Mind and brain
idea
What is it like to remember all the faces you’ve ever seen?
They’ve been studied by researchers and recruited by police forces, but what’s it actually like to be a super-recogniser?
by Shayla Love
Transcendent experience
idea
Our days are both rough and slippery. Hope brings traction
I want to defend and buoy hope – it’s a fragile, quirky thing, but it has the power to help us act in the face of finitude
by John Lysaker
Cognitive and behavioural therapies
guide
How to stop living on auto-pilot
Are you going through the motions? Use these therapy techniques to set meaningful goals and build a ‘life worth living’
by Kiki Fehling
Virtues and vices
idea
The medieval notion that shows why even experts should be humble
Nicholas of Cusa and others saw the importance of ‘learned ignorance’ or recognising there is always something more to learn
by Christopher M Bellitto
Identity
idea
I rebuilt my self-esteem by changing the story of who I am
I once clung to a dubious family legend to help me cope with a difficult childhood. I’ve since found a better story to tell
by Patricia Olsen
Emerging therapies
idea
Could that tingle down the spine be a way to rediscover joy?
In new research, scientists have looked into the potential benefits of giving people with depression the aesthetic chills
by Shayla Love
Music
film
Six minutes with a pan-African gospel choir is a shot of joy for the weary soul
Directed by Samuel Bradley
The self
idea
What my mother’s sticky notes show about the nature of the self
Dementia accelerates a process we all experience, as our memories become increasingly externalised into the world around us
by Crispin Sartwell
Addiction
guide
How to control your gambling
What’s fun at first can all too easily get out of hand. Learn the warning signs and use these tips to rein things in
by Luke Clark
Worry and rumination
idea
Should you confront your worries or try to banish them?
Psychotherapists have long believed it’s a bad idea to suppress worrisome thoughts, but new research is prompting a rethink
by Shayla Love
History of ideas
idea
I smell, therefore I am. On the philosophy of the olfactory
To truly grip us, philosophy must engage with the practical and animalistic. It’s time to stop turning its nose up at smell
by Simon Hajdini
Sex and sexuality
film
Sarah recalls how sex, religion and shame have intertwined in her mind
Directed by Lori Malépart-Traversy
Spirituality and religion
idea
UFO belief is a modern outlet for ancient spiritual yearnings
Even when it’s not explicitly religious, belief in alien visitors resembles our oldest ways of making sense of the world
by Francesco Dimitri
Difficult emotions
guide
How to enjoy your problems
Accepting your problems is one thing. To enjoy them? Well, that’s pretty much enlightenment. Here’s how to get there
by Chelsea Harvey Garner
Altered states
idea
The small pleasures in life can produce moments of rapture
Rapture is a delight that turns us both towards the object of attention and towards oneself, resulting in a sense of freedom
by Christopher Hamilton
Emotion regulation
idea
The psychology of impatience could make waiting more tolerable
New studies on the experience of impatience suggest there’s more to it than simply how long you’ve been left hanging
by Matt Huston
Place
film
The clutter of a used bookshop forms an evocative metaphor for memory
Directed by Diego Quinderé de Carvalho