Mary Martin

We now know that the brain’s capacity to learn, to adapt, to change in response to experience is so fundamental that it strikes the wrong note to say that an activity (like meditation) ‘changes the brain’ as if such change is special or unusual. In fact, everything we do changes the brain on some level. Or rather, the brain is constantly changing,... See more

The model was helpful—but only to an extent. They found that while AI improved the output of less creative writers, it made little difference to the quality of the stories produced by writers who were already creative.

when the trauma label has been applied by outside mores – when an event like an explosion, an assault or a sexual event has taken place and our culture insists that it be traumatising. Sometimes this extraneous narrative resonates and provides a sense of relief, but in other instances disagreement and refusal of the label can lead to judgement from... See more

a problem with mindfulness as a strategy

If an AI companion becomes someone’s most consistent emotional presence, the right question isn’t “how do we stop this?” It’s “what does that say about the world around them?” Technological relationships are not new. What’s new is how effective they’ve become; and how clearly they mirror the gaps we’ve refused to address.

We’ve tried prohibition... See more

Our minds often wander into darker thoughts like a curious but cautious cat exploring a dimly lit room. It takes great willpower and a blend of wisdom, perspective, and a touch of whimsy to extract oneself from these shadowed corners

The comparison is anchored in The Cigarette Century ,12 which provides a detailed historical account of how cigarettes were engineered for addictiveness. From this foundation, a framework of industrial strategies—such as dose manipulation, delivery speed, use of additives, and health washing—was developed as the basis for comparison with UPFs.