What to Do When a Stranger Annoys You
In every life, we are constantly confronted with situations where a stranger will do something acutely irritating or discomforting: perhaps they’ll turn up their music too loudly on the train, or…
How to Choose A Good Present
One of the reasons it can be so hard to buy other adults presents is that we haven’t at some level quite factored in that we are now all grown-ups. Presents…
How to Be a Good Guest
It’s normal to want to be a good guest; an intense wish to please tends to guide us when we accept a dinner invitation or spend a weekend with friends. And…
How To Make People Feel Good about Themselves
We tend to operate with the view that the best way to please people is not to bother them too much. We keep many of our dilemmas and confusions away from…
How To Tell When You Are Being A Bore
Some of the reason why we end up being inadvertently rude to people is that they are so polite with us, a politeness which gives us precious little indication of the…
What Is Empathy?
We know that empathy is a deeply important quality, which enables us to see the world as it looks through other, normally very different, eyes. But we may be unsure quite…