Pseudoscience seller: I treat the root cause, unlike doctors who just treat symptoms. Science: Your treatment doesn't work beyond placebo. Pseudoscience seller: But placebo makes people *feel* better.

What do you think of these quotes by professor of neuroscience, psychology, and education, Mary Helen Immordino-Yang?

Clips of street or campus debates often frame an opponent’s stunned silence as evidence that a brilliant point was made. But in my experience, it's the most deeply flawed arguments that leave me speechless, wondering, "Where do I even begin?"

An interesting conversation that follows a puzzle I recently shared is: What counts as a fair assumption? The puzzle was this: "Jack is looking at Anne, but Anne is looking at George. Jack is married, but George is not. Is a married person looking at an unmarried person?"

Don't get me wrong - I like "Thinking, Fast and Slow." Many of the concepts are supported by decades of research and replications. But this kind of stuff is in there, too.

On being confidently wrong:

Today I saw a post explaining "popular texting codes" to parents. The examples included things like BRB, GR8, and GTG. The irony is obvious: Parents today are the ones who invented those codes. But it reflected a bigger problem with many media/digital literacy resources 👇

I avoid the term "critical thinker." It suggests you either are one or you’re not, that it's something you can achieve and be done with. I prefer "critical thinking." It's something we all do, sometimes better than others. Even with practice, we all slip into lazy thinking at times.

Teach your kids (ages 6-9) that changing your mind when you find out you were wrong is not a weakness - it's a superpower! critikid.com/milos-mind-r...

This is the Motte and Bailey fallacy. Motte-and-bailey castles had two areas: a wide area that was hard to defend (the bailey) and small stone tower on a hill that was easier to protect (the motte). When invaders came, people abandoned the bailey and retreated to the motte. 👇

A common scenario: Someone posts a reel that's vague or missing information. They clarify in the caption. The reel gets misinterpreted by people who didn't read the caption. OP accuses them of having poor literacy skills.

"Blaise, there's a chance that aliens could come to Earth and give humans immortality and send everyone named Steven to a paradise planet and people with any other name to a hellish planet, so you should go change your name to Steven, just in case."

Should You Read "Thinking, Fast and Slow"? I often recommend this book by Daniel Kahneman as an introduction to critical thinking. It gets us thinking about our own thinking, especially about how often it goes wrong. 1/

I generally don't like word riddles of the "What is it?" form because I think the answers are often too much of a stretch. But I do like this one: What gets wetter the more it dries? What are your favourite riddles?

What online critical thinking courses does Critikid have for kids and teens?👇

Thinking critically doesn't just mean questioning what "they" tell us is true. It also means questioning our own beliefs and assumptions - and that's the hard part.

Teach your kids that changing your mind when you find out you were wrong is not a weakness, but a superpower! critikid.com/milos-mind-r...

Can LLMs strengthen students' critical thinking skills if we teach them to use it wisely? www.altedaustin.com/blog/why-cri...

Here's a free guide to six formal fallacies (syllogistic fallacies). critikid.com/formal-falla...

I'm as bad as Netflix. I hate it when Netflix has a gap of years between seasons of a show. And yet, it's been about a year and a half since I released Fallacy Detectors Part 1. To make things worse, it ended with a cliffhanger.

Free logic puzzle cards! critikid.com/puzzles

This puzzle can be solved in a slow and difficult way, or almost instantly once you get that "aha" moment: Two boys on bicycles 20 miles apart began racing directly toward each other. (continued)

This Facebook comment made me realize I am not promoting my website enough on social media, because that's exactly what the site is for! critikid.com/resources

I added pictures to Critikid's Logical Fallacy Handbook! critikid.com/logical-fall...

Do you have any questions about me or critikid.com?

Do you think any "logical fallacies" are unfairly labelled as fallacies? Which ones, and why?

People often ask me, "Why did you decide to teach critical thinking to kids?" or "Why did you start Critikid?" I usually give a generic answer. But there is actually a story behind it. It started in my Grade 8 science class at an international school in Chiang Mai, Thailand. 1/

"Don't drink milk. It's for baby cows." It is helpful to ask questions before trying to refute someone’s claim. Among other reasons, it can save time and energy because it ensures that you’re not responding to an argument that you haven’t properly understood. 1/3

Pseudoscience is a system of explanations, methods, and assumptions that pose as science but don’t follow core scientific principles like testability and falsifiability. 👇

A few people asked if they could buy Milo's Mind outside of Amazon - and you finally can! Paperback and eBook versions are still only available on Amazon. www.lulu.com/shop/stephan...

Will be sharing a puzzle in my newsletter today! It can be very difficult or very easy, depending on how you approach solving it. critikid.com/newsletter

I love puzzles that seem tricky at first but turn out to be very easy once you get that "aha" moment. Here's an example by Martin Gardner. What is the length of the dotted line?

Working on my YouTube channel. Subscribe for more critical thinking content! www.youtube.com/@critikidvid

New media literacy interview! @drkristynsommer.bsky.social spoke about what caregivers should look for in an educational platform, why children sometimes trust robots more than humans, AI use in the classroom, and more. critikid.com/ed-tech

I was so happy to discover this free "Protect Kids Online" resource library. It teaches caregivers how to protect children from predators in online games and on social media. Thought some of you would find it helpful! sekuva.mykajabi.com/get-your-int...

Can you solve the red queen puzzle?

Tried one of those online AI detectors ("Sidekicker") with my Master's thesis that I wrote in 2014.

This episode of the By Kids for Kids Storytime podcast teaches kids about the slippery slope fallacy! Listen to the end to catch my guest appearance. Also available on Spotify and YouTube. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

As a teenager, Fareedah Shaheed was targeted by an online predator who gained her trust. She almost ran off with him, but a last‑minute conversation with her mother saved her. 👇

This TikTok commenter nicely summed up what typically happens when I post tricky puzzles. Step 4 is the whole point!

Check out my first book! Learn how critical thinking, curiosity, and the courage to rethink what you believe can turn you into a real-life superhero. For ages 6 and up.

The By Kids, For Kids Story Time podcast is doing a series on logical fallacies—and they asked me to be a guest expert! Here’s the first episode. I’ll be featured in the next three as well. open.spotify.com/episode/5tYT...

Attention homeschooling parents! Critikid has just released a 16-week, half-credit homeschool course to prepare teens (grades 8-12) to think critically about what they see online. critikid.com/bundles/crit...

On my newest IG reel, one person says I am catering to man-haters, while another says I am catering to "guys who just want to own the libs." It seems I have created a sort of Rorschach reel, which people who crave outrage can misinterpret in whichever way will trigger them most.

Google was so close to getting the AI overview of my book right...

New review for "Milo's Mind!"

I asked information systems professor Dr. Kiron Ravindran: In the age of AI, how can we keep students practicing the slow, messy thinking that builds real skill without banning chatbots altogether? 1/

"Milo's Mind" got its first review on Amazon!

Meet the illustrator of "Milo's Mind" - my mother, Hanne-Lise Simoes. She and I live an ocean apart, but we reunited for a trip in Serbia. Here we are at a winery that had amazing food and views.

Spot the fallacy/fallacies: "Terrifying: 83.3% of ChatGPT users couldn't quote from essays they wrote moments earlier. AI use is destroying your ability to think."