Sophistry traces its origins to ancient Greece where itinerant teachers would impart their wisdom and erudition, using verbal flourishes to enlighten and persuade. In latter times however Sophistry became the art of well-argued plausible fallacies, designed to deceive rather than enlighten.

In the modern world, where critical thought is too often drowned in mediatic noise, discerning truth from fallacy has become an ever-greater challenge. Significant social and political trends are born out of false premises received as fact. This blog is about examining, and sometimes puncturing, some of these fallacies. I do it in a way that does not polarise or over-simplify, but that tries to adds value to the debate.

I’m Olivia. I’m studying History at Durham University in the United Kingdom. I have a profound passion for understanding the society that we create and this blog is one of the ways I express my thoughts. I am the sole author on this website and the views expressed only represent my own.

None of the textual content you read on this site is ever generated using Artificial Intelligence (AI). My writing is entirely my own, my thoughts, my words.

However, this site does feature some AI-generated images that are copyright-free and that I pepper across the pages to illustrate my posts.

I also experiment with artificial voices. For example the post titled “DECRYPTING OUR PRIVACY: Decrypting the Issues and Debates Around Surveillance” can be listened to, if you prefer, rather than read. This affords additional accessibility to those with limited sight.

It is the simplest of all privacy policies: I do not collect any form of private data from visitors to this site!