Mindware: Critical Thinking for the Information Age

This module introduces the course and discusses how individuals and cultures can make themselves smarter, covering the new set of skills required for the Information Age.

This module covers basic concepts of statistics and probability, including variable, normal distribution, standard deviation, correlation, reliability, validity, and effect size.

This module discusses how to think about events that can be counted, the concept of error variance, and why it's usually a mistake to interview job applicants.

This module covers how to estimate the degree of association between variables, the nature of illusory correlations, and concepts like confounded variables and self-selection error.

This module explains why experiments provide better evidence about causality than correlations, how to conduct experiments in various settings, and the concept of artifacts in experimental design.

This module covers systematic errors in predicting the future, regression to the mean, and the importance of base rates in estimating probabilities of specific events.

This module discusses how our understanding of the world is influenced by schemas, and covers various cognitive biases including the representativeness heuristic and availability heuristic.

This module covers how to conduct a cost-benefit analysis, avoid sunk cost fallacy, and understand the impact of loss aversion on decision-making.

This module covers inductive and deductive logic, syllogisms, conditional reasoning, and the importance of context in analyzing real-world problems.

This module provides concluding thoughts on the course content.