On Being Able to Defend Oneself
Every day, especially in the era of social media (from the mental health perspective, probably the single worst invention of modern times), we are likely to face enemies. People who disagree…
Self-Knowledge: Fear & Insecurity
- 01. On Being Able to Defend Oneself
- 02. The Fear of Death
- 03. I Am Not My Body
- 04. The Problems of Being Very Beautiful
- 05. 6 Reasons Not to Worry What the Neighbours Think
- 06. Am I Fat? An Answer from History
- 07. The Problem of Shame
- 08. On Feeling Ugly
- 09. The Particular Beauty of Unhappy-Looking People
- 10. How Not to Become a Conspiracy Theorist
- 11. The Terror of a ‘No’
- 12. On Being Hated
- 13. The Origins of Everyday Nastiness
- 14. The Weakness of Strength Theory
- 15. On Self-Sabotage
- 16. FOMO: Fear Of Missing Out
- 17. On a Sense of Sinfulness
The Fear of Death
One of the most useful things about our minds is that they can in some moods allow us to step outside of ourselves – and consider our death from a wholly…
I Am Not My Body
A characteristic emotion on seeing a favourite novel turned into a film is puzzlement. We may not hate the actor playing a particular role, we might even find them rather beautiful,…
The Problems of Being Very Beautiful
Some of the pain of feeling unattractive stems from the stories we tell ourselves about those we deem beautiful. They, the blessed ones, surely do not suffer. They, the gods and…
6 Reasons Not to Worry What the Neighbours Think
We have reduced it down to a trite error – ’worrying about what the neighbours think’ – as if this were a trap that only a mediocrity could ever fall into.…
Am I Fat? An Answer from History
We tend to feel that concepts like ‘beauty’ and ‘ugliness’ are things that can be objectively defined, are eternally valid and are founded on unarguable criteria. Someone is either beautiful or…