Psychology, page 2
How minds work: biases, behaviour, motivation, emotions, research on people. 266 links, newest first. Page 2 of 6.
Links 51 to 100
What genuinely good people are like
Short · tiktok.com · Issue #223
They enjoy solitude because it is the only place they don't have to pretend
Summary
The speaker says genuinely good people are often alone, read others quickly, trust slowly and stay kind after suffering.
Citing psychology, the speaker lists five traits of a genuinely good person. They are often alone because they find peace in their own company, think deeply about their experiences, and read people quickly. They are slow to trust after seeing masks and broken promises, and they answer past suffering with kindness rather than bitterness.
Key points- They enjoy solitude because it is the only place they don't have to pretend
- They don't trust easily after seeing masks and sweet promises that broke
- After suffering, they chose kindness over revenge and kept their hearts open
Learn someone's baseline to spot lies
Short · tiktok.com · Issue #223
Lie detectors first ask a known truth, like your name, to set a baseline
Summary
The speaker says you spot lies by first learning someone's honest baseline, then comparing their lies against it.
The speaker says the best way to detect lies is to learn a person's baseline, much as a lie detector test asks control questions first. Over time, you notice how someone's details, cadence, and way of speaking differ when they tell the truth versus when they lie. The speaker adds that people spot lies better when they observe someone often and trust their early instincts.
Key points- Lie detectors first ask a known truth, like your name, to set a baseline
- Watch how many details someone adds, their cadence and how they speak when truthful
- Reading people works best by observing them often, since you can't stay hyper-focused
Picture an upset adult as a child
Short · tiktok.com · Issue #222
Emotional flooding spikes heart rate and narrows vision, and thought goes offline
Summary
The speaker says adults flooded with emotion act like children, so picture their second-grade self and let them have the reaction.
The speaker argues that many adults react to stress like children, by avoiding people, throwing tantrums, or sending rage texts. Emotional development often stops in childhood unless it is worked on, and under strong emotion the brain enters survival mode, which neuroscientists call emotional flooding. The speaker suggests imagining the other person as a child and using a "let them" approach to avoid trying to fix their reaction.
Key points- Emotional flooding spikes heart rate and narrows vision, and thought goes offline
- Emotional development often halts in childhood unless the person actively works on it
- The let-them theory protects you from the urge to fix their reaction
High-functioning depression can hide in plain sight
Short · tiktok.com · Issue #221
The speaker describes autopilot days, no emotions, and no memory of what he did
Summary
High-functioning depression hides behind a strong appearance, leaving people numb and unable to feel joy in what they loved.
The speaker describes high-functioning depression, where a person still appears to be coping while feeling numb. They describe weeks without emotion, running on autopilot, and losing joy in things they used to enjoy, with few visible signs beyond slight irritability. The way out they found was to look for new activities they could enjoy.
Key points- The speaker describes autopilot days, no emotions, and no memory of what he did
- People stop checking in because he appears to be the strong one
- The speaker says finding new things to enjoy was the only way out for him
Game Theory: A Simple Strategy That Will Change Your Life Forever
Watch · youtube.com · Issue #220
Pursuit of Wonder's October 8, 2025 video presents game theory as an applied mathematics field and claims that, through models and simulations, it reveals a simple strategy in life that wins most of the time.
Summary
Pursuit of Wonder's October 8, 2025 video presents game theory as an applied mathematics field and claims that, through models and simulations, it reveals a simple strategy in life that wins most of the time. It says most experts were caught off guard by the result.
Can you really reach anyone in 6 steps?
Watch · youtube.com · Issue #219
Veritasium's September 30, 2025 video examines the six degrees of separation idea and the network math behind it, the small-world effect.
Summary
Veritasium's September 30, 2025 video examines the six degrees of separation idea and the network math behind it, the small-world effect. It covers how short cross-network connections create shortcuts, why weak ties matter, how disease spreads through networks, and how hubs form through preferential attachment. It credits research by Duncan Watts, Steve Strogatz, Albert-László Barabási and Mark Buchanan, and includes simulations of disease spread and preferential attachment.
Bypass false beliefs with positive facts
Short · tiktok.com · Issue #219
Instead of saying GMOs do not cause allergies, highlight their benefits
Summary
To change a false belief, skip the takedown and offer positive counterclaims about the topic, a bypassing technique.
