The Critical Thinker

The Critical Thinker Substack focuses on enhancing logic, reasoning, and effective communication. It addresses common cognitive biases, fallacies, and the misuse of language and visuals in decision-making, news consumption, and storytelling. The newsletter offers practical advice for critical thinking and clear communication, utilizing examples from daily life and media.

Cognitive Biases Logical Fallacies Effective Communication Decision Making Visual Communication Language and Reasoning

The hottest Substack posts of The Critical Thinker

And their main takeaways

Did You Hear About the Senator Who Did Something Sketchy?

119 implied HN points • 24 Oct 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Media Critique Public Relations Scandals
  1. Language can be used to hide the truth or twist a story. It's important to question how things are said, not just what is said.
  2. There are specific ways language can be manipulated, like using the passive voice or euphemisms. These tricks make it hard to see who is really responsible for actions.
  3. When reading news or hearing reports, always think critically. Ask yourself if the wording is making you feel a certain way or if it’s covering up something important.

Signed Book Giveaway

1535 implied HN points • 01 Dec 23
  1. The author is hosting a signed book giveaway with an original page from their first book.
  2. Stats from the past five months show growth in readership and engagement with published content.
  3. Holiday special running offers a 50% discount on paid subscriptions until December 7.

The Sunk Cost Fallacy and How It Influences Our Decisions

378 implied HN points • 11 Jan 24
  1. The sunk cost fallacy influences our decisions by making us continue with endeavors due to past investments, even if they are irrational.
  2. The sunk cost fallacy can impact jobs, identities, relationships, and other aspects of life, leading to missed opportunities and decisions based on past investments.
  3. To counter the sunk cost fallacy, frame decisions in the third person, base them on data, and constantly reexamine them to ensure they are future-looking and driven by opportunity.

Why It’s Important to Avoid Loaded Language

199 implied HN points • 19 Oct 23
  1. Avoid loaded language to prevent dehumanization and its grave consequences.
  2. Language can dehumanize through sinister associations, euphemisms, feel-good verbs, and omissions.
  3. Seek the truth, avoid emotional manipulation in news consumption, and critically analyze information.

The Motte and Bailey Fallacy

179 implied HN points • 03 Nov 23
  1. The Motte and Bailey Fallacy involves defending a controversial claim with a less controversial one and then switching back.
  2. Be cautious of possessive nouns used to discredit a fact or person in news headlines.
  3. Graphics in presentations should align with the reader's mental model to avoid confusion in message interpretation.
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Confirmation Bias, We're Like a Family, and Overloading Symbols and Colors

299 implied HN points • 29 Jun 23
  1. Confirmation bias is when we only seek data to confirm our existing beliefs, rather than challenging them.
  2. Words can manipulate emotions by creating feel-good associations, like calling a workplace 'family'.
  3. Overloaded symbols and colors in images can lead to confusion and should be simplified for clearer communication.

A New Goat & Bear Musical Short

79 implied HN points • 08 Feb 24
  1. False cause: Don't assume correlation means causation.
  2. Appeal to consequences: Don't judge truth based on outcomes.
  3. Wordplay: Homophones, oxymorons, and playing with language can be fun and impactful.

Availability Bias, The Passive Voice, and Representing Relative Magnitudes

139 implied HN points • 27 Jul 23
  1. Decisions can be influenced by how easily examples come to mind, leading to biases.
  2. The use of passive voice can shift responsibility and obscure the true actor in a situation.
  3. Representing data with clear visuals, like bars instead of circles, can help in understanding relative magnitudes.

Converse Errors, Misattributing Actions, and Comparing Shapes of Lines

119 implied HN points • 24 Aug 23
  1. Don't assume that if one statement is true, its converse must also be true, it may lead to the converse error
  2. Watch out for misattributing actions by assigning actions to the wrong actor in language, adding vagueness
  3. When comparing shapes of lines in visuals, use line shapes to show trends clearly and make comparisons easier

How Anchoring Affects Our Decisions

99 implied HN points • 05 Oct 23
  1. Anchoring is a bias where initial information influences decisions.
  2. Be cautious of how language and statistics can be used to conceal or mislead.
  3. Consider using slope graphs to visually represent shifts over time for clearer understanding.

Plausible Deniability, False Causes, and Telling a Crisper Story by Reducing Detail

99 implied HN points • 10 Aug 23
  1. Language can be used to imply ideas without explicitly stating them, leading to plausible deniability in conversations
  2. Do not assume causation between two events just because they occur together; evidence is necessary to establish a causal relationship
  3. Visual storytelling can be enhanced by reducing unnecessary detail and highlighting key points for clearer communication

Slippery Slopes, "It's Complicated", and The Trouble with Some Infographics

79 implied HN points • 21 Sep 23
  1. Recognize and stop the slippery slope thinking to avoid being paralyzed by fear.
  2. Be aware of language that complicates what is actually simple to prevent mistaking complexity for nuance.
  3. Critically analyze infographics to ensure they accurately represent information and avoid misleading visual storytelling.

Survivorship Bias, People are Saying, and Making a Blood Pressure Graph More Readable

79 implied HN points • 13 Jul 23
  1. Survivorship bias focuses on drawing conclusions from what is visible while ignoring what is not
  2. Avoid generalizations like 'people are saying' and instead seek specific sources and information
  3. Improve the readability of data representation, like blood pressure graphs, by simplifying and clarifying the visuals

A Chat with Lubaba Fakeih

59 implied HN points • 24 Aug 23
  1. Seeing things in a new light by being rational in relationships and conflict resolution.
  2. Staying close to kids as they grow older is important for open communication and support.
  3. Recommendations for emotional stories that made an impact, pandemic hobbies, and book suggestions.

Mind the Gap: The Pitfalls of Hasty Generalizations

39 implied HN points • 16 Nov 23
  1. Generalizing from limited evidence can lead to hasty conclusions
  2. Be cautious of hyperbolic language in news and headlines
  3. Real world objects can subconsciously influence how we interpret information

False Dilemmas, Macroeconomic Conditions, and Visualizing Distributions

1 HN point • 07 Sep 23
  1. False dilemmas oversimplify decisions and limit our thinking by presenting only two options when there may be more.
  2. Language can be used imprecisely to justify actions - like using 'challenging macroeconomic conditions' as a scapegoat for layoffs.
  3. Visualizing distributions, like with beeswarm plots, provides more insight than just presenting a single number or average.