The Filter

The Filter Your critical thinking gym
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Propaganda Techniques
IPA Classical
Ad hominem Ad nauseam Appeal to fear Appeal to authority Bandwagon Big lie Black-and-white fallacy Glittering generalities Name-calling Transfer Testimonial Plain folks
Emotional & Identity
Fear-mongering Scapegoating Dehumanization Appeal to prejudice Classical conditioning Beautiful people Flag-waving Stereotyping
Evidence & Logic Distortion
Cognitive dissonance exploitation Whataboutism Straw man Cherry-picking False urgency Gish gallop Guilt by association Half-truth Disinformation
Language & Framing
Loaded language Euphemism & doublespeak Diversion / red herring
Modern & Structural
Manufactured consensus Firehose of falsehood Algorithmic bias Agenda-setting Astroturfing Information overload Demoralization Divide and rule Flak Labeling
Psychology-derived
Future faking Institutional gaslighting Love bombing Cult of personality See the full hub →
Cognitive Biases
Self & Identity
Confirmation bias Self-serving bias In-group bias Dunning-Kruger effect Belief perseverance Backfire effect Overconfidence bias Barnum effect Naive realism Cognitive dissonance
Social & Conformity
Bandwagon effect Authority bias Social desirability bias Outgroup homogeneity effect Just-world hypothesis Bystander effect Fundamental attribution error Availability cascade False consensus effect
Memory & Perception
Illusory truth effect Availability heuristic Primacy-recency effect Rosy retrospection Misinformation effect Hindsight bias Salience bias Mere exposure effect
Judgment & Decision-Making
Anchoring bias Sunk cost fallacy Framing effect Representativeness heuristic Planning fallacy Survivorship bias Motivated reasoning Base rate neglect Gambler's fallacy
Threat & Risk
Negativity bias Optimism bias Zero-risk bias Probability neglect Affect heuristic Hyperbolic discounting Illusion of control Loss aversion
Meaning & Pattern
Apophenia / patternicity Narrative bias Proportionality bias Teleological thinking Intentionality bias Halo-Horns effect Illusory correlation See the full hub →
The Commandments Join the Club
THE FILTER CATCHES WHAT YOUR GUT MISSES.   THE FILTER CATCHES WHAT YOUR GUT MISSES.   THE FILTER CATCHES WHAT YOUR GUT MISSES.   THE FILTER CATCHES WHAT YOUR GUT MISSES.   THE FILTER CATCHES WHAT YOUR GUT MISSES.   THE FILTER CATCHES WHAT YOUR GUT MISSES.   THE FILTER CATCHES WHAT YOUR GUT MISSES.   THE FILTER CATCHES WHAT YOUR GUT MISSES.
IDENTIFY. SCRUTINIZE. VERIFY.   IDENTIFY. SCRUTINIZE. VERIFY.   IDENTIFY. SCRUTINIZE. VERIFY.   IDENTIFY. SCRUTINIZE. VERIFY.   IDENTIFY. SCRUTINIZE. VERIFY.   IDENTIFY. SCRUTINIZE. VERIFY.   IDENTIFY. SCRUTINIZE. VERIFY.   IDENTIFY. SCRUTINIZE. VERIFY.
PUMP UP YOUR CRITICAL THINKING MUSCLE.   PUMP UP YOUR CRITICAL THINKING MUSCLE.   PUMP UP YOUR CRITICAL THINKING MUSCLE.   PUMP UP YOUR CRITICAL THINKING MUSCLE.   PUMP UP YOUR CRITICAL THINKING MUSCLE.   PUMP UP YOUR CRITICAL THINKING MUSCLE.   PUMP UP YOUR CRITICAL THINKING MUSCLE.   PUMP UP YOUR CRITICAL THINKING MUSCLE.
THE FILTER
Your critical thinking gym

Train your brain to spot propaganda techniques. Know exactly how you're being manipulated, so you can act based on facts, not feelings.

You CAN train your critical thinking.

PROPAGANDA DEEPFAKES SPIN FEAR BIAS spot the technique check the source question the bias verify the facts FACT-BASED OPINION
Two things are working on you. We name both.

Manipulation needs two ingredients: a technique aimed at you, and a shortcut in your own thinking for that technique to land on. The Filter trains you to spot both.

Track 01 // Weapons

Propaganda techniques

The tools used on you, named and broken down: how they work, why they get built, and the exact move that gives them away.

Track 02 // Vulnerabilities

Cognitive biases

The wiring the techniques exploit. Your brain isn't broken, it's just fast. Learn where fast thinking quietly overrides the facts.

Why this matters more this year than last

Producing a convincing fake message used to take a team, a budget, and time. Now it takes a prompt. The cost of trying to shape what you believe has dropped faster than most people's ability to catch it has improved.

Nobody is coming to teach this in a required class before your first election. So The Filter is built to be the thing you go to on your own, on your schedule, in language that respects your time.

Today, too, you have been manipulated.
The question is: have you noticed it?

The theory: the techniques & biases repo, structured

Every entry works the same way, whether it's a technique or a bias. No academic language.
No filler. If a section has nothing real to say, we leave it out instead of padding it

01

How it actually works

The mechanism, in plain language, plus the exact conditions that let it succeed.

02

Real, verified examples

Sourced across decades and across the political spectrum. No cherry-picking one side.

03

A catch-it score

How hard this is to spot, even after you already know it exists. Some tricks fool you once. Some fool you every time.

04

Counter-moves

What you can actually do about it, at your level, at the level of who's talking to you, and at the level of the system.

Coming soon The practice: the gym to train your critical thinking muscle

We're a work in progress. The theory section is ready for you to read right now. The fun part, the part where you actually train the reflex, needs a little more time.

01

Beginner-friendly

Reading and clicking are the only prerequisites. Work through the path and you've earned a black belt in critical thinking.

02

Fun by design

We compete with Instagram and TikTok for your attention, and we're critical enough thinkers to know that means this has to be genuinely fun, not just good for you.

03

Plain language

Simple enough for anyone to follow. Ad hominem and ad nauseam are the only two terms we couldn't translate away.

04

Critical thinking pledge

More critical thinkers makes the world a better place for everyone, us included. Call it our favorite selfish motive.

Want in? Subscribe and we'll let you know the moment it's live. Forever free.

Who uses propaganda techniques on you?
And what you get for catching it

Same techniques, same biases. Used by different agents, for different purposes.

How they use it
    What catching it gets you

      You can't unlearn a pattern
      once you've actually seen it.
      Start seeing them.

      Free account. No ads pretending to be content. Just the techniques, the biases, and the training to catch both.