In 2024, according to the speaker, a University of Pennsylvania team proposed the bypassing technique. Rather than attacking a false claim, you state positive facts about the topic, such as GMOs alleviating hunger and keeping hundreds of thousands of people alive each year. The speaker argues this avoids the confrontation that entrenches people, and presents it as one tool among others for dealing with misinformation.
Key points- Instead of saying GMOs do not cause allergies, highlight their benefits
- Example: GMOs help alleviate world hunger, the speaker says
- Do not fact-check or correct; make the other side's case look better
How to Build a Mind So Tough It Scares People
Watch · youtube.com · Issue #218
Mark Manson's September 21, 2025 video argues that resilience is a trainable skill rather than a fixed trait, drawing on MRI studies of the stress response and comparing mental toughness to athletic training.
Summary
Mark Manson's September 21, 2025 video argues that resilience is a trainable skill rather than a fixed trait, drawing on MRI studies of the stress response and comparing mental toughness to athletic training. He prepares for a brutal 15K obstacle race as the practical test, and offers five concrete mindsets for becoming mentally tougher. The video and weekly newsletter are free.
Disagreement can help us evolve beliefs
Short · instagram.com · Issue #218
Harmony is a pleasing arrangement of different tunes, not one shared note
Summary
Division is not always bad, since learning means evolving your beliefs rather than affirming what you already think.
The speaker argues that not all division is bad. Harmony comes from different tunes forming a pleasing arrangement, not from everyone singing one note. Differences of opinion do not necessarily mean differences of values, and the point of learning is to evolve what we believe rather than affirm it.
Key points- Harmony is a pleasing arrangement of different tunes, not one shared note
- Differences of opinion need not mean differences of values
- The point of learning is to evolve what we believe
Build focus with timed interval blocks
Short · tiktok.com · Issue #218
Set a timer for 20 minutes of demanding work, such as studying or paying bills
Summary
Build focus with interval training, starting with 20 minutes of undistracted work and adding time gradually.
The speaker describes interval training for focus: pick a demanding task, set a timer for about 20 minutes, and restart the timer if you get distracted. Once that feels comfortable, which takes about two weeks, add 10 minutes, building toward 90-minute blocks as the goal. The speaker estimates a theoretical limit of about four hours of concentration a day, based on research on professional musicians.
Key points- Set a timer for 20 minutes of demanding work, such as studying or paying bills
- Restart the timer if you check your phone or switch tabs
- After about two weeks, add 10 minutes and keep building
Social Engineer: YOU are Easier to Hack than your Computer
Watch · youtube.com · Issue #217
The Scammer Payback channel promotes a 1-hour-10-minute video on social engineering, the manipulation of people into giving up information or money, published August 16, 2025.
Summary
The Scammer Payback channel promotes a 1-hour-10-minute video on social engineering, the manipulation of people into giving up information or money, published August 16, 2025. Its description says scammers typically target the elderly, listing savings and investment accounts, credit cards, gift cards, cash withdrawals and cryptocurrency. It urges viewers to protect relatives who are less familiar with these scams.
Combining imagery and retrieval beats rereading
Short · tiktok.com · Issue #217
Control group reread each name four times, like studying notes
Summary
A name-memory study found that combining elaborate imagery with retrieval practice beats simple rereading.
The speaker describes a study testing four ways to remember names: a control, semantic elaboration, retrieval practice, and both combined. Semantic elaboration means linking each name to a vivid image, such as a big man bobbing for bread rolls for Bob Baker. The control group recalled under 20 percent of names, each technique roughly doubled that, and combining them reached about 70 percent in the lab.
Key points- Control group reread each name four times, like studying notes
- Semantic elaboration pairs each name with sound, meaning and a vivid image
- Retrieval practice recalls the last name after seeing only the first
Venting always helping is a myth
Short · youtu.be · Issue #217
Venting about a problem often leaves you feeling as bad as before
Summary
Common beliefs that venting always helps and that avoidance is always toxic are myths, the speaker argues.
The speaker argues that several common beliefs about emotions are myths. Venting can strengthen bonds, but a conversation made only of venting often leaves people feeling just as bad. Avoidance is not always toxic, since stepping back lets the emotional response settle before returning to the problem. Living entirely in the moment is an overcorrection, because the mind evolved to plan, learn from the past and savor memories.
