Man and His Symbols by Carl Jung is a great book. The aim of the book is to be an introduction to Jungian thought, and also a brief exploration of human psychology. In both of those aims, I believe he succeeds; however, there are nonetheless some reasons to not read the book. Here is why.
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Many people reject Jung because they believed his approach to psychology is supernatural or non-material. However, that is. a common misconception of Jung. His views on psychology are indeed non-empirical in many cases, but they fit just fine in a naturalist worldview. Here is how.
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The Marshmallow test is a self-help book that doesn’t live up to the hype but remains a good book, nonetheless. For beginners in psychology, the book is filled with tons of new insights; however, for those are more than beginners, the book can be somewhat repetitive and basic. That said, this is a book which I urge people to read, even if they are not into self-help books or are advanced readers in psychology, because the book is easy to misunderstand. The claims made in popular media about this book are wildly inaccurate.
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We often think of values like freedom, loyalty, and generosity as inherently good and preferable. However, when we take a closer look at these values, we can immediately recognize instances of freedom, loyalty, and generosity which are dysfunctional, unhealthy, and overall pathological. In other words, seemingly benign values can also be incredibly harmful. That is the point of this essay.
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What is a developed self? and how does one acquire a developed self? And what is the difference between self-development and regular development?
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Social media does more than allow us to create fake narratives about ourselves and others, it also allows us to warp our personas, unwittingly.
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People have reasons other than the ones which they assert for believing one thing rather than another. And those reasons can at times come from rational or irrational fears. In the case of nature and change, there are specific fears which can make us opt for one over the other. Lets explore those.
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Having a role model is a good thing, but it can very easily become a bad thing when we are unreasonable in our judgements about them. Role models are only good if we know how to use them properly.
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Consumer psychology has made many changes to our understanding of economics. We can no longer rely on, at least not entirely, neoliberal descriptions of purchasing behaviour. Here is why.
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We tend to think our views on friendship are rational and well thought out; however, social psychology suggests that is not as true as we would often prefer. There are unconscious forces which drive our choice in who we like and dislike.
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We all belong to some sort of ingroup and outgroup, but what are ingroups and outgroups exactly? Lets explain the main features of ingroups and outgroups.
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We are all conformists. We think we aren’t, but we are. To prove that point, lets discuss conformity in our lives.
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What are we to do when our friends have no morals? How should we respond? Well, we have two options, stay or leave. Lets see which is best for you.
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Dissatisfaction with one’s circumstances, that is what discontent is. But what should we think of that? Is discontent good or bad?
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That which is sacred is immune from critique. So, what happens when we treat parts of our lives as sacred? What happens when we become sacred cows?
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When it comes to changing who we are as people, one of the most interesting ways to do so is through acting. Who knows the nature of character change better than actors?
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What are delusions? The definition of delusions is that they are idiosyncratic beliefs or impressions that are firmly maintained despite evidence. But the definition of delusions seems to not fit the examples of delusions. So, what are delusions to psychologists and psychiatrists?
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We all behave some way or another in our lives, whether it be healthy or otherwise. But seldom ever reflect on these behaviours, which is unfortunate as our behaviours say a lot about our values. Though many don’t, we shall. That is, in this essay, we shall reflect upon the behaviours and values of sadists, and examine how their values relate to their behaviours. Read on to learn more about sadism.
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Recent research in neurophysiology and cognition entail major implications for schizophrenia treatment. Music might lead to less hallucinations and more white matter.
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A warrior knows of his actions and why he commits them, and he is also able to see his wounds and blood. But a trauma victim neither knows their motivations nor their wounds: they are blind to the scars visible to others.
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The reason why you dated your crazy ex is right in front of you, but you probably missed it. Read why..
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Why did people buy all that Nutella? And how can we explain it?
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Frequently, people will conflate the views of sociobiology with evolutionary psychology, and misunderstand the level of analysis that evolutionary psychology operates on. Learn the differences here.
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An essay that explores the biological roots to conflict, and how it is that those biological roots interact with culture to make conflict inevitable.
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A short essay on the relationship between schizophrenia and crime. Are schizophrenia and criminality linked?
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