Mind Tricks Blog
Aloha and welcome to Mind Tricks Blog! I hope to share with you a random assortment of interesting and engaging material that falls within the inner and outer limits of psychology. These Blog entries will include:
- Thought provoking research I’ve encountered in the field of psychology and how it may apply to understanding ourselves and the world around us.
- Q & A sessions I’ve conducted with psychologists and professionals in the field with really interesting things to say.
- Reactions to recent MIND TRICKS podcast episodes I’ve recorded.
- Random musings on psychological topics – really just whatever I find to be interesting and at least tangentially related to the psychological realm.
I hope this Blog provides interesting, informative, and entertaining material for your educational enrichment, and an occasional laugh.
Why Are We So Drawn to the End of the World?
My recent conversation with Dr. Mathias Clasen on Mind Tricks Radio podcast got me thinking about one of the strangest pleasures in fiction: our fascination with the end of the world. I’ve been especially interested in this topic lately because of the publication of...
Perfectionism, Part II: When “Doing Your Best” Doesn’t Feel Good
Perfectionism has a sneaky way of disguising itself as ambition. It sounds noble: I just have high standards. I want to do things well. I don’t want to settle. And honestly, there’s nothing wrong with striving. Wanting to improve, grow, learn, compete, create, or...
Perfectionism: Part I
Perfectionism was the subject of a thoughtful conversation I had a few years ago when I interviewed Dr. Liza Wäcker for my podcast, and it is a topic that has stuck with me ever since. It is one of those issues that can look admirable from the outside, often wearing...
The Neuroplasticity of Identity
Identity is often talked about as if it were something fixed, almost like a hidden object buried inside us that we are supposed to discover once and for all. But a more interesting and probably more accurate way to think about it is this: identity is something the...
What dystopian fiction can reveal about power, ideology, and the danger of turning people into abstractions
What if a society became so committed to fairness that it decided parents should no longer raise their own children? That is the chilling premise behind Progeny, a dystopian novel written by Dr. Peter Weiss, built on a brutal idea: in the name of equity, every newborn...
Stop Trying and Start Doing: A Small Shift That Changes Everything
Recently on MindTricks Radio, I had a lively conversation with author and speaker Carla Ondrasik about a surprisingly powerful idea: the difference between trying and doing. At first glance it sounds like semantics. After all, isn’t trying the first step toward doing?...
Connection Is the Antidote to Modern Loneliness: Four Ways to Rebuild It in Your Life
In an age where we can instantly message someone across the globe, scroll through hundreds of social media updates, and join online communities in seconds, you might assume we are more connected than ever. But the opposite often feels true. Loneliness has become one...
Don’t Take It Personally!: — Breaking Down The Cognitive Distortion of Personalization
In Episode 85 of Mind Tricks Radio, I sat down with Dr. Tyler Ralston to talk about a cognitive distortion that quietly shapes a surprising amount of mental anguish: Personalization. That conversation inspired this post. Personalization is the tendency to assume that...
When Earth Blinked (a novel) cover announcement!
I’m excited to announce that the book cover survey for my upcoming debut novel, When Earth Blinked, is officially complete! Huge thanks to everyone who took the time to vote and share feedback. Your input genuinely mattered, and it was exciting to see such strong...
Critical Thinking — Beyond Basics, a conversation with Dr. Christopher Dwyer
In a recent MindTricks Radio conversation with critical thinking researcher Dr. Christopher Dwyer, we kept returning to a deceptively simple question: what does it actually mean to know something? His new book title, Knowledge Doesn’t Exist, is intentionally...