Critical Thinking
Philosophers, mental models, and thinking traps — explained for kids.
Socrates
Socrates taught by asking questions instead of giving answers. He believed that good questions help us think better.
Read →Plato
Plato believed that everything we see is just an imperfect copy of a perfect version that exists in the world of ideas.
Read →Aristotle
Aristotle taught that the best way is usually in the middle - not too much and not too little. Courage is between cowardice and recklessness.
Read →Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius was a Roman Emperor who taught that we should focus on our own thoughts and actions, not worry about things we can't control.
Read →René Descartes
Descartes tried to doubt everything he could, and found one thing he couldn't doubt: that he was thinking! If he's thinking, he must exist.
Read →Immanuel Kant
Kant said: Before you do something, ask yourself "What if everyone did this?" If that would be bad, don't do it.
Read →John Stuart Mill
Mill taught that the right choice is the one that creates the most happiness for the most people. But quality of happiness matters too.
Read →Confirmation Bias
Looking for proof you're right, instead of checking if you're wrong
Read →Sunk Cost Fallacy
The "I already started so I have to finish" trap
Read →Availability Heuristic
Thinking things are common just because they're easy to remember
Read →Dunning-Kruger Effect
Thinking you're an expert after learning just a little bit
Read →Survivorship Bias
Forgetting about all the people who tried and failed
Read →The Cookie Jar
If you take a cookie when no one is watching and no one finds out, is it still wrong?
Read →Plato's Cave
Imagine prisoners in a cave who can only see shadows on the wall. They think shadows are reality. One prisoner escapes and sees the real world. When they…
Read →Ship of Theseus
A ship has every single plank replaced, one by one, over many years. Is it still the same ship? What if someone rebuilds a ship from all the old planks -…
Read →The Trolley Problem
A runaway trolley is heading toward 5 people who will die. You can pull a lever to divert it to a track with 1 person who will die. What do you do?
Read →The Experience Machine
Scientists create a machine that can give you any experience you want - you'd feel like you're living your dream life. But it's all fake - you're…
Read →First Principles Thinking
Break complex problems down to fundamental truths
Read →Circle of Competence
Know what you know and what you don't know
Read →Second-Order Thinking
Think beyond the first consequence - what happens next?
Read →Inversion
Think backwards - instead of how to succeed, think how to fail
Read →Compound Effects
Small consistent actions multiply over time
Read →Opportunity Cost
Every choice means saying no to something else
Read →