human behavior
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The Science Behind Jealousy And Envy| BetterHelp
“There are a number of theories on the reasons why people experience jealousy. Whether it’s over what other people have that we don’t or have accomplished by means of resources, privilege, opportunity, or hard work, it seems like jealousy has always been a part of being human. One theory is that jealousy was how our early ancestors defended themselves from infidelity, according to evolutionary psychology. Today, we’ve taken theory and applied it to more rigorous scientific study.”
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Gaslighting: Signs and Tips to Manage
“Gaslighting often involves a loss of personal identity. Over time, you may begin to feel like you’ve changed beyond recognition or become numb and hollow. Living in a constant state of nervousness and worry can leave you with little energy for self-care or your own interests. Yet making time to meet your physical and emotional needs can help you reclaim your energy and hold on to your sense of self. As a result, you may even find it easier to navigate and challenge attempts to gaslight you.”
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Why We Overvalue and Devalue People
“Emotional conditioning by parents creates automatic regimens in how we respond to ourselves and to others in relationships. These knee-jerk reactions take place outside our awareness. Both personalities can show automatic black-and-white responses in the ways they overvalue and devalue people. This can create misunderstandings and conflicts in relationships and harm the way people treat themselves.”
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Why People Who Have Less Give More
“It turns out that people who have less give more. They were also more likely to trust strangers and showed more helping behavior towards someone in distress. Contrarily, other research has found that higher social class individuals are more unethical. They are more likely to take things from others, lie, and cheat.”
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Cosmic Perspective on Humanity
“The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.” — Carl Sagan
This quote by Carl Sagan, from his reflections on the “Pale Blue Dot” image of Earth taken by Voyager 1, is one of the most poignant and sobering commentaries on human nature and our place in the universe. It’s a powerful distillation of humility and perspective.
Sagan’s words emphasize just how small and fragile our planet—and everything that happens on it—really is when seen from a cosmic scale. His reflection on human conflict and the desire for domination exposes the tragic irony of our behavior: we commit immense violence and cruelty over borders, beliefs, and power, all while existing on what amounts to a speck of dust in an unimaginably vast cosmos.
The power of this quote lies in its juxtaposition. On one hand, it paints a picture of the grandeur and scale of the universe; on the other, it highlights the pettiness and destructiveness of much of human history. It’s both a critique and a call for introspection—an urging to reevaluate our values, actions, and the stories we tell ourselves about significance and glory.
Sagan’s message is not one of nihilism, though—it’s of responsibility. If this “dot” is all we have, then we ought to treat each other and the Earth with more care, compassion, and wisdom.
By ChatGPT
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The age of envy: how to be happy when everyone else’s life looks perfect
“But with the advent of social media, says Ethan Kross, professor of psychology at the University of Michigan who studies the impact of Facebook on our wellbeing, ‘envy is being taken to an extreme’. We are constantly bombarded by ‘Photoshopped lives’, he says, ‘and that exerts a toll on us the likes of which we have never experienced in the history of our species. And it is not particularly pleasant.’”