The Critical Thinker

Measuring Something Doesn’t Make It Important

The McNamara fallacy

Oct 6 • Ali Almossawi

8

5

5

September 2026

Bad Teeth

How teeth shape the way we feel about people

Sep 17 • Ali Almossawi

7

1

3

August 2026

Counterfactual Thinking

Plus, Aristotle’s Peripatetic School

Aug 29 • Ali Almossawi

9

1

4

Understanding is Built, Not Sent

Plus a map of the cafes I write from

Aug 9 • Ali Almossawi

13

3

July 2026

Field Notes on Thinking Clearly

For paid subscribers

Jul 17 • Ali Almossawi

1

1

It Was Obvious England Would Lose to Argentina

Plus, Field Notes on Thinking Clearly—a keepsake for paid subscribers

Jul 16 • Ali Almossawi

10

5

2

Grice’s Maxims

The case for direct communication

Jul 2 • Ali Almossawi

10

9

2

June 2026

The Distractions We're Remembered By

Daydreaming, boredom, and creative breakthroughs

Jun 17 • Ali Almossawi

8

3

1

May 2026

Pictures of Facts

The Rashomon effect; edited reels in Glass Onion, Memento, and Rashomon

May 29 • Ali Almossawi

16

4

April 2026

The Handmade Things We Value

Reflections from a Kyoto shop

Apr 29 • Ali Almossawi

16

2

2

March 2026

On Not Knowing What We Know

Plus, the Big Five US publishers over time

Mar 31 • Ali Almossawi

14

2

1

You Must Leave the Cave to See the Cave

In Book 7 of Plato’s Republic, prisoners are chained inside a cave, forced since childhood to stare at a wall. Behind them, a fire casts shadows of…

Mar 5 • Ali Almossawi

23

3

2