When Is Gossip Good?

January 28, 2024

Gossip has a very bad reputation. The word "gossip" itself (and its synonyms, like "idle talk," tittle-tattle," "hearsay," "blather," and "rumor-mongering") have negative connotations. And this bad reputation is not totally unreasonable, as gossip is sometimes very harmful. But, on some occasions, it's actually a very good and useful thing that people gossip. For instance, if someone in a community is genuinely very dangerous, it's important that the evidence of this is spread throughout the...

Could You Be in One of These 8 Psychological Traps?

November 22, 2020

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 Traps can limit our happiness for years unless we take action to combat them. We hope that highlightin...

Responsibility Mindset

September 17, 2020

Written: September 17, 2020 | Released: August 20, 2021 The "Responsibility Mindset" is one of the most powerful perspectives I know of. It's the difference between: 1. "The ball wasn't on my side of the court, so I didn't go for it," and2. "Clearly, nobody else was going to be able to hit the ball in time, so I ran for it." 1. "This party is boring," and2. "Who wants to dance with me? Let's get this party started!" 1. "I can't do my job because nobody is doing this thing I need,...

Maybe you can justifiably believe you can change the world with the right conditions

May 5, 2018

Written: May 5, 2018 | Released: June 25, 2021 Can you justifiably believe that you may be able to really change the world? There's a certain seeming absurdity in believing you can change the world. And by "change the world," I don't mean playing a small (though still meaningful) cumulative role in bringing about change as part of a group of many thousands of people, each contributing incrementally. I mean, causing a large and important positive change to occur (and not merely by dumb lu...

A thought experiment about what you’d be truly capable of doing (if you had no choice)

April 26, 2018

Think of something you value that:A. multiple other people you know are capable of achieving, but thatB. you assume you would not be capable of achieving, even thoughC. you have never actually tried to do this thing well before. Now suppose, for a moment, that you have no choice but to do the thing. That is, everything you care about in the world will be destroyed if you do not achieve it in X months. Here, X could be 1 if it's a very small thing, or X could be 100 if it's a much larger thin...