Glossary

The process of managing and modifying emotional responses. Affect regulation includes strategies for controlling the intensity, duration, and expression of emotions.

An immediate, overwhelming emotional response disproportionate to the stimulus. The amygdala (emotional processing center) overrides the prefrontal cortex (rational thinking), leading to reactive rather than responsive behavior.

The treatment of human attention as a scarce commodity that can be captured, traded, and monetized. In the attention economy, platforms and content creators compete for user attention.

A systematic pattern of deviation from rational judgment. Cognitive biases are mental shortcuts that helped our ancestors survive but can lead to poor decisions in modern contexts, especially when exploited by manipulators.

Professional activity performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that pushes cognitive capabilities to their limit. Deep work creates new value and is hard to replicate.

A stimulus that reliably produces a strong emotional response. Triggers are often connected to past experiences, identity, values, or psychological vulnerabilities.

Practices that maintain the accuracy and reliability of one's beliefs. Epistemic hygiene includes source evaluation, bias awareness, and regular belief auditing.

A state of intellectual isolation resulting from personalized algorithms that show users content aligned with their existing beliefs, limiting exposure to diverse perspectives.

Recognition of the limits of one's knowledge and the fallibility of one's beliefs. Intellectual humility involves openness to new information and willingness to revise beliefs based on evidence.

The ability to think about your own thinking processes. Metacognition involves being aware of and reflecting on your cognitive operations, including how you perceive, learn, remember, and make decisions.

The process of building resistance to manipulative narratives through controlled exposure and analysis. Like medical inoculation, it works by encountering weakened versions to build defenses.

Systematic communication intended to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behavior to achieve responses that further the desired intent of the propagandist.

The use of psychological manipulation to trick people into making security mistakes or giving away sensitive information. Social engineering exploits human psychology rather than technical vulnerabilities.

The psychological tendency to assume that the actions or beliefs of others reflect correct behavior. Social proof is a heuristic that helps in uncertainty but can be manufactured and exploited.

Fast, automatic, intuitive thinking that operates without conscious effort. System 1 generates impressions, feelings, and inclinations that often become the basis for beliefs and choices.

Slow, deliberate, analytical thinking that requires conscious effort. System 2 handles complex calculations, careful evaluation of arguments, and effortful reasoning.