Quote of the day
Self-esteem is the disposition to experience oneself as being competent to cope with the basic challenges of life and of being worthy of happiness. It is confidence in the efficacy of our mind, in our ability to think. By extension, it is confidence in our ability to learn, make appropriate choices and decisions, and respond effectively to change. It is also the experience that success, achievement, fulfillment – happiness – are right and natural for us. The survival-value of such confidence is obvious; so is the danger when it is missing.
Self-esteem is not the euphoria or buoyancy that may temporarily be induced by a drug, a compliment, or a love affair. It is not an illusion or hallucination. If it is not grounded in reality, if it is not built over time through the appropriate operation of mind, it is not self-esteem.
~NATHANIEL BRANDEN, author of The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem: The Definitive Work on Self-Esteem by the Leading Pioneer in the Field
SELF-IMPROVEMENT
That can’t be a legal parking space, Seth’s Blog | Tweet
‘Because if it was, someone would already be parking there.’
→The Icarus Deception: How High Will You Fly?
PSYCHOLOGY
The surprising upside of guilt and shame, Psychology Today | Tweet
Guilt and shame are extremely unpleasant emotions that can cause deep psychological wounds and impact our lives in significant ways investigated something unexpected—whether such emotions might also have an upside.
→Guilt, Shame, and Anxiety: Understanding and Overcoming Negative Emotions
You’re at the casino and you win big–a lucky fluke, divine intervention or inner smarts? The answer’s against the odds.
→Good Luck: Creating the Conditions for Success in Life and Business
BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS
How low self-esteem is killing girls’ academic success around the world, The Washington Post | Tweet
“Believe in yourself” is not just a bubble-lettered cliché on a third grade teacher’s bulletin board. It’s an economic strategy, new research suggests.
THE MIND
Are humans getting cleverer?, BBC | Tweet
IQ is rising in many parts of the world. What’s behind the change and does it really mean people are cleverer than their grandparents?
→How To Improve Your Mind: 20 Keys to Unlock the Modern World
CULTURE
Why we sleep together, The Atlantic | Tweet
A long time ago, beds were expensive—but there’s more to it than that.
→At Day’s Close: Night in Times Past
BOOKS
Kazuo Ishiguro: By the book, NYT | Tweet
The author, most recently, of The Buried Giant was obsessed with Sherlock Holmes as a child. ‘I’d go to school and say things like: ‘Pray, be seated,’ or ‘That is most singular.’ People at the time just put this down to my being Japanese.’
ART
The chemistry of why van Gogh reds are going white, Hyperallergic | Tweet
Vincent van Gogh’s reds have been turning white, but the exact reason why has remained unclear. Research published last month out of Belgium has identified a rare lead mineral in his paint as the missing link.
→van Gogh: The Complete Paintings
WRITING
What Joss Whedon can teach you about writing (The avengers writer), Positive Writer | Tweet
As a writer, I am prone to doubting myself, my writing, and whether or not the Earth is round.
→Writer’s Doubt: The #1 Enemy of Writing (and What You Can Do About It)
Why every novel needs tension (and how to create it), Jennifer Blanchard | Tweet
I hope I don’t need to tell you why you need tension in your novel. Every story, regardless of genre, needs to ooze with tension. Why? Because tension determines the pacing of the story.