The Psychology Behind Why Crowds Stop Thinking
Gustave Le Bon and Edward Bernays explained how crowds stop thinking and start following, and how modern advertising still uses their playbook…
Psychology
Lady Macbeth and the Psychology of Suppressed Guilt
Lady Macbeth is usually read as simply evil. Shakespeare's play is really a case study in ambition, suppressed empathy, and what guilt…
What Jung’s Shadow Explains About Fifty Shades of Grey
Fifty Shades of Grey became a phenomenon despite the reviews. Carl Jung's idea of the Shadow helps explain why it struck such…
The Paradox of Choice and the Life You Didn’t Pick
More options were supposed to make life easier. Instead, the paradox of choice and opportunity cost leave us mentally living in every…
Perfume and the Psychology of Possessing Beauty
In Perfume, Grenouille kills not for pleasure but to possess a beauty he can never have — a need to own what…
The Psychology of Attraction Before You Say a Word
Attraction often forms before we know a thing about someone. Evolutionary psychology and culture both shape that split-second, wordless verdict on people.
Viktor Frankl, Schopenhauer, and Why Success Feels Empty
Viktor Frankl's survivors and Schopenhauer's hedonic treadmill point to the same truth: achievement fades fast, and meaning is the only thing that…
Dexter, Hannibal, and the Psychology of Self-Justification
Dexter, Hannibal Lecter, Patrick Bateman, and John Doe all did terrible things convinced they were right — and moral rationalization explains why.
Why 5,000 Netflix Options Leave You Bored Anyway
Barry Schwartz's paradox of choice and Schopenhauer's pendulum explain why endless streaming options make us more anxious, not more satisfied with life.