Key points- Venting about a problem often leaves you feeling as bad as before
- Avoidance is not always toxic; flexibly switching between avoiding and approaching helps
- Giving your psychological immune system time can temper emotional overload
Boomers sold millennials a failing template
Short · tiktok.com · Issue #216
Boomers set their template for success when they were around twenty
Summary
The speaker says boomers sold millennials a template for success that stopped working, which fuels a generational betrayal.
The speaker describes intense hostility between boomers and millennials, which he calls unprecedented. He argues the core issue is betrayal: boomers set a template for success when they were young and sold it to millennials, who followed it and then faced two major recessions. Millennials now feel misled and see boomers refusing to step aside from decisions they believe harm them.
Key points- Boomers set their template for success when they were around twenty
- Millennials followed it and were hit by two huge recessions, he says
- Millennials feel betrayed and see little hope for the future
Beyond 'Good' and 'Bad'
Read · yearofmentalhealth.com · 24 min · Issue #216
Chris Guillebeau argues that everyday words like good, bad and fine cover only about 5% of the emotional range.
Summary
Chris Guillebeau argues that everyday words like good, bad and fine cover only about 5% of the emotional range. He presents the Feelings Wheel, which moves outward from core emotions such as angry to more specific ones such as betrayed or disrespected. His steps are to start broad, notice where the feeling sits in the body, and practice regularly, since a close-enough word is still progress.
Others' expectations shape how you perform
Short · tiktok.com · Issue #215
A 1968 study found teachers' expectations shaped students' school performance
Summary
Other people's expectations, including teachers', shape performance, a pattern called the Pygmalion effect.
The speaker describes Robert Rosenthal's 1968 Pygmalion effect study, with a school principal, which found that teachers' expectations of students influenced how those students performed. The effect was later seen at work and at home, and in self-expectations, where low belief in your own abilities can lead to underperforming. The speaker recommends building self-belief and spending time with people who want to see you succeed.
Key points- A 1968 study found teachers' expectations shaped students' school performance
- Higher expectations led to better results, lower expectations to worse
- The speaker says the effect also applies to our own self-expectations
This is the kind of video you hope you'll never need
Watch · youtube.com · Issue #213
The video is presented as worth watching in case of an emergency involving a dog, a child or one's street.
Summary
The video is presented as worth watching in case of an emergency involving a dog, a child or one's street.
Getting into a flow state
Short · tiktok.com · Issue #213
A short TikTok on how to get into a flow state.
Summary
A short TikTok on how to get into a flow state.
Dealing with feelings of guilt
Short · tiktok.com · Issue #212
A short TikTok about feeling guilty.
Summary
A short TikTok about feeling guilty.
Falling social life has wide costs
Short · youtu.be · Issue #212
The restaurant industry is 74% off-premises foot traffic, the speaker says
Summary
The speaker links falling restaurant traffic and dating to a wider decline in social life he calls the antisocial century.
The speaker says about 74 percent of restaurant traffic is now off-premises, meaning most food is eaten at home rather than with others. He links this to Americans dating, coupling and marrying less, having fewer children, and teenagers reporting fewer friends. He suggests people may be biochemically steered away from the urge for company, and argues that rising anxiety reflects these social costs.
Key points- The restaurant industry is 74% off-premises foot traffic, the speaker says
- Teenagers have fewer friends and spend less time hanging out
- Twenty-somethings date less, thirty-somethings marry less and forty-somethings have fewer kids
How much music do you actually remember?
Tool · pudding.cool · Issue #212
Matt Daniels, for The Pudding, presents a quiz of 10 songs in which visitors enter a birth year and rate each as unknown, familiar, known or sung along to.
Summary
Matt Daniels, for The Pudding, presents a quiz of 10 songs in which visitors enter a birth year and rate each as unknown, familiar, known or sung along to. Results are compared with Boomer, Gen X, Millennial and Gen Z recognition rates. The songs are 1990s Billboard top 5 hits, plus a 1975 sample of top 3 hits. It argues popularity does not guarantee a song is remembered.
Fewer choices can mean more sales
Short · tiktok.com · Issue #211
A study reportedly found 24 jam options led people to buy nothing
Summary
Offering fewer choices can increase sales, based on a jam study the speaker cites.
