Mark Elliott

Your brain is tricking you. Let’s find out how.

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About the Author

Mark was born in Bristol, in a family where everyone analyzed something: his mother was a forensic psychologist, his father a mathematician. From an early age, he wanted to understand why people believe nonsense, argue endlessly online, and ignore plain facts. At just twelve, he was already collecting alarming newspaper headlines, trying to figure out why they had such power over people’s perception.

After earning a degree in cognitive psychology, he joined a research center to study how the news cycle shapes our thinking. He quickly realized that academic papers are only read by fellow scientists – while outside the lab, the world was drowning in misinformation. That’s how his blog was born: a place where he could explain how the brain reacts under the pressure of overload, fakes, and algorithms.

Mark never writes «in a vacuum.» He tells personal stories – like the time he fell for a fake himself, or when he tested friends to see how confirmation bias works. His style became instantly recognizable: part analysis, part confession, every post a small cognitive investigation.

Today, he continues his experiments, slipping fake news to friends, collecting their reactions, and sharing his insights. Mark believes that once we learn to spot the hidden traps of thinking, we become freer. And freedom, he says, begins with a single question: «Why did I believe that?»


Writing Style

Mark writes like a surgeon, slicing through our everyday illusions with such precision you don’t even have time to feel offended. He always begins with something familiar: a viral TikTok, a tabloid’s screaming headline, or even one of his own naive mistakes. Step by step, he guides the reader toward a scientific explanation of why things aren’t what they seem. But instead of preaching, he weaves in personal stories, a touch of self-irony, and that trademark twist at the end: «You’ve been fooled. But now you know how it really works – and why that’s awesome.» His writing isn’t a lecture; it’s a detective story where every reader becomes a partner in the reveal.


Visual Style

Clear, analytical visuals: infographics of cognitive biases, charts of social trends, and diagrams of manipulation tactics – blended with real-life scenes. Every topic is explained with clarity, balancing solid facts with personal stories.

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Publications

Fresh from the Blog

The latest work this author has been exploring.

Read the Blog

How Scientists Learned to Edit DNA (and Why We Still Don’t Know What to Do With It)

CRISPR technology allows us to edit genes like text in Word, but every «correction» could change not just one person, but all of humanity forever.

Psychology & Society Ethics

Why You Walk By: How the Crowd Turns Off Our Conscience

Do you think you’d help someone in trouble? Science knows why, in a crowd, you’ll most likely walk right past – and it doesn’t make you a bad person.

Psychology & Society Social Psychology

How We Unlearned Reading (And Why It's a Catastrophe)

We're investigating why humanity is ditching text for video at a breakneck pace – and what this means for our brains and the future of civilization as we know it.

Psychology & Society Cognitive Abilities

How Apple Tricks Us into Paying More for Status (and Why a Cheap iPhone Would Kill Android)

Let’s unpack why the iPhone’s steep price tag isn’t a flaw but Apple’s sharpest marketing tool – and what would really happen if those prices suddenly dropped.

Psychology & Society Marketing

Why British Humor Feels So Strange (and What That Reveals About Our Brain)

Breaking down the cognitive mechanisms that keep us from understanding humor across cultures – and why our brain rejects foreign jokes.

Psychology & Society Culture

How Your Brain Makes You Choose Between Darwin and God (Spoiler: It Doesn’t)

Breaking down the cognitive traps that turn science and religion into sworn enemies, even though the conflict exists only in our heads.

Psychology & Society Sociology

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