This year, I’m weaving together the many threads of The Emotion Machine – psychology, philosophy, culture, and practical tools – into a more coherent and ambitious whole.
Recent Work
The Nostalgic Power of Rewatching Childhood Movies
Rewatching old favorites can be relaxing, restorative, and surprisingly insightful. Childhood movies don't just bring us back to the past — they show us how far we've traveled since we first watched them.
How Pop Music Became Simpler, Darker, and More Self-Centered
Today's lyrics are becoming darker in tone, simpler in form, and more centered on the isolated self. What does that say about the culture singing along?
Beauty As A Psychological Need: Feeling Deprived in an Ugly World
Daily ugliness quietly shapes how we see the world. Rediscovering beauty in everyday life restores our sense of care, harmony, and meaning.
The Influencer Silo: The Limits of Personality-Driven Social Change
Influencers can make ideas visible, but they can also trap them inside social bubbles. Real change happens when an idea leaves the bubble and becomes part of everyday life.
Hyper-Individualism and the Crab Bucket Mentality
When success feels impossible, people often turn to tearing others down. Crab bucket mentality reveals how resentment, competition, and envy keep everyone stuck.
Meme-Brained: How Shallow Culture Creates Shallow Understanding
In a world of reaction images, doomscrolling, and “brain rot,” memes have become one of the primary ways we process reality. But when symbolic shortcuts replace deeper thinking, our understanding of the world can become shallow and reactive.