Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden are notable for their high levels of gender equality. Researchers from Leeds Beckett University and the University of Missouri have examined whether gender equality in these Nordic countries would change the proportion of women studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) at university. The scientists – understandably so – were expecting…
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We would all like to think that when we do something with good intentions and act on those intentions, we are behaving as purely morally upright people. We may believe that we can easily discern when we (or others) act altruistically and when the opposite is true. However, our conflicted and flawed nature means this…
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In 1927, the French dramatist Romain Rolland wrote a letter to the founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, in which he coined the phrase ‘oceanic feeling’. It is oceanic because the experience seems to be “without perceptible limits”. Rolland believed that this feeling of ‘the eternal’ was a religious feeling independent of any organised religion, but…
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I read an interesting article titled ‘How Traveling Abroad in Your Twenties Will Ruin Your Life’ and the clickbait title dragged me into what I thought would be a rant on how travelling will ruin your career prospects. But what the author delivers instead is a tongue-in-cheek and extremely relatable sentiment about how travel obsession. For…
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A strong case can be made for prioritising ‘experientialism’ over materialism; that is, looking for contentment in experiences, rather than material things. Psychological research shows that pursuing experiences over things makes us happier. Materialism has been linked to personality disorders such as narcissism, social anxiety and generally being dissatisfied with life. Taking some time out to travel might…
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