Academy of Ideas

By Academy of IdeasEducation Self-Improvement

Academy of Ideas episodes

October 04 The Psychology of NPCs – The Unthinking Masses
“Today we come across an individual who behaves like an automaton.” Erich Fromm, Escape From Freedom In video games, an NPC, or non-player character, is a background figure who is governed by the programming of the game and capable only of performing assigned actions and repeating prewritten lines. An NPC is also a metaphor for […]
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11 min
September 13 The Mystery Science Can’t Explain — Near-Death Experiences
It is common to believe that when we die, we cease to exist. Yet some people who have come close to death, or who have been revived following a clinical death, have reported intensely lucid and profound experiences, known as near-death experiences. Near-death experiences, or what are called NDEs, raise the possibility that personal consciousness […]
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18 min
August 14 The Cure for the Sickness of Modern Society – Henry David Thoreau
“In society you will not find health, but in nature. Unless our feet at least stood in the midst of nature, all our faces would be pale and livid.” Henry David Thoreau, A Natural History of Massachusetts A growing body of research shows that spending time in nature elevates our mood, reduces stress, enhances […]
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11 min
July 19 Dark Psychology – The Hidden Motives of Social Life
“In every walk of life, we assume the expression and appearance of the person we want others to believe we are. Hence, we may say that this world is a world of masks.” François de La Rochefoucauld, The Moral Maxims and Reflections Most people claim that their motives are good and pure, yet their actions […]
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15 min
June 22 How to Escape a Meaningless Life
“One third of all the sorrow I must endure is unavoidable. It is the sorrow inherent in the human condition, the price we must pay for being sentient and self-conscious organisms, aspirants to liberation, but subject to the laws of nature and under orders to keep on marching, through irreversible time, through a world wholly […]
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15 min
May 25 Why You Should Pretend to Be Less Intelligent than You Are
“Know how to appear the fool. The wisest sometimes play this card, and there are times when the greatest knowledge consists in appearing to lack knowledge. You mustn’t be ignorant, just feign ignorance.” Baltasar Gracian, How to Use Your Enemies While many people openly flaunt possessions such as wealth, status, beauty, and power, when it comes to the greatest human good, […]
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12 min
May 01 Why Men Fear Women
Given that man is the physically stronger sex, it may seem preposterous to claim that many men fear women more than women fear men. Yet across cultures and throughout history, women have often been portrayed as the greatest threat to man. In Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things, the American linguist and philosopher George Lakoff shows how in many languages there […]
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22 min
April 11 Carl Jung as Therapist – Your Problems Don’t Lie in the Past
“We should not forget that every neurosis entails a corresponding amount of demoralization. If a man is neurotic, he has lost confidence in himself. A neurosis is a humiliating defeat and is felt as such by people who are not entirely unconscious of their own psychology.” Carl Jung, Collected Works Volume 17 In the modern […]
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14 min
March 30 Why The Western Worldview Limits Human Potential
When considering how to improve modern day society many people gravitate toward political solutions. Others suggest that we need a sort of revolution of consciousness in which people move to a more enlightened state of being. But there is another path that could lead to social progress that is more practical than either politics or […]
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16 min
March 09 What If the “Crazy” Ones Are Right? – Conspiracy Theories
Some people allege that the politicians, bureaucrats and corporate elite that make up the ruling class are conspiring to enrich themselves, gain more power, and transform society into a totalitarian dystopia. From assassinations to false flags, cognitive warfare to the rigging of elections, engineered pandemics to manufactured economic and social crises, there is little they […]
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16 min