![[Everyday] Psychophilosophy](https://everydaypsychophilosophy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/cropped-10-21-16-unsquished-everydaypsychophilosophy-header.png)
The Let-Down Effect
There is nothing so wretched or foolish as to anticipate misfortunes. What madness it is to be expecting evil before it arrives! — Lucius Annaeus Seneca With the final days of the 2016-2017 school year, I found myself in perilous straits: manuscripts to finish, final talks to give, papers and exams to grade, this whole “sleep” thing to do. But through those two weeks of high stress, my immune system and body were functioning at...
The Secret to Mortality
Old age isn’t so bad when you consider the alternative. – Maurice Chevalier Have you ever wanted to live forever? Okay, maybe not that long, but have you ever wanted to grow old? Of course you do! That’s why you don’t smoke cigarettes (or at least feel a little guilty when you do). That’s why you exercise (or at least feel a little guilty when you don’t). And that’s why you’ve cut all gluten from your diet (because, you know, your...
Battle Royale: Time vs. Money
Money can’t buy happiness, but it can buy you the boat that will take you there. – Ron Carlson Recently, I was offered a part-time job that would allow me to make some extra money; however, in order to accept it, I had to attend a training class, spend hours reading preparatory articles, and then actually work the job itself. So am I willing to give up my free time in order to nab some added cash? (If you ask my credit card statement,...
The Return Trip Effect
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. – Marcel Proust The return to graduate school after winter break is always tougher than I expect. From being treated like a prince at home, I return to the stables where memories of grand feasts, shoulder rubs, and encouraged slothfulness are replaced with stale PB&J’s, knotted muscles, and an alarm clock that won’t shut the hell up....
Why Does Time Fly?
Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That’s relativity. – Albert Einstein And like that—[I just snapped my fingers at the computer screen]—the summer is over and school is back in session. As a kid, that final day before the new school year was always one of the worst days of the whole year. And for this summer, it wasn’t much different—I...