I have published the beta version of a free book on how to think critically about the news and conspiracy theories, called Sharpen Your Axe. I'm going to try and summarize its message in just 20 tweets, with links to my blog on Substack. 1/20 sharpenyouraxe.substack.com/p/sharpen-your… [Mega-thread] Cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable feeling we all feel when we are faced with information that contradicts our identities. Triggering it means you automatically lose an online debate, even if you are right and the other person is wrong. 2/20 sharpenyouraxe.substack.com/p/emotions-fir…

What lesssons will people who are interested in politics draw from the COVID-19 crisis? People on the left will say that every society needs a well-funded public healthcare system... and they'll be right! THREAD 1/x Fiscal conservatives will point out that governments that run budget surpluses most of the time are better able to cope with unexpected crises... and they'll be right! 2/x

Here is a free history lesson for everyone on lockdown. The man in the picture is Henry Burton, an English thinker. The state cut off his ears in 1637. His crime? Innovation. Yes, innovation. It used to be illegal pretty much everywhere in the world. 1/x The first country to break the mold was the Netherlands during Burton's lifetime. It became a global trading centre during the Eighty Years' War from 1568 to 1648. By the end of that war, it had won its independence from Spain and began to encourage free innovation. 2/x

My modest criticisms of populist nationalism in Catalonia have met with howls of indignation from supporters on Twitter. While many of them are well-meaning and passionate, the level of understanding of political theory has been underwhelming, to put it mildly. THREAD 1/12 If you support Catalan separatism and want to explore the opposite point of view, Orwell's criticism of nationalism is a good place to start: orwell.ru/library/essays… He says that the nationalist fallacy involves generalizing and then treating collectives as individuals. 2/12

A foreign defender of Catalan separatism said this morning that the movement has absolutely nothing to do with Brexit. I disagree. Off the top of my head, I see at least five major similarities. THREAD 1 First of all, the ideology driving both movements is populist nationalism. Populism is the idea that a collective has a will and that an individual politician is its true voice. Anyone who disagrees is automatically a traitor. For more information, see Müller's book On Populism 2

The Catalan nationalists are planning some fun and games for Friday 21st December. Please see this long THREAD for a guide for foreign media to avoid being playing for a fool. (1) Catalonia is a deeply divided society. Any sentence that begins with the words “The Catalans…” is very likely to be misleading.