Brenden Matthews

To be present is to live in the moment, to be aware of the here and now. It is a state of mind that allows us to fully experience life as it unfolds without being distracted by thoughts of the past or future. Being present is crucial to many spiritual and philosophical traditions, including Buddhism, mindfulness meditation, and Stoicism.

Much of modern psychology is borderline wishy-washy pet theories wrapped up in scientific jargon. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), on the other hand, is a practical, evidence-based approach to changing your thoughts and behaviors. And it’s been around for thousands of years. We can thank Freud for doing two things: bringing the idea of talk therapy into the mainstream and making it seem like a mystical, magical process.

In the olden days, we had résumés, and today, well, some of us still have résumés (or curriculum vitaes, if you prefer). But now, we also have social media profiles, which–to some folks–are the new résumés. They are the new first impression for the chronically online, the new first point of contact, the new first everything.

When people think of technology they likely imagine your typical futurology: robots, artificial intelligence, and space travel. But technology is more interesting than science fiction porn. It’s the way we manipulate the world around us. It’s the way we shape our environment to suit our needs. And in that sense, cities are technology.

John Maynard Keynes coined the term “animal spirits” to describe the human emotions that drive consumer confidence. In the age of AI hype, we see new animal spirits emerge as we lose connection with reality and all cheer for a new algorithmically driven future of generated clickbait, crappy art, incorrect “facts”, and a flood of low-quality content.