But Does Social Media Use Actually Cause Bad Mental Health?

November 2, 2025

It's interesting how studies on the negative effects of social media on mental health are mixed: some find an effect, some don't (or only find a very small effect). Some take this as proof that social media is actually fine for mental health. My hypothesis is different. I think that the effects of social media are extremely heterogeneous based on app, population, and dosage: that in some subgroups, some social media apps (when used in high doses) have substantially negative effects on mental...

Something Unexpected That May Help Some Common Chronic Medical Conditions

October 30, 2025

There's something really interesting and potentially important happening in the space of people suffering from chronic medical conditions that modern medicine provides no good solutions for, such as Long COVID, IBS, functional dyspepsia, fibromyalgia, chronic back or joint pain without injury/disease, ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, PTLDS/Chronic Lyme disease, and so on. I'm talking here specifically about people where all other reasonable explanations for their conditions (e.g., cancer, injury, a...

To What Extent Are Women In The U.S. Actually More Social Justice Oriented Than Men?

October 30, 2025

There's a claim growing rapidly in popularity that organizations in the US have become much more social justice-oriented/woke over the decades because of the increasing fraction of women in them. Note that this is not a claim about organizations becoming generically progressive or liberal, or about women being progressive-leaning. It's a much more specific claim: that institutions in the US became much more social justice-oriented/woke in (a specific belief system held by some pro...

The Pattern Where Populist Leaders Rise To Power And Take Advantage Of The Populace

October 23, 2025

There's a pattern that has repeated many times throughout history, which leads to countries suffering under terrible leadership. It's important to understand this pattern because it's likely to continue to repeat. Here are the steps of how this happens, as I see it, though not every one of these steps occurs in every single case: (1) Many people feel dissatisfied with the state of their society and its impact on their lives, and blame the groups that have long remained in power. (Sometime...

Paradoxical Goals That Fail If You Pursue Them Directly

October 14, 2025

Many things in life are most effectively pursued by going after them directly (e.g., if you want coffee, make some coffee). But some of the most important things are most effectively pursued indirectly. For example: If you want to be happy right now, don't try really hard to be happy right now. Instead, do something that's both meaningful and pleasurable. If you want to find someone to fall in love with, don't go on dates with the goal of determining if you could fall in love with each...

Alternatives To Circling For Facilitating Group Connections

August 2, 2025

Circling, for anyone who hasn't tried it, is an unusual kind of "authentic relating" group activity that can help people better understand each other and themselves. Thinking about it got me wondering - what other similar activities can a group do together that can accomplish different results (that might have their own unique strengths and weaknesses)? Here's my brainstormed list of Circling alternatives. I'll start with Circling itself, for those who are not familiar. Note: if you plan to ...

Fascinating Obscure Concepts That Are Worth Knowing

July 8, 2025

For years, whenever I've encountered a word for a fascinating concept that my computer's built-in dictionary didn't recognize, I've added it to a collection I keep of "Fascinating Obscure Concepts." Here's the first part of my list of these unusual concepts you may never have encountered before: —LITTLE-KNOWN SELF-IMPROVEMENT CONCEPTS 1) Musterbating: Albert Ellis' term for rigid, self-imposed ideas that many people hold that "I/you/they absolutely must (or should) do X." Rather than seei...

You’re right about everything

July 1, 2025

You're absolutely right. About all of it. The big stuff, the weird stuff, the "nobody-gets-this" stuff. Every belief you hold is, against all odds, completely correct. I know I said before that you were wrong, but it was I who was wrong! Here's proof: 1) Unlike others, you're self-aware. You know your limits, so - unlike other people - when you know something, it's true. You weighed the evidence they ignored and saw angles they missed. Corrected your own biases. Your unique perspective revea...

Narcissists Aren’t Necessarily Who You Think They Are

June 20, 2025

Here are 8 common misconceptions about narcissists that can lead to misidentifying them or being hurt by them: —Myth #1: Narcissists don't know they are narcissistic. Surprisingly, quite a number do. Since narcissists are rarely able to see their own flaws clearly, there are 2 positions they usually take: i) I'm narcissistic, but that's good, actually or ii) I'm not narcissistic In fact, enough highly narcissistic people know they are narcissists that on anonymous surveys, the...

Does The Music You Listen To Predict Your Personality?

May 23, 2025

Does whether you like rock music rather than pop or country say something about your personality? I would have thought not, but we ran a study, and it turns out yes - in the U.S., your music tastes predict aspects of your personality! Much to my surprise, liking rock and classical music predicts the same things about your personality: having greater "openness to experience" (a personality trait from the Big Five framework) and being more intellectual. Makes sense for classical, but who wo...