Molly
@mollyjbarth
Molly
After School Apr '25 Recap
docs.google.comKirke’s motto resonated with young women enough that it has become a meme, frequently reappearing on X when someone is too obviously positioning themselves at the centre of the narrative – a refreshing subversion of what it’s like to live in the main-character-syndrome age.
July Articles
What makes someone cool? People like David Bowie, Samuel L. Jackson and Charli XCX may seem to have little in common, but a study came up with six shared traits: Cool people are perceived to be extroverted, hedonistic, powerful, adventurous, open and autonomous.
The Morning: The Senate + the Supreme Court
Never before in history have so many people been under the gaze of so many strangers. Humans evolved in small groups, defined by kinship: those we knew, knew us. And our imaginative capabilities allowed us to know strangers—kings and queens, heroes of legend, gods above—all manner of at least partly mythic personalities to whom we may have felt as ... See more
Chris Hayes • On the Internet, We’re Always Famous
Nobody is actually thinking that much about you (the first thing self help psychologists say)
we’re so wrapped up in our own story that we don’t see how we’re supporting characters in someone else’s.
Nathan Hill • The Nix: A novel
As Parrish shows, we may imagine we are the protagonists in the story of our lives. But the sad truth is, most of us run on autopilot. Our behavioral defaults, groomed by biology, evolution, and culture, are primed to run the show for us if we don’t intervene. At our worst, we react to events without reasoning, not even realizing that we’ve missed ... See more
Clear Thinking: Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results
We are all NPCs at times and main characters at others. The goal is to reduce our time spent in the former with time and reflection.
Dan Koe • The Art of Focus: Find Meaning, Reinvent Yourself and Create Your Ideal Future
The problem is that we only want to be the main character
The rise reflects what behavioral scientists call the “privacy paradox”: people fiercely guard screen visibility in public, even as they hand over vast personal data to tech platforms. “I mean, it’s always like a give and take with privacy,’ said Mr. Punater, 23 and a computer science major at the University of Southern California. “What you choose... See more
Privacy Paradoxes and Algorithmic Snooping
Writer Laura Pitcher looks into how Gen Z is increasingly using ChatGPT as a spiritual tool, from decoding dreams to crafting tarot readings. Dubbed “algorithmic conspirituality,” this unlikely trend merges AI with New Age practices. Pitcher talks to several users who treat ChatGPT not as a machine, but as a mystical mirror of sorts; one person, fo... See more