Matt Johnson's Blog, page 13

How Affective Forecasting Can Influence Your Future Self

People tend to see their future selves as distant strangers. Connecting with their future selves can lead to better decision-making.

How Cultural Anthropology Can Address Media Fragmentation

How can an anthropological perspective help us better understand the current state of atomization? Design anthropologist Adam Gamwell weighs in.

How Cultural Anthropology Helps Unlock Social Taboos

How can we uncover cultural assumptions, linguistic nuance, and unspoken social taboos? Cultural anthropology may provide an important perspective

The Psychology of Jeff Bezos and the 10,000-Year Clock

How does thinking about the very long-term future impact our psychology?

The Psychology of Jeff Bezos and The 10,000 Year Clock

What would compel someone to invest time and money in building a 10,000 Year Clock? To find out, we have to explore the psychology of VERY long-term thinking

The Psychology of How Luck Made the Self-Made Man

Recognizing the role of luck presents a fuller picture of our own success. This perspective isn’t just more comprehensive - it’s also good for us.

The Psychology and Mythology of The Self-Made Man

We tend to assume that if someone becomes wealthy, it reflects something about them as a person, and not something about their circumstance. Should we question this assumption?

The Psychology of the Urban Mystique

Cities are one of the most important features of human civilization, and they shape our lives in profound and mysterious ways.

The Face-Down Phone: The Psychology of Digital Discontent

Why do we feel the pull of our phones even when we're not using them? It all comes down to the psychology of digital discontent.

How a Smartphone Corrupts Attention Even When It's Face-Down

Why do we feel the pull of our phones even when we're not using them? It all comes down to the psychology of digital discontent.