Six Binge-Worthy Articles for a Meaningful Afternoon

Everyone loves a good long read, and we’re no exception. Here’s our recent list of recommendations.

BPS’ Psychology’s Greatest Case Studies

We’ll start off with a pleasantly educational article that will help you hold, start, or steer a dinner conversation in a fascinating direction. This list of famous psychological case studies is a great reminder of how much neuroscience and psychology have changed in the last couple of centuries. But this list is far from dry, and effortlessly encapsulates the good, bad, and the ugly parts of our quest for knowledge about the mind.

A Philosopher’s Thoughts on the Warped Social Media Self

This is not another one of those ‘social media bad’ articles that studies the effects of social media consumption. With the help of neuroscientific behavioural science and a touch of 19th century philosophy, Mark Miller and Ben White take us on a journey through the world of the mind’s predictive ability and how social media robs us of our inane tools needed to manage uncertainty. It’s a different, deeper take on our relationship with the online world and highlights a few unsettling things that are much harder to put your finger on.

An Exploration of Optimism in Today’s World

As the author of this article admits, being an optimist in our ‘brutal, beautiful world’ isn’t always easy, especially since the ad antiquitatem fallacy that glorifies that past is still alive, well, and widespread. In a world obsessed with showing you all the things that need to be fixed, taking a moment to read this essay on modern optimism can make a world of difference to your day. Far from promoting ambivalence and delusion, this take on handling the present is as a stoic comfort that aims to craft an effective response to today’s difficulties and joys.

And Now For Something Jungian

The concept of ‘the shadow self’ is an unpleasant, yet necessary reminder that none of us are perfect. This compassionate read from High Existence does a great job explaining it and its origins, helping us meditate on the idea of our own repressed impulses and dealing with them differently. The proposed solution is just as enlightening as the rest of this article—a great way to start making the unconscious conscious and step beyond the binary distinction of permitted and forbidden parts of our personality.

A Historical Look at the Origins of Self-Esteem

Here’s an unsurprising fact—the modern notion of self-esteem comes from 1980s California. The Guardian looks at how the ideas of Californian politician John Vasconcellos promoted the idea of self-esteem, how it proliferated, and what effect it’s had on schools and the adults who came from them. For those who came from the era of participation trophies (and others who don’t), demystifying the great ‘self-esteem’ con is an interesting way to make sense of a psychological phenomenon and parts of ourselves that have been influenced by it.

And Finally, Let’s Get Into the Flow

‘Flow’ is a relatively new way of describing an ancient state of mind that most of us are intimately familiar with. It’s pleasant, immersive, it exists outside of time, and it usually yields great results. This article from Positive Psychology provides a comprehensive overview of the flow state, complete with book recommendations, scientific background, and ways to help you achieve it more often.