When I Get That Boring Feeling: Sex as Escape from Boredom
keywords:
sex / boredom / meaning / existential escape / coping
When I Get That Boring Feeling: Sex as Escape from Boredom
Everyone gets bored from time to time. What do you do when you have these everyday feelings of boredom? In some cases, psychologists found that during such bouts, people sometimes watch porn, masturbate, or become preoccupied with thoughts about sex to deal with the adverse nature of boredom. What is less commonly known, however, is that an everyday experience like boredom can also threaten people’s sense of meaning in life. ... / more
When having meaning in life helps – and why
keywords:
hunter-gatherers / meaning / happiness / uncertainty
When having meaning in life helps – and why
This blog examines the search for meaning in life and gives an explanation for why people seek meaning. Briefly, modern life (relative to our hunter-gatherer past) places people in an uncertain position, and meaning in life can give us a sense that difficulties in life will pay-off. / more
Only searching for a plane? What the disappearance of Flight MH 370 reveals about the human need for meaning and certainty
keywords:
meaning / certainty / understanding / control
Only searching for a plane? What the disappearance of Flight MH 370 reveals about the human need for meaning and certainty
In this post, I describe how two core motives of human social behavior—the need for understanding and the need for control—shape people’s responses to disaster. Using the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 as an example, I describe how people seek to maintain meaning (related to understanding) and to re-establish certainty (related to control) after unforeseen disasters. / more