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Life stages

Memory and nostalgia

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It’s not just youth’s happy memories that have a special weight

Mixed in with the highly memorable rites of growing up are more troubling highlights. But these, too, can have enduring value

by Çağlayan Özdemir, Michelle D Leichtman & David B Pillemer

four men in strange fancy dress costumes stand in a fairground at night

Life stages

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Legal definitions aside – what makes you think you’re an adult?

Achieving adult status is a momentous part of life. Our research suggests getting there takes more than years or milestones

by Megan Wright

Death and dying

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I thought I knew everything about death. Then grief struck me

Even though I grew up in Death World, and still live there, it couldn’t prepare me for being my family’s sole survivor

by John Troyer

Photo of two people laughing and an elderly man sitting on a mosaic bench in a park with green trees in the background.

Personality

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There’s a reason some of us find it easier to change than others

There is a personality trait we carry throughout life that explains why some of us find it easier to change than others

by Amanda J Wright

Painting of a skull adorned with vibrant flowers and a butterfly, with a candle and sheet music in the background.

Meaning and the good life

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The immortalists have got it wrong – here’s why we need death

The immortalists say beating death will lead to peace. But what if mortality is our bittersweet path to love and harmony?

by Susan Cain

Photo of a healthcare worker in protective gear preparing a syringe in a hospital room with patients receiving treatment.

Caregiving

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We need to address society’s unrealistic view of caregivers

Measured against the figure of the strong carer, I felt I came up shamefully short – I was vulnerable, too

by Joanne Limburg

Photo of a man lounging on a beach towel with a ball as a pillow a woman sits nearby with colourful umbrellas and buildings.

Sex and sexuality

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Human bodies change through life. So does our sexuality

Sexual identity is more than sexual orientation. It develops and changes as our bodies develop and change through our lives

by Jana Byars

Photo of two people on a bench overlooking a sunny seaside with trees casting shadows on grass and a stone balustrade.

Ageing

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Older people are battling despair, but Erikson offers us hope

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a mental toll on older people. The psychoanalyst Erik Erikson offers a way out of our despair

by Jane Adams

Photo of a green hummingbird with a red bill in flight against a blurred green background.

Nature and the environment

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A vast, thrilling world of nature unfolds outside of human time

Human life might stretch over decades, but the lifespans of many other organisms on this pale blue dot leave us in the dust

by Nicholas P Money

Photo of two elderly women walking together on a city pavement, with a red bus and two other people in the background.

Life stages

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Quit the millennial bashing – generationalism is bad science

‘Boomer’ and ‘Gen Z’ seem like handy ways of sorting people, but they are more cultural creations than natural phenomena

by Cort W Rudolph

A close-up of a hand completing a jigsaw puzzle showing a street scene with shops and a clock against a black background.

Pleasures and pastimes

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On the consolatory pleasure of jigsaws when the world is in bits

It’s not memory that makes us human but meaning-making. When life falls apart, jigsaw puzzles help us put some pieces back

by Melanie McGrath

A romantic 18th-century painting depicting a seated couple embracing in a lush garden scene with soft, earthy tones.

Love

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Working, flirting and sex: courtship in 18th-century France

Flirting, sex and affection: working-class couples courting in 18th-century France show they are not so different from today

by Julie Hardwick