Mental Traps
Investigations into situations where flawed human memory or entrenched group belief actively distorts the verifiable facts. We look closely at how rigid institutional assumptions override solid evidence, shaping both the official record and the subsequent response.
The Contagion of Certainty – Folie à Deux and the Spread of Shared Psychosis
Folie à Deux. When one person’s conviction infects another. From asylums to online echo chambers, we investigate how shared psychosis happens, who is at risk, and what remains unexplained.
The Connectivity Trap – When Psychology Misreads Mental Strength
Recent research reveals people experiencing frequent déjà vu and premonitions tend to be more creative and resilient, contradicting clinical assumptions about such phenomena.
How the Pollock Twins Re-enacted a Family’s Unfinished Grief
An evidence-focused investigation into the Pollock twins. Are birthmarks and childhood memory anomalies the result of trauma, suggestion, or something unexplained? Explore what the evidence reveals and what remains uncertain.
The Bliss Attractor – Where Artificial Minds Seek Transcendence
What happens when AI minds explore reality together? Recent evidence suggests they spiral into states resembling digital transcendence, complete with recursive gratitude and spiritual symbolism.
Powell, Orwell, and the Politics of Prophetic Anxiety
Powell and Orwell shaped how we talk about race, control, and truth. This investigation traces how their warnings became tools in modern political conflict.
Anechoic Chamber Safety – Sensory Deprivation and Institutional Duty of Care
While clinical data proves short-term sensory deprivation triggers psychological distress, our investigation reveals a persistent administrative blind spot where soundproof chambers are audited purely for physical safety, ignoring severe psychological hazards.
The Probability Sense – Does the Brain Compute Probabilities?
Psychophysics shows neat successes in cue combination and movement control. Behavioural records also show base-rate neglect and step-hold updates. We map the contradiction and set out tests that could link beliefs to neural mechanisms without stretching a modelling language.
The Causality Trap – Is Cause and Effect Just a Habit of Mind?
Evidence from philosophy, linguistics, and Nobel Prize-winning physics suggests our belief in cause and effect may be a cognitive habit, not a law of nature. This investigation examines the proof that challenges our most fundamental assumption about reality.
The Expertise Trap – Why Confident Error Beats Cautious Expertise
Our investigation into the Expertise Trap examines why those who know the least often sound the most certain, while genuine experts hedge their words. We trace the psychological roots of this paradox and its high-stakes consequences in the real world.
The Great Devon Mystery – What Did They Really See in the Snow?
In February 1855, Devon (UK) woke to neat, hoof-like marks in fresh snow. Local reports contradicted one another. The national press imposed a single picture. We test the record and find a composite of animals, weather, and human theatre.