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The Anatomy of a Bad Argument

19 Sep 2025

Ever find yourself in a heated argument about climate change, vaccines, or whether the moon landing was “just Hollywood propaganda”? Suddenly, you’re not debating facts, you’re dodging YouTube...

Magic, Critical Thinking and UFOs

29 Aug 2025

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette....

Best of Times, Worst of Times

11 Jun 2025

Most of us are living the good life. There is no doubt that we are living longer and in greater comfort than ever before, but at a price. We fly through the air with ease, but that air is becoming...

About Those Angry Emails

9 Feb 2024

“When an immovable fact meets an unstoppable feeling.” This is the title of a newsletter article from Liz Neeley, a science communicator who studied marine biology. In a mere eight words—which play...

Doing Your Own Research a Little Bit Better

14 Apr 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic helped popularize a hair-raising phrase: “do your own research.” Portrayed as a call for self-empowerment, it became the tell-tale sign of someone who didn’t trust public...

The Funhouse Mirror of Risk Perception

9 Jul 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated many preexisting problems. One of them is how to vet the avalanche of information flowing down at us on a daily basis. Another is how to properly assess the risks...

Tips for Better Thinking: We Will Lose Control

2 Dec 2020

Public health measures during a pandemic (like lockdowns and mask mandates) can make some people uneasy. One argument that seems to underlie this anxiety is “masks now, government surveillance via...

Tips for Better Thinking: It Doesn’t Always Get Published

20 Oct 2020

Thinking clearly is not just about recognizing the ways in which our brain misbehaves. Sometimes, it’s about realizing that the information we find in the world is incomplete. We all know that...

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