The ObservatoryUnderstand
What is worth knowing before you start practicing: what actually helps, what only sounds good, and why the brain does what it does. Read in whatever order you like.
- 1 · ArticleHow to see through bad self-helpThe market is full of promises that don't hold. Seven warning flags, and three signs that something is worth your time.2 min läsning · Existential · Rationality
- 2 · ArticleSelf-esteem can't be talked into beingMirror affirmations, praise and "you are amazing" never built anyone's self-esteem. What builds it is less glamorous — and doable.1 min läsning · Subjective · Rationality
- 3 · ArticleThe myth of shouting out your angerLetting anger “out” feels right and does not help. It is one of psychology’s clearest myths. Here is what is actually going on.2 min läsning · Emotional · Rationality
- 4 · ArticleMemory is not a recordingWe trust our memories like video evidence. Research shows otherwise, and that has practical consequences for how you use yours.2 min läsning · Subjective · Rationality
- 5 · ArticleWhat mindfulness can and can't doNeither a miracle cure nor fluff: a sober guide to what attention training actually does to a mind.1 min läsning · Emotional · Rationality
- 6 · ArticleFlow: when the work carries itselfThe state in which time disappears is not luck or talent. It is architecture. Three conditions build it.2 min läsning · Occupational · Rationality
- 7 · ArticleThe map of how you loveWhy do some people respond to silence with pursuit and others with flight? Attachment research drew the map, and showed that it can be redrawn.2 min läsning · Social · Rationality
- 8 · ArticleFour habits that predict a separationResearchers who have studied thousands of couples can, with uncanny accuracy, tell which ones last. What they look at is four habits, and a fifth that rescues.2 min läsning · Social · Rationality
- 9 · ArticleRumination that pretends to be workReplaying something feels like doing something about the problem — here is why it rarely is2 min läsning · Emotional · Rationality
- 10 · ArticleMotivation rarely comes first. It comes after.We wait for the feeling before we start, even though it usually works the other way around.2 min läsning · Everyday · Rationality
- 11 · ArticleThe myths that keep you awakeFive common beliefs about sleep that don't quite hold up2 min läsning · Everyday · Rationality
- 12 · ArticleStress has two faces, and only one of them wears you downShort-term stress can sharpen you. It is the lack of recovery that does the damage.2 min läsning · Emotional · Rationality
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