PsychologyExplain Like I'm 5Beginner
Understanding People course icon

Understanding People

Like Duolingo, but for Understanding People. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.

For the part of you with thirty open tabs that never became anything.

195 bite-size levelsAbout 5 minutes each

Free during early access · No credit card · iPhone & Android

Pippa the Psychology Penguin
Understanding People
with Pippa the Psychology Penguin
195
Levels
9
Sections
5
Min/day
What you'll learn

Key ideas in Understanding People

  • The limbic system reacts to emotion before the brain can formulate a verbal lie
  • The feet are often the most honest part of the body because we rarely monitor them
  • Body language is often subconscious and harder to consciously control than speech
  • The torso 'shields' itself when we feel threatened or uncomfortable
  • Individual gestures can be influenced by baseline habits or environment
  • Meaningful signals must be compared against a person's normal baseline behavior
  • Congruence occurs when verbal and non-verbal messages match
  • Incongruence creates a 'gut feeling' of distrust in the listener
  • The feet and torso as emotional cues
  • Congruence and trust
  • Distinguishing between random habits and meaningful signals
  • Incongruence creates a 'gut feeling' of distrust
  • Openness is signaled by exposing the 'vulnerable' front of the body
  • Pointing feet toward a speaker indicates engagement
  • Single gestures lack context and could be purely physiological (e.g., allergies)
  • Recognizing 'open' vs 'closed' body language
Why not just Google it

You've tried the other tabs

Wikipedia

Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.

YouTube

You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.

ChatGPT

One answer, then back to scrolling.

Online courses

Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.

Tomo gives Understanding People the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.

Try a question

Here's what playing it feels like

A real question from this course. Take your best guess.

The Body's Secret Whispers

Why does your body sometimes 'tell' on you before you can even speak?

Get it right to open this lesson and 194 more in the app.

Course map

Where Understanding People takes you

Ever wonder why people do what they do? Learn to read the room, master your habits, and unlock the secrets of the human mind through practical everyday insights.

  1. 1

    Reading the Room

    • What body language is actually saying
    • How to spot a fake smile
    • The secret power of eye contact
    • Mirroring: The shortcut to making friends
  2. 2

    Taking Control of Your Habits

    • Why we do things we regret
    • The loop of cue, routine, and reward
    • How to trick your brain into starting
    • Building a routine that actually sticks
    • Breaking the cycle of procrastination
  3. 3

    Winning Arguments and Influencing Others

    • The art of active listening
    • Why facts don't change people's minds
    • How to ask for things so people say yes
  4. 4

    Managing Your Inner World

    • Naming your emotions to calm them down
    • What stress is trying to tell you
    • The difference between healthy and toxic thoughts
    • How to stop overthinking everything
    • Finding your flow state
    • The science of a good night's sleep
  5. 5

    Why Your Brain Plays Tricks on You

    • Why we see patterns where they don't exist
    • The danger of first impressions
    • Why we follow the crowd
    • The 'I knew it all along' trap
  6. 6

    Understanding Different Personalities

    • Introverts vs. Extroverts: The energy battery
    • The five big traits that define us
    • How our childhood shapes who we are
    • Dealing with difficult personality types
    • Why some people take more risks than others
  7. 7

    The Science of Attraction and Love

    • What makes someone attractive?
    • The three stages of falling in love
    • How we choose our partners
    • Why some relationships last a lifetime
  8. 8

    How Memory Really Works

    • Why you forget where you put your keys
    • How to build memories that last
    • The truth about 'false' memories
  9. 9

    The Deep Roots of Behavior

    • How our ancestors' survival affects us today
    • The chemical messengers in your head
    • Nature vs. Nurture: The great debate
    • The history of how we studied the mind
    • Famous experiments that changed everything

9 sections · 39 units · 195 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.

How it's taught

You pick the voice

This course
Explain Like I'm 5

Understanding People is taught in the Explain Like I'm 5 style: no big words. promise.. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.

Keep going

More Psychology on Tomo

The Art of Mind Hacking and Hypnosis

Storyteller

Master the hidden language of the subconscious to influence others and read people like an open book. Learn to guide mindsets and use ethical hypnosis to create lasting change.

215 levels7h 10mBeginner

Outsmarting the System: Real-World Game Theory

Professor

Move beyond abstract math to master the hidden rules of human interaction. Learn to spot the difference between one-off conflicts and long-term partnerships in politics, sports, and your own social life.

145 levels4h 50mIntermediate

The Making of a Monster

Professor

Go beyond the headlines to explore the early lives of history's most notorious figures. Discover how childhood environments, hidden warning signs, and psychological fractures shape a predator before they ever commit a crime.

26 levels52mIntermediate

The Mind's Hidden Blueprint

Professor

Go beyond basic survival instincts to explore how ancestral challenges shape modern social behavior. Discover the subtle psychological mechanisms behind why we compete, cooperate, and choose our partners.

88 levels2h 56mIntermediate

The Art of Decision Making

Bestie

Stop overthinking and start choosing with confidence. Learn how to cut through the noise and make better choices in your daily life.

26 levels52mBeginner

Mastering the Momentum: From Stagnation to Action

Bestie

Transform your relationship with effort by mastering the neurobiology of task initiation. Learn to bypass the resistance to exercise, spiritual practice, and domestic organization through advanced behavioral engineering.

175 levels5h 50mAdvanced
Start free

Start Understanding People today.

Download Tomo, search Understanding People, and play your first lesson in under a minute.