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How RationalGrid works

Get to know your AI workshop.

Use tools to question, explain, and challenge ideas. Work in connected grids, organise them in My Learning, and build on them with others.

Create a grid Follow the flow

The core loop

What happens inside a grid?

Start with your own question or build on a community grid. Follow the ideas that interest you and return as your understanding develops.

  1. 1

    Ask

    Name the question or topic.

  2. 2

    Read

    See the answer and what led to it.

  3. 3

    Branch

    Ask AI or add your own idea.

  4. 4

    Examine

    Check the idea from more than one side.

  5. 5

    Keep

    Save ideas and highlight passages.

  6. 6

    Share

    Edit together or publish.

Step 1 · Ask

What would you like to explore?

Create a free account, open My Learning and choose Create a grid. Start with your own question or one of the examples below. You can also explore community grids and build on an idea someone else has started.

Choices

Should cities use more cameras in public spaces?

Open this question

Technology

How do websites decide what people see?

Open this question

Meaning

What makes a life feel meaningful?

Open this question

Government

Would a basic income help everyone?

Open this question

Ethics

Is it wrong to eat meat?

Open this question

Technology

What should concern us as AI becomes more common?

Open this question

Grids created in My Learning start private. Visibility is a separate choice: use Share when you are ready to invite people or make a grid public. Anyone with access can read without an account; contributing requires signing in and an unlocked grid.

Have your own question?

Start with it now.

Ask your own question

Adjust the next AI answer if needed

Choose Simple, Expanded, or In-depth when creating a grid. Later, select the level beside Ask AI to see the options and descriptions inline. It applies to new answers, so you can leave it alone until you need a different depth.

RationalGrid workspace showing a connected response map
An answer becomes a set of connected ideas you can read and revisit.

Step 2 · Read

Read each answer beside what led to it.

Choose an idea to read it, follow its links, or open a new branch from that point.

  • Select an idea to read it.
  • Check what came before before opening a new branch.
  • Switch between Read and Grid using the top bar. Read follows a conversation with an outline beside it; Grid shows how the ideas connect. On mobile, use Show outline to browse the conversation.
  • Translate the current idea under More → Translate this idea.
  • Search the whole grid from the top bar or press ⌘K.
  • Follow one thread from the outline in Read, or select a connected idea in Grid to explore another branch.

Step 3 · Branch

Choose how to go deeper.

Sign in and start from the idea you are reading. Write a question or thought in the response form, then choose Ask AI for an answer or Post thought to add your own contribution. On a locked grid, you can read but cannot contribute.

Ask AI

Create an answer connected to the idea you selected.

Post thought

Add your own point, concern, example, or question.

Select a phrase

Highlight text to ask about a particular phrase or save the passage.

Find related ideas

Explore nearby topics and new directions.

Guide my thinking

Want help deciding what to ask next? Select Add a learning plan before asking AI. It suggests key questions to examine the idea and develop your understanding, much like a critical-thinking teacher. Suggested follow-up questions appear as buttons in both Read and Grid.

Step 4 · Examine

Use the critical-thinking tools.

Below the response form, select Show thinking tools. The tools expand inline: choose a way to examine the idea or a selected passage. Start with your own question whenever you already know what you want to ask.

Built for critical thinking

More than a list of AI prompts.

RationalGrid’s Examine tools were developed as a practical critical-thinking framework in collaboration with Philosophy for All and philosopher and educator Peter Worley.

They help you define terms, expose assumptions, test claims, strengthen opposing arguments, and look for what is missing. Each result becomes a connected branch, so the reasoning stays visible and the final judgement remains yours.

Clarify terms

What do we mean?

Spot words that could mean different things.

Assumptions

What has to be true?

Find what the idea takes for granted.

Source check

Says who?

Check the source, evidence, methods, funding, and uncertainty.

Steel man

What is the strongest version?

Build the fairest case for the idea.

Test

Is that always true?

Look for examples that do not fit.

Other perspectives

Who disagrees?

Find views the current source, community, or AI answer may leave out.

Implications

If true, then what?

See what might happen if it is true.

Blind spots

What are we missing?

Find facts or limits that were missed.

What if

What could change?

Try the idea in a different situation.

Match the source to the claim. Look for primary material and original research for direct findings, and strong reviews or consensus reports for the wider picture. RationalGrid asks AI to keep documented fact, interpretation, and speculation separate, but important claims still need checking.

No source is neutral or complete. Make room for dissenting voices and other interpretations, then compare their evidence. Being overlooked does not automatically make a view correct.

Bring two ideas together.

Choose Synthesis from the thinking tools, then select a second idea. RationalGrid creates a synthesis while keeping both original paths attached.

Step 5 · Keep

Build a trail back to useful ideas.

Save whole ideas or exact passages as you read. My Learning keeps them together so you can return to the original text, test what you remember and continue exploring.

Save an idea for later

Select Save for later at the top of an answer. Find it again in My Learning → Bookmarks and jump back to its place in the grid.

Highlight a passage

Select text and choose Highlight. Use Highlights at the top of the answer to expand its saved passages inline, or find them in My Learning → Highlights. This works the same way in Read and Grid.

Export the grid

Under More → Download, export Markdown for your notes or JSON for other tools. Grid also offers an image download.

Bookmarks and highlights stay private. They do not appear on your public profile.

A large RationalGrid map with many connected branches
The structure stays clear as the grid grows.

From map to presentation

Guide people through what you found.

A large grid can hold every branch. A presentation lets you choose the path your audience sees first.

  1. 01

    Choose

    On desktop, open Grid → More → Presentation, then select the ideas you want to show.

  2. 02

    Order

    Drag the selected nodes into a clear sequence.

  3. 03

    Share

    Present the path live or send its presentation link.

Step 6 · Share

Work together live, then choose what becomes public.

Select Share in the top bar to copy a link or share through your apps. People can read without an account; they need to sign in to contribute, and the grid must be unlocked.

Edit and talk together live

Invite people to ask questions and post thoughts in the same unlocked grid. See who is viewing and use chat to coordinate. The last 100 chat messages are saved only in this browser when browser storage is available; they do not follow you to another device. Post a thought when an idea should remain part of the grid.

Choose public or private

As the owner, open Share → Who can view and contribute to choose Public or Private and control whether contributions are allowed. Public grids can appear in the community. Anyone with a private share link can read that grid, so send it only to people you trust.

Publish through your profile

Your public profile shows your bio and public grids. Share it as a growing record of your work. Private grids and saved ideas remain visible only to you.

See who added what

Open Grid history from the top bar to see how the grid was built and who contributed each question, thought or change. It helps you retrace the reasoning and pick up work that has evolved over time.

Follow future updates

Sign in and choose More → Follow this grid. New changes appear in Activity, available from the Account menu. Use the Following tab to manage the grids and people you follow.

Share or question exact text

Select a word or passage to save it with its own link. You can also ask about an unfamiliar word, book, or topic. The full passage stays attached to your question.

In Share → Choose where the link starts, link to the current answer and choose Read or Grid. Read gives visitors a straightforward starting point; they can switch views at any time.

Start now

Ask one question. Follow the next useful branch.

Learn the other tools as you go.

Create a grid About RationalGrid