The speaker describes a jam study in which shoppers shown 24 varieties bought nothing, while shoppers offered six or fewer options increased sales by 900 percent. According to the speaker, too many choices can stop people from acting, much like scrolling Netflix without picking anything. The advice is to limit options in business and in life.
Key points- A study reportedly found 24 jam options led people to buy nothing
- Six or fewer options increased sales by 900%, according to the speaker
- Choosing less is the way to win more, in life and business
Group rules outlive their original cause
Short · youtu.be · Issue #210
Four monkeys learn not to climb after the others are sprayed with cold water
Summary
Group rules can outlive their cause, as monkeys keep attacking climbers none of them was sprayed for.
The speaker recounts a story presented as an experiment. Four monkeys learn that climbing a ladder for bananas brings cold water spray on the group, and they attack any monkey that tries. Over time each new monkey, including one never sprayed, is attacked for climbing. When asked why, one monkey says that's just the way it is.
Key points- Four monkeys learn not to climb after the others are sprayed with cold water
- Replacement monkeys attack climbers even though they were never sprayed
- The rule survives as each newcomer learns it from the group
YAMA: The antidote to infinite options
Read · nesslabs.com · 5 min · Issue #210
Anne-Laure Le Cunff of Ness Labs explains YAMA, short for 'You're Always Missing Out', which treats missing out as unavoidable.
Summary
Anne-Laure Le Cunff of Ness Labs explains YAMA, short for 'You're Always Missing Out', which treats missing out as unavoidable. She offers it as a more sustainable alternative to JOMO, the joy of missing out, and links the anxiety to choice overload in a world of endless options. Her three steps are to acknowledge your limits before an activity, refocus during it, and avoid judging your choice afterward.
Celebrate others' success while you wait
Short · tiktok.com · Issue #209
The speaker mocks the thought that others' work is not that good
Summary
You will not be happy or successful until you learn to celebrate other people's successes while you wait for your own.
A short skit shows someone resenting others' success and asking why they have not made it yet. The creator's reminder is that you will not be happy or successful until you learn to celebrate other people's successes while waiting for your own. The clip ends with a joke about a parent's voice.
Key points- The speaker mocks the thought that others' work is not that good
- Thinking you deserve it more than others is a common trap, he says
- Celebrating someone else's work is a way to wait for your own success
We are bound to be scared
Short · instagram.com · Issue #208
A short Instagram post on the idea that we are bound to be scared.
Summary
A short Instagram post on the idea that we are bound to be scared.
When Memories from Fiction Become Part of Who You Are
Read · psyche.co · 17 min · Issue #208
Psychology instructor Osman Görkem Çetin argues that memories of fiction can matter as much as memories of real life, serving the same roles in self-image, decisions, and social bonding.
Summary
Psychology instructor Osman Görkem Çetin argues that memories of fiction can matter as much as memories of real life, serving the same roles in self-image, decisions, and social bonding. In a study by his team, movie memories had more perceptual detail than book memories. People who are more empathetic engage with stories as if they were real, which makes those memories richer and more emotional.
Expectations can shape outcomes more than genes
Short · tiktok.com · Issue #207
A group told they had a genetic edge outperformed, even without it
Summary
Expectations can shape outcomes even more than genes, according to a book the speaker recommends.
The speaker recommends David Robson's book The Expectation Effect and describes a study. Participants with and without a genetic trait for efficient CO2 removal were told either that they had the trait or that they did not. Those told they had it outperformed those told they lacked it, even when the gene was absent. The speaker also cites the Monster study, where children told they stuttered developed speech problems.
Key points- A group told they had a genetic edge outperformed, even without it
- The book's synopsis says expectations are even more powerful than genes
- The speaker says children told they stutter developed worse stutters
The Lies That Make Your Tech Actually Work
Watch · youtube.com · Issue #206
Enrico Tartarotti's December 2023 video looks at the design, engineering, and psychology behind everyday technology.
Summary
Enrico Tartarotti's December 2023 video looks at the design, engineering, and psychology behind everyday technology. Topics include why phone keyboards work despite the odds, how fake loading bars calm people, and why people still remember Microsoft Bob. It also covers tricks borrowed from nature that make tools usable. Tartarotti is a tech product manager building Flask, a video collaboration tool.
