Gaslighting

"Maybe I'm not lying. Maybe you're just crazy." That's the short version of gaslighting. In this episode of PBS Digital Studio's series Bad Behavior, we learn all about gaslighting. Slightly related: the Overton Window. (via Laughing Squid)

The Psychology of Generation Jones

The Baby Boom generation is usually defined as people born anywhere from 1946 to 1964, which is a lot of years. By 1999, it was clear that those people born in the later half had a much different life from those born to returning World War II soldiers. While we do remember Woodstock, we were too young to go. We thought the war in Vietnam would last forever. And while we didn't grow up with computers, we were young enough to embrace them. The further you get into this video, the more I feel seen.

Is Hypnosis Real?

The term hypnosis grew out of the work of Franz Mesmer in the 18th century. He promoted the theory of animal magnetism and would cure illness with magnetic fluids. His successes were later attributed to the power of suggestion, which gave us both the placebo effect and hypnosis. Hypnosis is based on the power of suggestion in humans, but was depicted in movies as a "power" to force people to do things they normally wouldn't. As such, it was relegated to the realm of bunk. The truth is that hypnosis is a technique that works (on some people), but is not that dramatic. It's more a matter of opening one's mind to new ways of thinking. (via Damn Interesting) 

Mobsters

From Married to the Sea.

Reflecting a Mood

Morning.

[image or embed]

— Frostbitten Flamingo (@flemtheparrot.bsky.social) January 25, 2026 at 11:51 PM

The Science of Depression

Depression is a horrible malady that's often hard to pin down. Situational depression is when you feel awful with a reason, like personal loss, trauma, or the world is falling apart, and clinical depression is a mental illness, but these lie on a spectrum and it's hard to determine where the line is. Medical science has some standards for diagnosis, but they can be subjective. There are no biological injuries that point out clinical depression, and treatments vary in effectiveness from person to person. 

Adding to that, the very symptoms of depression make it hard to seek help. Then there's the stigma and expense attached to treatment. But it's very important to recognize the symptoms and seek help if you or someone you know is suffering from depression. (via Geeks Are Sexy) 

Some People Would Just Rather Stay At Home

Some people don't get out of the house much because they suffer from depression, loneliness, social anxiety, or they don't have the means to go anywhere. And then there are those who are fine but they just prefer to stay home. There's nothing wrong with that, and this video explains what's going on their heads. 

But this is a short video, and only looks at people who have friends and social opportunities and live alone. If you live with friends or family, it's likely you have all the social interaction you need. You might also have little control and no peace and quiet, or maybe you have both. While I loved the challenge and chaos of raising a family, I also appreciate the peace and quiet of living alone, not to mention the freedom to make my own schedule and cover a room with a project whenever I want to. (via Laughing Squid) 

Acts of Evil

Okay, this guy needs to ponder the definition of "evil." Thinking that you, by yourself, are the ultimate arbiter of what others deserve seems pretty evil to me. What's worse is that this attitude is so common. This comic is from Alex Culang and Raynato Castro at Buttersafe. 

Why Facts Don't Change Minds

Some people don't accept facts if those facts conflict with their worldview. That's because, even if they don't realize it, their worldview is more important to them. There are quite a few underlying reasons, which are explained here with geese. (via Laughing Squid) 

Petty Revenge

It's human nature to lash out at anything and everything but yourself when you are proven wrong. Most of us resist the urge. In this case, the falcon is not directly affected, but it sure makes the guy look stupid, and he obviously hates that. This comic is from The Dane Man. (via Geeks Are Sexy) 

The Cross-race Effect

When I was a kid in the 1960s, I would occasionally hear someone older say "All Black people look alike." Well, they probably said colored people or something worse. I thought that was odd, since the kids in my school certainly didn't look alike (except the twins). The hometown people stopped saying that (as far as I knew) in the 1970s. Much later I considered that was probably due to the explosion of TV sitcoms led by Black actors, like The Jeffersons and Sanford and Son. Back then, folks in my small Kentucky town tended to quit socializing outside of their race after high school graduation. I went to college out of state.

