Mind & Behavior

Mind & Behavior

Study the science of how we think, feel, and act, with insights that help you better understand yourself and others.

An image of a cat / lion.
The sooner you can admit what’s swimming beneath the surface, the sooner you can improve your life.
A young girl giving her undivided attention to a TV screen displaying an engaging cartoon.
The modern attention economy hijacks our ability to focus, but an ancient technique offers a means to get it back.
A single bed bug on a white background.
Claims of a sudden infestation appear unfounded.
Three young girls sitting on a bench and smiling.
After turning up hundreds of genes with hard-to-predict effects, some scientists are now probing the grander developmental processes that shape face geometry.
Gertrude Bell, a formidable traveller, archaeologist and diplomat, defied the action fallacy by challenging conventional wisdom and achieving remarkable success in her endeavors.
We rightly celebrate Winston Churchill as one of the world's greatest leaders — but for all the wrong reasons.
The curious be the unicorn.
Visionaries from Socrates to Steve Jobs have touted curiosity as an essential quality. Here’s how to supercharge your spirit of inquiry.
A group of people sitting around a table in a conference room, strategizing on how to retain talent.
Really smart people don’t just demand intellectual engagement — they need the opportunity to learn and create something special.
A bunch of colorful signs in a display.
After my father died, my journey of rediscovery began with the Czech language.
A collage of people learning and working on a computer.
Your brain is not an obsolete piece of technology. Once properly trained for learning, it’s your ticket to navigating the AI landscape.
A humble black and white photo of a man with his hands clasped.
In our competitive world, fortune does not appear to favor the humble — but a strong counter-narrative is emerging.
A painting depicting the concept of the law of reversed effort, with a naked man exerting himself to carry a heavy rock.
There are many things in life that cannot be improved with greater effort. Sometimes, life requires that you step back.
A woman utilizing her brain's executive function while laying on a bed surrounded by clothes.
While executive function matures between 18 and 20 years of age, the brain keeps changing long afterward.
A soccer goalie displaying action and focus standing in front of a net.
We often assume that movement means progress and that doing something is better than doing nothing. That is often not true.
Taylor Swift shines on the red carpet
We are wired to value things more when we work hard at attaining them — even if, objectively, they aren't worth that much.
An image of a spiral galaxy in space.
We need a hypothesis that accounts for both the fine-tuning of physics for life but also the arbitrariness and gratuitous suffering we find in the world.
A man showcasing his strength by lifting a barbell in the barren desert.
"Precarious manhood" is the belief that manhood must be earned and constantly defended. It has a poor outcome.
A statue of three monkeys covering their faces.
We all have a place in our lives where we look the other way and pretend everything is fine. It's a built-in excuse to act selfishly.
A man and woman demonstrating emotional intelligence while sitting at a table with a laptop.
In an environment of impressive IQs, emotional intelligence makes all the difference.
A group of people sleeping on a train.
Lucid dreamers may have “privileged access to their inner world,” with “heightened awareness… to the outside world.”