# Skepsis

**Y'all already speak Greek.** Skepsis is a free, open-source game that teaches the Greek roots, myths and big ideas hiding in everyday English, in 3-minute lessons. Every word comes with a Texas example.

**Play:** https://skepsis-greek.vercel.app · **Every word:** https://skepsis-greek.vercel.app/words · **Learn from your AI agent:** [MCP server](mcp/README.md)

![Skepsis: Y'all already speak Greek](app/public/og.png)

*Skepsis* (σκέψις) is Greek for "looking closely". It's where *skeptic* comes from.

## What's inside

- **11 units, 33 lessons, 93 Greek roots and ideas** plus a 34-word "Is it Greek?" game.
  - Everyday roots: tele, phon, graph, photo, auto.
  - Size and number: mega, micro, poly, mono.
  - Space and oil: astronaut, petroleum, helium.
  - Medicine: cardio, derm, -itis.
  - Manias and thieves: megalomania, kleptomania, pyrotechnics.
  - Power and people: democracy, -cracy, polis, "Metroplex".
  - Myths: Nike, Achilles' heel, Trojan horse, mentor.
  - Persuasion: ethos, pathos, logos, kairos, hubris.
  - Stoic ideas: dichotomy of control, aretē, eudaimonia.
  - Startup Greek: strategy, crisis, protocol.
  - **Is it Greek? Texas Edition:** rodeo, Alamo and mustang are Spanish; squirrel, butter and oyster are secretly Greek.
- **Six kinds of questions:** guess first, multiple choice, decode a word you've never seen, build a word from its pieces, match pairs, and Greek-or-not.
- **Game parts:** XP, a daily goal, streaks (weekends never break them, plus freezes), badges, and **Rodeo**, a speed round with 8 seconds per question where one miss bucks you off.
- **Teach mode:**
  - Every item has a one-breath explanation and a Copy-for-Slack button.
  - **Huddle** turns a unit into big slides for a standup.
- **Optional team board:** a weekly leaderboard with a shared team goal, when the app is hosted as a Claude Artifact.
- **MCP server:** Claude, Cursor or any MCP agent can tutor you with the same lessons and spaced review.

## How it teaches

The design follows learning research. Sources, and where the evidence is weak, are in [RESEARCH.md](RESEARCH.md).

- **Guess first.** Each lesson opens on a word you haven't learned. Guessing before you're told helps it stick.
- **Word families, then transfer.** You learn a root with two example words, then decode a third you've never seen.
- **Retrieval, not rereading.** Every new card is quizzed right away, and missed questions come back at the end of the lesson.
- **Spaced review.** Words come back after 1, 3, 7, 14 and 30 days. A miss starts the word over.
- **No punishment.** No hearts, no lives, and the team board is opt-in.

## Learn from your AI agent (MCP)

```bash
claude mcp add skepsis -- npx -y github:ionpetro/skepsis
```

Then ask your agent: *"Start today's Skepsis lesson."* Setup for Claude Desktop and Cursor, and the full list of tools, is in [mcp/README.md](mcp/README.md).

## Run it locally

```bash
git clone https://github.com/ionpetro/skepsis && cd skepsis
npm install
npm test          # content + engine + MCP tests
npm run build     # app/dist/index.html (single-file app) and app/vercel/ (the website)
open app/vercel/index.html
```

| Path | What |
|---|---|
| `app/src/content.js` | All course content: roots, ideas and origins, each with the Greek spelling, meaning, Texas example and a teaching line |
| `app/src/engine.js` | Pure logic: streaks, spaced review, question builders, badges |
| `app/src/app.js`, `style.css`, `shell.html` | The app (plain JS, no framework, no build step beyond inlining) |
| `app/site.mjs` | The website: the app plus a crawlable page for every word, sitemap, share tags |
| `mcp/` | The MCP server |
| `video/` | The 5-second launch video (Remotion) |

## Add a word

Add an item to a lesson in `app/src/content.js` and run `npm test`.

- Each root needs 3 example words. The first two are taught, and the third is held back for the "decode a new word" question.
- Each word's pieces must spell it exactly. The tests check this.

Corrections to etymologies are very welcome. Please cite Etymonline, Merriam-Webster or the LSJ lexicon.

## License

MIT. Made by [Ion Petropoulos](https://ionpetro.com).