But that effect rose again later. When we found our best chance of adoption was to go to China, my husband and I started obsessing on Asian babies and children. We read books, cut pictures from magazines, and swooned anytime we saw an Asian child on the streets. In China, we had no trouble recognizing anyone we encountered more than once. All six babies in our group looked totally different (of course, mine was the prettiest). But when Princess started school and brought her friends over for parties, it struck me that I couldn't tell the white girls apart. Mind, I was older than the average mom at the time, and hadn't socialized with a lot of children for many years. I got better with time. I still have a hard time wrapping my head around strangers asking if my daughters are biological sisters. In appearance, the only thing they have in common is that they are beautiful and not white. 

It's easy to argue that the cross-race effect isn't racist. However, it does tell you that someone hasn't been around -or hasn't paid attention to- people outside their racial group. At Dr. Dolittle's wedding, one local woman said it was the most diverse group she'd ever been in. My first thought was, uh, you need to get out more. Thinking about it later, I realized that for a group of only 60 people in one room, it was strikingly diverse, but it was nothing compared to a big city street or a military base. 

Humans are Cute

(via Geeks Are Sexy)

When You're Really Bad At Saying No

Some people would rather suffer great unpleasantness than say "no" to someone. It's because they fear even greater unpleasantness if they were to say "no." But look at what might happen!  

The Frequency Illusion

Years ago, when my mother got a new car, I got her old gray Camry. Suddenly I became aware of how many gray Camrys there are. Once in a parking lot, I spotted four parked side-by-side. How did I never notice that before? At the same time, my mother said, "Have you ever noticed how many red cars there are on the road? No I hadn't, because she was the one driving a new red car. This is called the frequency illusion, and Minute Earth explains it with a much more interesting example. There aren't suddenly more cars of your kind on the road, it's the fact that you never paid attention to that particular model before. This can happen with any new thing you encounter, like headless goat hockey, which you can read about here. This video is only 3:20; the rest is promotional.

Your Brain Creates Your Reality

Perception is the way we experience the world. It's made up of the signals that come into our bodies through our eyes, ears, and other sensory organs, but is also made up of our brain's interpretation of those signals. We know that the way light comes into our eyes should be upside-down, but our brains unscramble those signals to match the world around us. That's just the beginning of the ways our brains change the incoming signals to be useful instead of confusing and overwhelming. The brain uses present signals to predict the future, so quickly that we never notice what we are doing. Kurzgesagt explains some of the chores your brain does at the microsecond scale, which is a lot, and it makes us wonder how we ever have time and brain power left over to just think (as we think of it) and make conscious decisions. This video is about 9:40- the rest is promotional. (via Geeks Are Sexy) 

Therapy

(via Slow Robot)

Aphantasia

Although it may be hard for most of us to imagine, there are people who don't experience mental imagery, or seeing pictures in your head. Most of us can conjure up images from memory, imagination, or an external description without much effort. About 4% of people cannot do that, although they think and navigate the world just fine. This condition is called aphantasia. It's not really a disability, and many folks who have it are completely unaware. How can you know that the way you think is any different from the way other people think? I can't imagine what it would be like to think without visualizing what I'm thinking, so why would people with aphantasia be able to imagine what those images in the "mind's eye" are like?

Scientists have been studying people with aphantasia, and have found some interesting things about people who have it. This TED-Ed lesson from Adam Zeman tries to explain what aphantasia is like. (via Laughing Squid)

Bad Feelings

Despite my distrust of robots, I find this to be an excellent idea! Besides, I could use a good homemade lasagna. I'd make it myself, but then I'd have to eat the whole thing myself. This comic is from Li Chen at exocomics. (via Geeks Are Sexy)

Empath

Yeah, Bud, just keep telling yourself that. Maybe you'll start to believe it, but no one else does. This comic is from Miles Erickson at My Gums Are Bleeding. (via Geeks Are Sexy)

Tweet of the Day

Body transfer illusion

The illusion of owning a part/or entire body other than one's own

sight, touch and proprioception (a sense of body position) all combine to convince this person that a rubber hand is their body part

🔈This video has sound
pic.twitter.com/uBLAEGSmMd

— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) May 9, 2024

(via Everlasting Blort)