The remembered self keeps what broke expectations
Short · tiktok.com · Issue #206
A concert is interrupted by a crash, then the music restores within seconds
Summary
The remembered self recalls whatever broke expectations, not the whole experience as it was lived.
The speaker describes a distinction made by a Nobel Prize-winning economist between the experienced self and the remembered self. In his example, a concert is magical until something crashes in the middle, and listeners later remember the interruption when asked about the concert. The speaker concludes that the remembering mind divides and reduces experiences, and that happiness comes from the heart rather than the mind.
Key points- A concert is interrupted by a crash, then the music restores within seconds
- Asked about the experience, the experienced self would call it magnificent
- The remembered self fixates on whatever did not match expectations
Bragging and refusing to apologise signal low EQ
Short · tiktok.com · Issue #206
Bragging for validation, instead of privately appreciating success, signals low EQ
Summary
Experts say bragging, refusing to apologize and not praising others signal low emotional intelligence.
The video lists six behaviors that it says signal low emotional intelligence, and claims four or more means low EQ. They are bragging about achievements, being unable to apologize, not praising others, rejecting other viewpoints, not reflecting on one's own thoughts and feelings, and being unable to empathize. Humility, sincere apology, reflection and empathy are presented as the markers of higher EQ.
Key points- Bragging for validation, instead of privately appreciating success, signals low EQ
- Being unable to give a sincere apology is a serious warning sign
- Feeling jealous of others' achievements, rather than happy for them, is another sign
Relationships cycle through harmony, disruption, repair
Short · tiktok.com · Issue #205
The speaker calls the dark phase of hating your partner normal marital hatred
Summary
Every relationship moves through harmony, disruption and repair, and the skill is learning to return to closeness.
The speaker says relationships move through harmony, disharmony and repair, and that couples need skills to get from disruption back to closeness. He describes a dark phase in which partners can resent or hate each other, which he calls normal marital hatred. He cites a couples therapy pioneer who said the first day of a real marriage is the day one partner admits they made a mistake.
Key points- The speaker calls the dark phase of hating your partner normal marital hatred
- Your partner is probably feeling the same disappointment about you
- Repair skills are what couples need, since culture does not teach them
The brain's favourite lie
Short · tiktok.com · Issue #205
A short TikTok on what it calls the brain's favorite lie.
Summary
A short TikTok on what it calls the brain's favorite lie.
Introduce yourself without social labels
Short · instagram.com · Issue #204
Drop occupation, nationality, ethnicity, hobbies and religion from the introduction
Summary
Introducing yourself without occupation, origin, religion or hobbies reveals your essence rather than your social tags.
A short clip poses a question: introduce yourself without mentioning occupation, nationality, ethnicity, hobbies, religion or where you grew up. The speaker says this question partly made their career and drew about 16 million views. The exchange suggests the prompt makes people focus on their essence rather than the social categories they belong to.
Key points- Drop occupation, nationality, ethnicity, hobbies and religion from the introduction
- The speaker says the question forces you to think about your essence
- The other person is then seen for their soul, not their social categories
Using your first name may deter captors
Short · instagram.com · Issue #204
The speaker says a bar confrontation started over an empty chair and a threat
Summary
Giving your first name in a confrontation makes you harder to harm, since captors are less likely to hurt someone they know by name.
The speaker describes using his first name in a confrontation at a bar. Introducing himself while holding out his hand turned a threat into a personal exchange with a man blocking an empty seat. He argues that hostages are safer when captors use their names, because it is harder to hurt someone you know by name.
Key points- The speaker says a bar confrontation started over an empty chair and a threat
- He introduced himself as Chris, holding out his hand to make the other man see him
- He says using a hostage's name makes captors treat them better, not just spare them
Anne-Laure Le Cunff on the Mental Scripts Behind Our Choices
Watch · youtube.com · Issue #203
Neuroscientist Anne-Laure Le Cunff's 49-minute Big Think interview covers how mental habits shape productivity and wellbeing.
Summary
Neuroscientist Anne-Laure Le Cunff's 49-minute Big Think interview covers how mental habits shape productivity and wellbeing. She argues for treating life choices as small, testable experiments rather than seeking certainty, and links uncertainty and anxiety to the brain's evolved fear of the unknown. The talk names three cognitive scripts: the sequel, crowd pleaser, and epic scripts.
