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The Present Minds
Writing archive195 published pieces

All writing.

Long-form essays, personal perspectives and writing on psychology, mental health, the self and modern life.Page 12 of 17

133 Psychology8 min read

Why Humans Need to Explore: The Psychology Behind Every Big Ambition

The psychology of exploration is not a niche academic subject. It is the study of a drive so fundamental to the human brain that neuroscientists can trace…

Shaniya NazRead article →
134 The Margin6 min read

Why South Asian Parents Don’t Say I Love You

Why South Asian parents don't say I love you is one of those questions that gets asked in hushed tones, usually between friends who grew up in…

Navneet ShuklaRead article →
135 Psychology7 min read

Attention Economy News Cycle: When Apple’s Big Week Met the World’s Worst One

Attention economy news cycle reached a kind of peak absurdity this week. On Monday morning, Tim Cook posted a short video to his social media accounts. Colourful…

Navneet ShuklaRead article →
136 Psychology6 min read

Indian Creek Island: Why the World’s Richest Men Are All Moving to One Place

Indian Creek Island is a 300-acre strip of man-made land in Biscayne Bay, Miami. It has 41 homes. Its own government. Its own police force that patrols…

Navneet ShuklaRead article →
137 Psychology7 min read

Polycrisis: What Happens to the Human Mind When Everything Goes Wrong at Once

Polycrisis is not a new word. It is a new reality. It describes what is happening right now, this week, today. Multiple large-scale crises arriving simultaneously, each…

Shaniya NazRead article →
138 Psychology6 min read

Why Does Nostalgia Feel Bittersweet? The Science Behind the Ache

Why does nostalgia feel bittersweet? Because you are experiencing two things at once. The pleasure of remembering something good. And the ache of knowing it is gone.…

Navneet ShuklaRead article →
139 Psychology8 min read

Confirmation Bias: How We Build Beliefs and Defend Them

This article explains confirmation bias explained simply, without academic jargon or political framing. You scroll past a headline that confirms what you already suspected. You feel a…

Shaniya NazRead article →
140 Purusharth10 min read

What Is Dharma in Hinduism: The One Goal Modern Life Makes Almost Impossible

To understand why modern life sidelines it, we first have to answer a simple question: what is Dharma in Hinduism? Dharma is the most important of the…

Navneet ShuklaRead article →
141 Psychology5 min read

This Week’s Good News the Algorithm Did Not Show You

Good news this week is buried under the usual avalanche of conflict, politics and economic anxiety. Which means most of the genuinely hopeful things that happened in…

Shaniya NazRead article →
142 Psychology7 min read

The World as We Knew It, as of Yesterday, Is No More

Khamenei dead. Three words that would have seemed impossible yesterday. Three words that make February 28, 2026 a date that does not unhappen. By the time most…

Navneet ShuklaRead article →
143 Psychology8 min read

From Near-Bankruptcy to £112 Billion: The Rolls-Royce Turnaround Nobody Saw Coming

Rolls-Royce hit a record high on the London Stock Exchange today. Then it hit another one. It has been doing this virtually every trading day of 2026.…

Navneet ShuklaRead article →
144 Purusharth12 min read

Before Ikigai and Maslow, There Was Purushartha.

Somewhere in California, a startup founder is paying $3,000 to attend a retreat trying to answer a very old question. What should a human life actually aim…

The Present MindsRead article →
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