Stigma wrt aging manifests in an obsession w/ cleanliness & order (ie removing any signs of decay) but also demand for constant novelty, and endless chaotic upheaval that prevents anything from becoming too familiar
Likewise, neurotic fixation on achieving standard life goals as quickly as possible, before it's Too Late - but also a desire to experience everything in the hedonic mode of the eternal Now, the way an infant experiences the world. To be a toddler who owns a penthouse
political hot take merchants are only useful as case studies in how different personality types will twist themselves into the wildest shapes to maintain the narrative that they "were always right, they totally called it" regardless of what actually happens
The annoying thing w/ Dream Interpretation is the constant deference to generic cultural motifs. The whole appeal of a dream is that it's the most Alien mode of consciousness one regularly enters into, why then so eager to ensnare it in established forms?
Intellectualism can allow bad emotions to sneak in. There are very smart ppl who are also total sad sacks, and this emotional frame permeates all their "logical" ideas. This is the most dangerous thing - articulate, substantiated arguments for why life is objectively Bad
People say "superficial" like it's a dirty word, but superficiality is often the ideal that is aimed for - that sense of life as a magical dream, effortlessly gliding over everything, everywhere a feeling of great mysteries just below the surface. Melting away of self-reservation
It's troubling how often, when making irl conversation w/ a random man over the age of 50, their go-to topic of choice is "things have gotten worse than ever, and they're gonna keep getting worse - wouldn't you agree?"
It can be an interesting exercise to continue the conversation while casually refusing to affirm their frame, while also not adopting the frame of The Enemy (as they might be wont to project on you)
Being too aware of The Past & The Future often seems like a detriment to a person's mental & emotional health
People concerned about climate change talk about unseasonably warm days in the fall / winter like how fat ppl talk about hors d'oeuvres, "Oh I really shouldn't, we made a resolution...but they're so good...maybe just one more..."
People can become addicted to self-discipline in a way that isn't nearly as useful as it might first appear. It's the other end of the spectrum to ppl who shotgun tons of psychedelics in hopes of developing mental powers, and just go crazy instead. You turn into a stone
Much in the way that MBTI is said to be "horoscopes for people too self-conscious to indulge in astrology", radical AI Utopianism reads like ppl doing a Sci Fi Apologetics for New Thought: the mind has the power to reshape reality, but only if it's a special Computer Mind