Identities like helper make people comply more
Short · tiktok.com · Issue #203
Asking 'would you mind being a helper' raised cleanup help by about 50%
Summary
Turning an action into an identity, like 'helper' instead of 'help', makes people more likely to do what you ask.
Jonah Berger, a Wharton professor and author of Magic Words, argues that small wording changes affect whether people comply. In a preschool experiment, asking children to be helpers rather than to help raised cooperation by about 50 percent, and calling someone a voter rather than asking them to vote raised turnout by about 15 percent. He also recommends confident language without filler words, and recording yourself to review your speech.
Key points- Asking 'would you mind being a helper' raised cleanup help by about 50%
- Changing vote to voter raised turnout about 15%, per the speaker
- Describing someone as a hard worker makes the trait seem more lasting
Homeowners would sell at the right offer
Short · tiktok.com · Issue #202
In audiences, about four or five hands say their house is on the market
Summary
Many homeowners would sell for an attractive offer, so making every home technically available could free up housing.
The speaker reports an informal poll in audiences over 45 in Canada, Ireland and the UK. Four or five people typically said their home was on the market, while about four times as many said they would move for an attractive unsolicited offer. Arguing that this 4 to 1 ratio reveals hidden supply, the speaker proposes that all homes accept offers, as businesses and rare-collectible sellers already do.
Key points- In audiences, about four or five hands say their house is on the market
- About four times as many say they would move for an attractive offer
- The speaker proposes a system where people can submit offers on any home
When your gut goes quiet
Read · aeon.co · 21 min · Issue #202
Ronald W Dworkin, an anaesthesiologist with 30 years of practice, describes losing his intuition after a vacation and the doubt and freezing that followed.
Summary
Ronald W Dworkin, an anaesthesiologist with 30 years of practice, describes losing his intuition after a vacation and the doubt and freezing that followed. He argues that intuition is essential to expert judgment when facts are incomplete, and that its value rests on faith and will as well as reason. His intuition returned by day's end, and he concludes that doubt is a permanent part of expert practice.
Four factors behind great teamwork
Short · tiktok.com · Issue #201
A compelling direction gives the team a clear goal that energizes it
Summary
The speaker says 15 years of research point to four factors behind great teamwork.
Vince Sanderson, who helps companies build leadership and management skills, says 15 years of research points to four factors of effective teamwork. The first is a compelling direction with clear goals, the second is a strong structure with a mix of characters and skills, and the third is a supportive context where people feel trusted, valued and heard. The fourth is a shared mindset built from common goals and support.
Key points- A compelling direction gives the team a clear goal that energizes it
- Strong structure means a mix of characters and skill sets
- Supportive context from managers and peers makes people feel seen and trusted
Why familiar ideas still feel like revelations
Short · youtu.be · Issue #201
A short YouTube video asking why an idea heard a thousand times can still feel like a revelation.
Summary
A short YouTube video asking why an idea heard a thousand times can still feel like a revelation.
As Close to Magic as It Gets
Read · thequietlife.net · 27 min · Issue #200
Susan Cain's essay argues that expressive writing about feelings and difficulties improves emotional and physical wellbeing.
Summary
Susan Cain's essay argues that expressive writing about feelings and difficulties improves emotional and physical wellbeing. James Pennebaker began studying the practice in 1986. In one study, 20 minutes a day of writing about personal troubles over three days led to lower blood pressure and fewer doctor visits. Laid-off engineers who wrote about their feelings were three times more likely to find new work within months.
Looking at your phone spoils first impressions
Short · tiktok.com · Issue #199
Looking down at a phone resembles the universal defeat posture
Summary
Your first impression starts the moment someone sees you, so avoid looking down at your phone.
The speaker says the biggest first impression mistake is looking down at a phone or laptop when someone arrives. This head-down, shoulders-up, arms-close posture is called the universal defeat posture. Impressions form within about 100 milliseconds of seeing someone or their photo, so the photo chosen and open body language both shape how people judge you.
