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That people show off these illegible globs in public only makes sense from a signaling perspective: They are saying, “look at how many nodes I have in my brain, amazing nodes, I have so many nodes that a peon such as yourself can’t even guess what’s going on here!”

Of course, therapy and its vernacular are not solely to blame for our era of isolation. Rather, therapy and other tools of introspection have become ways to justify our lack of access to external stimulation. Instead of using therapy to untangle our desires and fears so that we may effectively act on them, therapy becomes the goal in itself—to... See more

If you're unsatisfied you have two options. Change your experience or change your relationship to experience. The first is agency, the second is spirituality. Both capacities are important, and it takes a lifetime to get the balance right

Moreover, depending on something to function, in and of itself, is not pathological. Many people require a daily medication to keep a chronic condition in remission, for example insulin, blood thinners, anti-retroviral therapy, and anti-hypertensives. Dependence becomes a problem when people persist in using a substance despite its use causing harm... See more

But this is self-refuting. “If ‘good’ means only the local ideology,” Lewis continued, “how can those who invent the local ideology be guided by any idea of good themselves? The very idea of freedom presupposes some objective moral law which overarches rulers and ruled alike.”

Szaszians hold on to a fantasy where an objective definition of “disorder” not only exists, but it also successfully covers recognized disorders in general medicine while conveniently excluding mental illnesses as faux-disorders. Szaszians also commit themselves to some version of the idea that medical authority only applies to genuine disorders,... See more

The hardest, recurring psychological task of my life has been learning to accept the absurdity of existence, to see ambition and achievement for the false gods they are, and to understand, truly understand, how one can flourish in what looks, from the outside, like mediocrity.

Every adult senses that their attention is slipping, that their thinking is flattening, that their world is flooded with noise, no neutrality, and that no institution really exists to protect them. Your brain is for sale, my guy - as your attention goes, so does your cognition, so does your sense of depth and certainty.

Confidence, optimism, and... See more