Skip to Main Content
Cranky Uncle
  • Home
  • Book
  • Game
  • Educators
  • Blog
  • Media
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Home
  • Book
  • Game
  • Educators
  • Blog
  • Media
  • Contact
  • Donate

Author Archives: John Cook

Anchoring to downplay COVID deaths: Critical Thinking About COVID
17 Jul 2020

Anchoring to downplay COVID deaths: Critical Thinking About COVID

by John Cook | posted in: Uncategorized | 0

My eighth Critical Thinking about COVID video explores how anchoring is used to downplay COVID deaths. Anchoring is people’s tendency to rely on the first piece of information they learn, and make judgements in relation to it. The government uses an extreme … Continued

Cranky Uncle cartoons available as PPT slides
15 Jul 2020

Cranky Uncle cartoons available as PPT slides

by John Cook | posted in: Uncategorized | 8

Since finishing the Cranky Uncle vs. Climate Change book, I’ve frequently dipped into that 176-page clip-art library, reshaping the cartoons to fit the 1920 x 1080 pixel format for Powerpoint presentations. I’ve also adapted many of the cartoons for the … Continued

COVID Testing & Object Permanence: Critical Thinking About COVID
2 Jul 2020

COVID Testing & Object Permanence: Critical Thinking About COVID

by John Cook | posted in: Uncategorized | 2

My sixth Critical Thinking about COVID video explores COVID testing and object permanence. Babies lack object permanence. When they can’t see something, they think it doesn’t exist. By our first birthday, we realize even when you not directly observe something, it still … Continued

Mask wearing & drink driving: a parallel argument
26 Jun 2020

Mask wearing & drink driving: a parallel argument

by John Cook | posted in: Uncategorized | 0

Yesterday, I published a video examining the fallacy in arguing that mask wearing violates people’s freedom. Claiming we don’t have to wear masks focuses on individual rights while ignoring our responsibilities. Being a member of a free society means respecting … Continued

Critical Thinking About COVID: Mask wearing rights and responsibilities
25 Jun 2020

Critical Thinking About COVID: Mask wearing rights and responsibilities

by John Cook | posted in: Uncategorized | 0

My fifth Critical Thinking about COVID video explores how refusing to wear a mask isn’t an expression of freedom. It violates the rights of others by putting them in unnecessary danger. And it reduces society’s options to reopen safely. Check out the full … Continued

Critical Thinking About COVID: Pattern Detection and the 5G Conspiracy Theory
18 Jun 2020

Critical Thinking About COVID: Pattern Detection and the 5G Conspiracy Theory

by John Cook | posted in: Uncategorized | 3

My fourth Critical Thinking about COVID video examines the tendency towards pattern detection found in conspiracy theories. Check out the full list of Critical Thinking About COVID videos on YouTube. Thanks to Prof. Melanie Trecek-King, Dr. Lori Byron, Dr. Robert Byron, and Dr. … Continued

Critical Thinking About COVID: False analogies about cupcakes and obesity
9 Jun 2020

Critical Thinking About COVID: False analogies about cupcakes and obesity

by John Cook | posted in: Uncategorized | 0

My third Critical Thinking about COVID video examines the false analogy fallacy, also known as a faulty analogy or weak analogy. A false analogy assumes wrongly that because two things are similar in one way, they’re also similar in some other way. … Continued

Which counters misinformation better: facts or logic?
4 Jun 2020

Which counters misinformation better: facts or logic?

by John Cook | posted in: Uncategorized | 6

What’s more effective in countering misinformation – facts of logic? Along with Emily Vraga, Sojung Kim and Leticia Bode, we’ve just published a new study, Testing the Effectiveness of Correction Placement and Type on Instagram, which explores this question. If … Continued

Critical Thinking About COVID: False choice between Economy and Health
1 Jun 2020

Critical Thinking About COVID: False choice between Economy and Health

by John Cook | posted in: Uncategorized | 0

My second Critical Thinking about COVID video looks at the false choice fallacy – specifically, the false choice between economic health and public health. This video series identifies rhetorical techniques and logical fallacies in COVID misinformation, neutralizing dangerous myths while … Continued

Critical thinking about COVID: new video series
26 May 2020

Critical thinking about COVID: new video series

by John Cook | posted in: Uncategorized | 1

Over the past few months, I’ve been deep-diving into COVID misinformation. At this point, the typical joke I’d make is I’m doing this so you don’t have to but I don’t think any of us can avoid the sheer flood … Continued

Posts pagination

« 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 »


Join the Cranky Club
Subscribe for weekly Cranky news:

Recent Posts

  • Co-designing the Cranky Uncle Vaccine game in East Africa
  • Cranky Uncle can now be played in Turkish as the 9th language!
  • Cranky Uncle getting ever more multi-lingual with Spanish and Portuguese added!
  • The Science of Cranky Uncle Part 2: Inoculation Theory
  • The Science of Cranky Uncle Part 1: Why We Can’t Ignore Misinformation

John Cook is a senior research fellow at the Melbourne Centre for Behaviour Change at the University of Melbourne.

Skeptical Science

Denial101x

About

Contact

Reviews

Facebook
Twitter

© 2025 Cranky Uncle - WordPress Theme by Kadence WP