Stories
Stories
Brain Bugs show up in myths, fairy tales, detective stories, and classic novels because stories make hidden reasoning easier to see.
Browse by Story Source
Myths & Legends
Pride, shortcuts, and false certainty show up clearly in heroes, tricksters, and warnings from old tales.
Fairy Tales
Fairy tales turn bad judgment into simple scenes that are easy to remember.
Shakespeare
Shakespeare gives strong examples of persuasion, misreading motives, and tragic overconfidence.
Classic Novels
Longer novels show how bias grows over time and shapes whole decisions.
Detective Fiction
Mystery stories make pattern mistakes and false causes especially easy to study.
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Strange worlds let familiar thinking traps stand out in bold form.
Story Guides
Story Source Guide
Classic Novels
Longer novels let Brain Bugs build slowly through status, habits, pride, and repeated bad choices.
Story Source Guide
Detective Fiction
Mystery stories are perfect for teaching weak clues, false causes, overconfidence, and the risk of locking onto one theory too early.
Story Source Guide
Fairy Tales
Fairy tales shrink big thinking mistakes into short scenes that are easy to spot and hard to forget.
Story Source Guide
Myths & Legends
Myths make pride, panic, false certainty, and simple cause-and-effect stories easy to see.
Story Source Guide
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Strange worlds make familiar thinking traps easier to notice because the pressure gets turned up and simplified.
Story Source Guide
Shakespeare
Shakespeare is full of pressure, misreading, dramatic language, and bad calls made in public.
Browse by Error
Actor-Observer Bias
My Actions Need Context, But Yours Reveal Character
People Mistakes
When I am late, I blame traffic. When you are late, I say you are irresponsible.
Learn this bugAd Hominem
Attacking the Person
Argument Mistakes
A student says the new research source is useful. Another student replies, “Why would we trust you? You never do your part.” The source i...
Learn this bugAffect Heuristic
If It Feels Good Or Bad, I Judge Fast
Fast Rules of Thumb
A shiny product demo feels exciting, so the team assumes the app must be low risk and high value.
Learn this bugAnchoring Bias
Stuck On The First Number
Brain Shortcuts that Tilt Judgment
A store marks a jacket at a very high original price and then shows a sale price. The sale feels great because the first number still fra...
Learn this bugAppeal to Authority
A Famous Person Said It
Argument Mistakes
A student says an energy drink must improve focus because a famous athlete promotes it. The class never looks at the actual research.
Learn this bugAppeal to Emotion
Feelings Used As Proof
Persuasion Tricks
A speaker says everyone must support a policy right now because terrible consequences will happen, but gives almost no evidence for the p...
Learn this bugFeatured Story Examples
Pride and Prejudice
My Actions Need Context, But Yours Reveal Character
Characters often judge others' actions by personality while giving themselves richer context.
Self and other get explained by different rules.
Go to the full lessonThe Emperor's New Clothes
Attacking the Person
People support the false story about the emperor's clothes because nobody wants to look foolish or low status.
The pressure is social, and anyone who questions the claim is treated as the problem instead of the claim being tested.
Go to the full lessonJulius Caesar
If It Feels Good Or Bad, I Judge Fast
Public emotion shapes judgments about danger, loyalty, and what actions feel justified.
Feeling steers the crowd faster than evidence does.
Go to the full lessonThe Merchant of Venice
Stuck On The First Number
The bond terms create a hard frame that shapes later judgment and negotiation.
The first deal structure keeps pulling the later conversation.
Go to the full lesson