- Appeal to Force (Argumentum ad Baculum)Using threats instead of arguments.
- Question & Language Tricks
- Begging the Question (Circular Reasoning)Circular reasoning dressed up in fancier words.
- Loaded QuestionA question with a built-in assumption you never agreed to.
- Complex QuestionBundling questions so you can’t answer without conceding something.
- Equivocation: The Bait-and-Switch of LanguageShifting a word’s meaning mid-argument to seem like you proved something.
- Authority & Popularity
- Appeal to AuthorityCredentials don’t make someone right. Evaluate the evidence.
- Bandwagon (Appeal to Popularity)Popularity is not evidence.
- Appeal to TraditionLongevity doesn’t equal validity.
- Appeal to NoveltyNew needs evidence just like everything else.
- Appeal to NatureNature doesn’t care about your health.
- Evidence & Data
- Hasty GeneralizationDrawing sweeping conclusions from tiny samples.
- Anecdotal EvidenceOne story vs. millions of data points.
- Cherry PickingSelecting only the evidence that supports your conclusion.
- Texas Sharpshooter: Painting the Target After You ShootPainting the target after you shoot.
- Causation & Scope
- Single Cause Fallacy: When One Explanation Isn’t EnoughMost things have multiple causes. Pretending otherwise is a lie.
- Composition and Division: When Scale Changes EverythingConfusing what’s true of parts with what’s true of wholes.
- Post Hoc: When ‘After This’ Becomes ‘Because of This’Assuming one thing caused another just because it came first.
- Framing & False Choices
- False Compromise: When Splitting the Difference Gets It WrongPretending the truth is always halfway between two positions.
- False Dilemma: When the Menu Only Shows Two ItemsPresenting only two options when more exist.
- Slippery Slope: The Fallacy of the Inevitable CascadeClaiming one step inevitably leads to disaster without showing the mechanism.
- Argument Dodges
- Moving the Goalposts: The Argument That Can Never Be WonShifting standards so no evidence ever qualifies.
- Special Pleading: Carving Out Exceptions for YourselfCarving out exceptions to rules that apply to everyone else.
- Burden of Proof: Who Has to Show Their WorkTrying to make others disprove your claim instead of supporting it.
Module 05 4 essaysEvaluating Sources and MediaHow to read research, check credentials, and see through framing.
- Who Should You Actually Trust? A Practical Guide to Evaluating SourcesPrestige signals are not quality guarantees.
- Why “Studies Show” Means Almost Nothing Without ContextWhich study, how big, funded by whom, replicated where.
- The Story You’re Not Being Told: How Media Framing WorksSame facts, different framing, different conclusions.
- The Questions That Actually Matter: Using the Socratic MethodThe five whys and the questions that cut to bedrock.
Module 06 5 essaysAdvanced Thinking SkillsWhy smart people believe wrong things and what to do about it.
- Being Wrong Is a Skill You Need to PracticeThe discipline of admitting error.
- How to Actually Change Your Mind (And Why You Should)Not arguments, not facts, not shame. What actually works.
- When Pattern-Seeking Goes Wrong: Conspiracy Thinking vs. Critical ThinkingPattern-seeking goes wrong when every dot connects.
- The Dunning-Kruger Effect: Why Incompetence Breeds ConfidenceWhy the people most certain are often the least informed.
- Motivated Reasoning: When Smart People Believe Dumb ThingsHow intelligence amplifies bias rather than correcting it.
Module 07 3 essaysPractical ApplicationsThe framework applied to healthcare, science news, and election season.
- How to Think About Healthcare Without Losing Your MindPolicy, emotions, and the difference between stories and data.
- How to Read Science News Without Getting PlayedThe gap between the study and the headline.
- How to Survive Election Season Without Losing Your MindThinking clearly when everyone’s screaming.
Module 08 1 essayBuilding Your PracticeThe capstone. Turning critical thinking into a daily habit.
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