How To Be Alone: An Antidote To One Of The Central Anxieties And Greatest Paradoxes Of Our Time
We live in a society which sees high self-esteem as a proof of well-being, but we do not want to be intimate with this admirable and desirable person. We think we are unique, special and deserving of happiness, but we are terrified of being alone.
Parents: Let Your Kids Fail. You’ll Be Doing Them A Favor
We seem to be more worried about raising happy children than competent or autonomous ones. Middle-school students wilted in the face of challenge. They didn’t love learning like they used to. Parents took bad grades personally. Everyone was unhappy.
The End Of Babies
Fertility rates have been dropping precipitously around the world for decades — in middle-income countries, in some low-income countries, but perhaps most markedly, in rich ones. Something is stopping us from creating the families we claim to desire. But what?
Is Poverty Necessary?
Progress is dynamic, self-generating, unpredictable. Poverty is static, effectively resourceless, subject to interests that are not its own, therefore valuable to those interests.
How To Prepare Your Kids For Jobs That Don’t Exist Yet
Artificial Intelligence will rule the jobs of the future, so learning how to work with it will be key. “There’s three job opportunities coming in the future,” says Avi Goldfarb. He divides them up into people who build AI, people who tell the machines what to do and determine what to do with their output, and, finally, celebrities.
Is Aging A Disease?
Over the years, the movement to classify aging as a disease has gained momentum not only from longevity enthusiasts but also from scientists. Whether aging can be cured or not, there are arguments for thinking about it like a disease. But there are major pitfalls, too.
Why I Wanted To Finish My Father’s Life’s Work
My father was among the founders of ‘Decision Science’ in the 1960s and 70s…and spent the last 10 years of his life trying to write a popular book on decision-making for the masses, something that would cement his legacy. Karen Brown recalls the pain and joy of fulfilling a deathbed promise.
The Dark Side Of Charisma
Charisma is a force that can rally people during difficult times, but it can also blind people and lead them to accept unwise actions, policies or conditions. And when it comes to leadership, political and professional, charisma matters more than we’d probably like to admit.
The Only Metric Of Success That Really Matters Is The One We Ignore
When all is said and done it’s the people around you that make the difference. Warren Buffett, a friend of Bill Gates, says that his measure of success comes down to one question: “Do the people you care about love you back?” Gates wrote: “I think that is about as good a metric as you will find.”
Can I Boost My Immune System?
The germs we are exposed to over a lifetime, as well as lifestyle factors like stress, sleep, diet and exercise all play a role in the strength of our immune response. Here’s what works — and what doesn’t.
Need Help With Your Dating Profile? These ‘Doctors’ Are In
Meet the consultants who help clients find love online — and, sometimes, assume their identities to chat with potential matches. Through one-on-one sessions and monthly retainers, Steve Dean helps clients reach their romantic goals, dispensing what is often brutally honest advice.
Retiring Retirement
We’re going to see something we’ve never seen before—people in their 60s, 70s and 80s functioning at an exceptionally high level who want to continue working and remain connected. The question is whether society will adapt to make the most of this new labor pool.
The Big Business Of Loneliness
Capitalism abhors a vacuum, and into this collective social void has stepped a fleet of companies and entrepreneurs selling an end to social isolation. Over the past decade, on-demand connection has become both a big business and a powerful marketing opportunity.
Instagram, My Daughter, And Me
What Instagram has allowed me to do is to employ a kind of digital physics, to warp my experience of space and time in my favor. In the offline world, I spend precious hours with her and then she disappears. But online, she is with me again when I post, and then again each time I receive a notification.
How Emotional Intelligence Boosts Your Endurance
People who test highly on emotional intelligence tend to be successful in many walks of life. What’s less clear is if testing someone’s emotional intelligence tells you something new about their prospects that you wouldn’t get from testing more traditional things like their IQ and “Big Five” personality traits.
A Psychologist Explains How To Beat Social Anxiety
A nice analogy is that of mood and action. We often think we have to “feel” like doing something before doing it. We think we have to feel like going to the gym before going to work out. But if we lace up our shoes and go to the gym, often our mood catches up, and we’re glad we went. With confidence, it’s the same thing.
The Hypersane Are Among Us, If Only We Are Prepared to Look
Hypersane people are calm, contained and constructive. It is not just that the ‘sane’ are irrational but that they lack scope and range, as though they’ve grown into the prisoners of their arbitrary lives, locked up in their own dark and narrow subjectivity.
Tapping Into The Power Of Humble Narcissism
The two qualities sound like opposites, but they can go hand in hand. Narcissists believe they’re special and superior; humble leaders know they’re fallible and flawed. Humble narcissists bring the best of both worlds: they have bold visions, but they’re also willing to acknowledge their weaknesses and learn from their mistakes.
The Secret Life Of A Professional Statue
For several years in my 20s, off and on, I was a professional statue. Statue was both a noun and a verb. I was a statue; statuing was what I did. My job was, basically, not to react. Unless one of the tourists gave me what I wanted — a tip in the plastic lemonade pitcher at my feet — I gave them nothing.
What It’s Like to Live In A California Ghost Town
To be an off-season caretaker of Bodie, California (winter population: 5), you need a high tolerance for cold, solitude, and two-hour grocery runs.
The Lost Art Of Concentration: Being Distracted In A Digital World
We check our phones every 12 minutes, often just after waking up. Always-on behaviour is harmful to long-term mental health, and we need to learn to the hit the pause button. Experts are telling us that these interruptions and distractions have eroded our ability to concentrate.