Key points- Looking down at a phone resembles the universal defeat posture
- Universal defeat means chin tucked, shoulders up and arms close to the sides
- Introverts wrongly think the first impression starts when they begin talking
Minus: A Social Network Limited to 100 Posts
Tool · minus.social · Issue #198
Minus is a social network where each user gets 100 posts for life, with unlimited replies.
Summary
Minus is a social network where each user gets 100 posts for life, with unlimited replies. The only visible metric is a countdown of remaining posts. The feed is reverse chronological rather than algorithmic, with no likes, follows, or notifications. Ben Grosser created it, commissioned by arebyte Gallery for his exhibition Software for Less, to counter engagement-driven design.
Fear is a mile wide, inch deep
Short · tiktok.com · Issue #197
A short TikTok built around the saying that fear is a mile wide and an inch deep.
Summary
A short TikTok built around the saying that fear is a mile wide and an inch deep.
Rewiring How We Learn: The Power of an Experimental Mindset
Watch · youtube.com · Issue #196
In this SXSW EDU 2025 keynote, Anne-Laure Le Cunff and Vanessa Van Edwards argue that educational practices often cause anxiety.
Summary
In this SXSW EDU 2025 keynote, Anne-Laure Le Cunff and Vanessa Van Edwards argue that educational practices often cause anxiety. Drawing on recent neuroscience, they present an experimental mindset that treats learning as testing and trying things, turning uncertainty into curiosity. The talk offers practical tools for learners and teachers and describes classrooms where failure supports growth.
Angry feelings are often empty boats
Short · tiktok.com · Issue #195
In the parable, anger vanishes once the rower sees the boat is empty
Summary
Most things that anger you are like empty boats, drifting with their own problems rather than aiming at you.
The speaker retells the parable of the empty boat. A man rowing through fog is struck by another boat and becomes furious, but when the fog clears he finds the boat empty and drifted loose, so his anger fades. He argues that most things that crash into us, such as a careless driver or a missed deadline, are like empty boats.
Key points- In the parable, anger vanishes once the rower sees the boat is empty
- Traffic cut-offs, missed deadlines and forgotten calls are rarely personal
- Before getting angry, ask whether you are angry at an empty boat
Dopamine and serotonin may oppose each other
Short · tiktok.com · Issue #195
Mice showed a dopamine spike and a serotonin dip when drinking sugar water
Summary
A Stanford mouse study suggests dopamine and serotonin work against each other to produce a sense of reward.
The speaker reports a Stanford study in mice showing that dopamine and serotonin interact in the nucleus accumbens. Dopamine rose and serotonin fell during reward, and stimulating both changes together produced a stronger sense of reward than changing either alone. He suggests serotonin acts as a brake on dopamine, which he uses to explain why cocaine is more addictive than MDMA.
Key points- Mice showed a dopamine spike and a serotonin dip when drinking sugar water
- Raising dopamine while lowering serotonin increased the mice's sense of reward
- Both signals operate in the nucleus accumbens, a reward-processing area
Mindfulness changes your relationship to now
Short · youtu.be · Issue #194
Calm may be a side effect, not the goal, the speaker says
Summary
Mindfulness is not about calming the mind; it changes your relationship to whatever is happening right now.
The speaker argues that a common myth holds meditation is about calming the mind. Calm may be a side effect, but the real practice is changing your relationship to what is happening, such as frustration about being late or trouble sleeping. Watching your own reactions teaches you about yourself, which builds wisdom and makes you less affected by events over time.
Key points- Calm may be a side effect, not the goal, the speaker says
- Most of us try to control things we cannot control, such as being late or sleeping badly
- Watching your reaction teaches you about yourself and makes you less affected by events
Self-optimisation hacks may not bring happiness
Short · tiktok.com · Issue #194
The speaker says hacks rarely make people happier when pursued as a mirage
Summary
Self-optimization hacks are studied in isolation and may not bring happiness, so treat your brain as a living friend.
Rachel Barr, a neuroscientist, argues that self-help promises of happiness through optimization, such as stricter scheduling or positive manifesting, are not backed by evidence, since even studied interventions are tested in isolation. She says the brain is a living system rather than a machine to hack. The better question, she argues, is how to make your brain your best friend.
Key points- The speaker says hacks rarely make people happier when pursued as a mirage
- Your brain is not a machine to hack into submission
- The better question is how to make your brain your best friend
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