20+ Proofs for Humanity’s Sociality — The ‘nature vs. nurture’ question has been debated for thousands of years even before English polymath Francis Galen coined the term in 1874. …

A Teacher’s Take on Why we Should Think Psychoanalytically — When I was sixteen years old, I beat my father in chess for the very first time. One might assume that I celebrated this major victory — perhaps pounding my chest with my fists and roaring towards the heavens! But instead, I felt dread. Why? Well, defeating my father in…

The Good & Bad of Preferring those like ‘Us’ — Context: A more accurate subtitle would be ‘the good & bad of preferring those whom we perceive to be like us’, because perception is a fundamental part of favoritism. In-group preferentiality — attracting via shared language, ideas, cultures — is the very mechanism that permits societies to form in the…

How an Anxiety Disorder Can Begin — and End — With Your Gut — March 11th, 2020: I entered my apartment in Long Island City, feeling as if something was amiss. Ignoring this lingering jamais vu, I sat down at my desk and began lesson-planning. Maybe I’m nervous about these lockdowns? …

A 101 for Fighting Against Today’s Most BRUTAL Dictatorship — The Why: In a recent press briefing, US President Joe Biden made an historic announcement condemning the dictatorship of Turkey, specifically for their recent offensives in northern Syria. A portion of the briefing reads: …The situation in and in relation to Syria, and in particular the actions by the Government of Turkey…

Three Empirical Strategies for Self-Improvement — Martin Seligman is both the founder and leading pioneer of Positive Psychology, a subfield that offers a sort of guidance absent from most other schools. While Seligman began his research examining pessimism and learned helplessness, he grew increasingly curious about the opposite: What makes people endure challenges with optimism? …

An Introduction to my Multidisciplinary Self-Help Work — “The unexamined life is not worth living.” — Socrates “Snow day!” my best friend Sarik Kumar shouted through my phone’s receiver, rattling me awake. I turned towards my window and squinted at its purgatorial glow. “Are you there, Sam? They JUST announced it on the news! Snow day, man! …

An Analysis of Psychology’s Origins, Insights & Inspirations — Context Every year, thousands of students graduate to become psychologists, entering a discipline that is both new (just under 150 years-old) but with ancient roots that run back thousands of years. As memory expert Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850–1909) put it: “Psychology has a long past, yet its real history is short.” Psychology…

The Psychological Benefits of Becoming an Educator — Before we begin: I’ve been teaching in NYC for seven years (6 years at a small underperforming public high-school, and 1 year at a top magnate high school with over 6,000 students) and have also spent four years teaching and lecturing in high schools and colleges in my home country of Armenia. …