Canada Pulse

In-group/Out-group framing

AI detected as: Dehumanizing Metaphor And Biological Framing

Leveraging your tendency to automatically trust information from "our people" and distrust outsiders. Once groups are established, people apply different standards of evidence depending on who is speaking.

Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979); Cialdini's Unity principle (2016)

Appeal to authority

AI detected as: False Authority And Inversion Of Governance

Citing an expert or institution to support a claim, substituting their credibility for evidence you can evaluate yourself. Legitimate when the authority is relevant; manipulative when they aren't qualified or when the citation is vague.

Argumentum ad verecundiam (Locke, 1690); Cialdini's Authority principle (1984)

Pseudo-documentary Dramatization

This technique was detected by AI but doesn't yet map to our curated glossary. We're tracking its usage patterns.

Pseudo-journalistic Fabrication Of A Future Catastrophe Presented As Present-day Reality.

This technique was detected by AI but doesn't yet map to our curated glossary. We're tracking its usage patterns.

Appeal to authority

AI detected as: Authority Bias Anchoring

Citing an expert or institution to support a claim, substituting their credibility for evidence you can evaluate yourself. Legitimate when the authority is relevant; manipulative when they aren't qualified or when the citation is vague.

Argumentum ad verecundiam (Locke, 1690); Cialdini's Authority principle (1984)

In-group/Out-group framing

AI detected as: Pseudofactual Future-framing

Leveraging your tendency to automatically trust information from "our people" and distrust outsiders. Once groups are established, people apply different standards of evidence depending on who is speaking.

Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979); Cialdini's Unity principle (2016)

False Dilemma / Catastrophization

This technique was detected by AI but doesn't yet map to our curated glossary. We're tracking its usage patterns.

Fear appeal

AI detected as: Fear-based Metaphorical Framing

Presenting a vivid threat and then offering a specific action as the way to avoid it. Always structured as: "Something terrible will happen unless you do X." Most effective when the threat feels personal and the action feels achievable.

Witte's Extended Parallel Process Model (1992)

Us vs. Them

AI detected as: Dehumanizing Metaphorical Framing

Dividing the world into two camps — people like us (good, trustworthy) and people not like us (dangerous, wrong). It exploits a deep human tendency to favor our own group. Once you accept the division, information from "them" gets automatically discounted.

Tajfel's Social Identity Theory (1979); Minimal Group Paradigm

Us vs. Them

AI detected as: Pathologizing Dissent

Dividing the world into two camps — people like us (good, trustworthy) and people not like us (dangerous, wrong). It exploits a deep human tendency to favor our own group. Once you accept the division, information from "them" gets automatically discounted.

Tajfel's Social Identity Theory (1979); Minimal Group Paradigm

Predictive-fact-patterning

This technique was detected by AI but doesn't yet map to our curated glossary. We're tracking its usage patterns.

In-group/Out-group framing

Leveraging your tendency to automatically trust information from "our people" and distrust outsiders. Once groups are established, people apply different standards of evidence depending on who is speaking.

Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979); Cialdini's Unity principle (2016)

Appeal to authority

Citing an expert or institution to support a claim, substituting their credibility for evidence you can evaluate yourself. Legitimate when the authority is relevant; manipulative when they aren't qualified or when the citation is vague.

Argumentum ad verecundiam (Locke, 1690); Cialdini's Authority principle (1984)

Urgency framing

Creating artificial time pressure to force a decision before you can think it through. 'Only 3 left!' 'Act now!' The technique works because genuine scarcity is a real signal, so the urgency feels rational even when it's manufactured.

Cialdini's Scarcity principle (1984); dark patterns research (Mathur et al., 2019)

Intensity amplification

Inflating the importance, drama, or shock value of information using superlatives, alarming framing, and emotional language. Once your alarm system activates, you stop evaluating proportionality.

Cultivation theory (Gerbner, 1969); availability heuristic (Tversky & Kahneman, 1973)

Moral outrage

Provoking a sense that something is deeply unfair or wrong, activating a feeling that demands action — sharing, protesting, punishing — before you've fully evaluated the situation. It's one of the most viral emotions online because it combines anger with righteousness.

Haidt's Moral Foundations Theory (2004); Brady et al. (2017, PNAS)

Fear appeal

Presenting a vivid threat and then offering a specific action as the way to avoid it. Always structured as: "Something terrible will happen unless you do X." Most effective when the threat feels personal and the action feels achievable.

Witte's Extended Parallel Process Model (1992)

Us vs. Them

Dividing the world into two camps — people like us (good, trustworthy) and people not like us (dangerous, wrong). It exploits a deep human tendency to favor our own group. Once you accept the division, information from "them" gets automatically discounted.

Tajfel's Social Identity Theory (1979); Minimal Group Paradigm