We’ve all heard that you should take time to “process your emotions” and not “repress them.” But after a bad event occurs, what exactly does it MEAN to process your emotions? I think that, ideally, it involves a mix of these components: (1) Noticing: paying close attention to your negative thoughts instead of pushing them away or trying to ignore the bad feelings. What are the EXACT words...

The "reciprocation problem": a mathematical tragedy in relationships regarding how often people should ask each other to hang out The Setup Person X and person Y are friends (or lovers or close work colleagues or whatever). Person X and Person Y happen to both feel the same way about each other (i.e., equal amounts of interest, affection, lust, respect, etc.)Person X's ideal is to make plan...

Written: November 28, 2020 | Released: September 3, 2021 When we're given a request, there is generally a deeper intention underneath it. If we get curious for a moment and think/inquire about why the request is being made, we can often provide more value. Example 1: Relationship Romantic partner: I'd prefer it if you respond to my text messages faster. Normal answer:&nbs...

These epistemic methods really want you to trust them. Each tries to prove itself to you: 1. Tautologies are true by definition, 'cause tautologies are true by definition. 😎 2. Induction worked in the past, so it probably will in the future. 😉 3. If deduction solves your problem, and you want it solved, then you'll want to use deduction! 😊 4. If you thought Bayesianism ...

Games reflect an important part of human psychology. One broad way to think about "games" is that they are any situation that has: (a) a set of rules (explicit or implicit) that are made up by humans, (b) a scoring system (explicit or implicit) for determining how players are doing or for deciding who wins, (c) participants who are trying to increase their "score," and (d) a game cont...

Rarely do we encounter physical traps in our lives; most of the uncomfortable situations that we get stuck in for a long time are Psychological Traps. These are often the product of unrealistic fears, dysfunctional social dynamics, or unhelpful beliefs. Below, we've summarized eight of the most common mental pits that can sidetrack your success and undermine your wellbeing. These Psychological Tr...

There are certain roles in society that come with special training, powers, and responsibilities. For instance: doctors (can prescribe medicine), lawyers (client-attorney privilege), judges (can bindingly interpret law), etc. Here's my list of some weird but potentially really valuable roles in society that don't exist but maybe should: Role 1: Truth Teller They wear a special, very ...

Many of the biggest challenges that we face in society are due to one or both of these types of problems: (A) Collective Action Problems, where many individuals or groups are currently better off taking action X, even though they'd be better off in the long-term if everyone agreed not to take action X. Some of the big challenges with Collective Actions Problems are (i) gettin...

1. Vote 2. Double check claims before repeating them 3. Don't share articles unless we've read them (i.e., not just because we like a headline) 4. Take a breather before responding when we feel angry (in person and on social media) 5. Remember that groups are purposely trying to feed us appealing disinformation (that exploits our preconceptions and biases), intending to create chaos ...

H/T to Robert Paul Chase for the title. (For those who don't know, this is a reference to Fourier analysis.) Your happiness, like the level of the ocean, is caused by a superposition of waves of different frequencies. Each operates on a distinct scale - they sum up to determine your well-being at any given point in life. Each wave tends to oscillate around its mean or neutral point (except for...