The History of the Bromance: Its Disappearance and Return

When discussing issues relating to men’s mental health, one area that isn’t touched on a great deal is male friendships. If you suffer from a mental health issue, having a support network can be key to your recovery. Your support network is made up of people who you can trust and rely on for help.…

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The Path of the Happy Pessimist

Being a happy pessimist may sound like a contradiction in terms, but really, there is nothing inherently incompatible about being both happy and a pessimist. Here I should make a distinction between philosophical pessimism and what can be called dispositional pessimism. The former is a philosophical worldview, which proponents believe is an accurate perception of…

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The Technodelic Experience: Using Virtual Reality to Achieve a Psychedelic State

The company SoundSelf has developed VR technology that can induce altered states of consciousness. Interestingly, the technology helps you slip into a somewhat psychedelic state through the use of your own voice. By breathing deeply and exhaling in extended tones, you modulate audio and visual stimuli, transforming your consciousness in the process. Robin Arnott, CEO…

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How Does Culture Influence a Psychedelic Experience?

It is clear that expectations and beliefs can shape a psychedelic experience. Your ‘set’ (or mindset) is one of the vital components – along with your external setting – that can steer your psychedelic journey in a certain direction, colour it with a certain emotional tone and significance. I don’t wish to explicate all the ways in…

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The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin: An Analogy for Antinatalism

The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas is a philosophical short story by the sci-fi writer Ursula K. Le Guin, originally published in 1973 and then re-republished in The Wind’s Twelve Quarters (1975), a collection of Le Guin’s short stories. This particular short story (which you can read here) describes the utopian city of Omelas,…

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