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
“We greatly overestimate what we can do in one year. But we greatly underestimate what is possible for us in five years.” Peter Drucker It is not necessary to wait for five years before seeing the truth of this idea. We tend to overestimate what we can do in a short amount of time, and underestimate … Read more
Forget the saying, ‘the mind is a terrible master but a great servant.’ The mind can be a terrible master and a terrible servant. Not only does it not know what it wants, but it is bad at doing what it does want. If you have ever struggled with breaking an old habit, or building … Read more
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