A competitor needs to be process-oriented, always looking for stronger opponents to spur growth, but it is also important to keep winning enough to maintain confidence. We have to release our current ideas to soak in new material, but not so much that we lose touch with our unique natural talents. Vibrant, creative idealism needs … Read more
“The man of knowledge of our time is bowed down under a burden he never imaged he would ever have: the overproduction of truth that cannot be consumed.” The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker is a great book that set the foundation for terror management theory. Becker’s controversial premise is that man’s original repression is the … Read more
Man and his Symbols is Jung’s introduction to the unconscious. Initially, Freud saw the unconscious as the place that holds repressed memories or unwanted desires. Many of the best ideas by artists, philosophers, scientists are sudden manifestations of the unconscious. But Jung sees the psyche as representative of the Self as well. The unconscious is … Read more
What Jung does when he compares primitive man with civilized man, is he gives a historical perspective of the situation of all of mankind in the current moment. This is opposed to taking a snapshot in time and comparing different groups of people together, such as different races or sexes. Jung describes to us a … Read more
Regarding IQ tests, there are three important questions that are asked. 1) Do IQ tests predict success? 2) Are IQ tests indicators of intelligence? 3) Are IQ tests biased towards certain groups of people? The first question is debatable. Some argue that IQ tests can only predict one thing – how well people do on … Read more
Debates can be illuminating, or they can be a waste of time. When is a debate illuminating? When there is a mutual attempt to explore the truth. The form that professional debates take, whether presidential or academic, are rarely an exploration of the truth. And the form that casual debates take, like the one your … Read more
A meme is a collection of ideas that spreads through people. But it does not spread indiscriminately, it relies on skillful narration and delivery on the part of the person propagating it. A talented orator and a highly connected medium are the perfect vehicles for a meme to survive. A successful meme is invariably copied and transferred … Read more
Alfred Adler was an Austrian psychologist, famous for discovering the “inferiority/superiority complex” and the effect of birth order on personality. But most importantly, Adler differed from his contemporaries, Freud, and Jung, by focusing on the present rather than on the past. Adler’s idea was that the past did not determine an individual’s destiny, there was … Read more
The Paradox of Work Work is the source of anxiety, pain, exhaustion, and stress – yet without work, we would lose our sanity and ability to sustain ourselves. One imagines that the avoidance of work is how you manage stress, but it is the avoidance of work that cultivates stress. It is only when you … Read more
Why We Sleep by Mathew Walker is about the science of sleep. What happens when we sleep, how are our minds are shaped by the quality of our sleep? What are the repercussions to not sleeping well? Imagine you read a headline titled “Amazing Breakthrough” – that promised a new treatment that extends your lifespan, … Read more