Like many things in life, extreme or absolute thinking can be detrimental. One more recent example is the idea of inclusion—everyone should feel included. Now, this idea comes from a well-meaning place, as before groups of people were excluded for the arbitrary reason of their race, sex, or country of origin. However, there is a trade-off to...
Read MoreThere is a popular debate* on social media these days between morale absolutism and moral relativism. The idea is that you either believe there is such a thing as objective morality or if you think it’s relative to a culture. There’s the extreme example of people saying, “Hitler thought he was doing good,” to point out the fact that morals are...
Read MoreAre you the kind of person who can’t stand others who disagree with you? After all, wouldn’t they come to the same conclusion as you given the same information? If they don’t, how dare they! The most famous concept describing this is Hanlon’s Razor, which officially posits, “Never attribute to malice that which could be adequately be explained by...
Read MoreLife can seem strange sometimes. People point out that you always want what you can’t have and take what you do have for granted. People point out that it would be nice to be happy all the time and always have what you want and need. It seems illogical. But that’s a modern interpretation of the world based on the fact that billions of people...
Read MoreThere is something that humans call “reality”—when referring to that, people usually are referring to: The great news is that you have a lot of control over these three things. You can change your mindset and instantly feel better or behave differently in your life. You can move to a place you like better and with people, customs, etc. that match...
Read MoreThe existential crisis is a tough one. It can creep up on you gradually or suddenly. Gradually, you find that what you’ve been doing doesn’t have the same sense of importance or urgency as it did before—or it simply doesn’t feel as meaningful or significant as it usually does. Suddenly, you might face a significant loss or setback in life where...
Read MoreI know this is a hot topic, but I’m going to address this as objectively as possible (meaning that I’ll, as I often do, write a post that pleases no one). We all have our personal beliefs about the world, people, the universe, and what happens before and after we die. There are many mysteries about reality that we will likely never be able to...
Read MoreLife is difficult, no doubt. You need to work to get the food, water, shelter, and other resources you need to survive, and then you need to avoid things that can hurt you, find people who can help you, and find things in life that help you realize your potential and fulfill you. While doing that, there are other people in this world with both...
Read MoreThere are many psychology practices and philosophies that revolve around the idea of “being good enough”—i.e., the fact that you don’t have to work yourself to death and please everyone all the time to be worthy of love. On the other side of the “not good enough” spectrum, there are people at the top of their fields who strive to continue to...
Read MoreWhen I explain how the meaning of life is growth, it is one of those moments where it’s both too obvious and simple to want to believe but also too vague and non-specific to be satisfying. Unfortunately, no matter how much scientific evidence you have, people will always fall back on their emotions about whether something feels
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