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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 3 of 17

25 Psychology4 min read

You Walked into a Room and Something Shifted.

Not the furniture. Not the smell. Something quieter. You felt it before you named it. That was color psychology doing its job. And it has been doing…

Shaniya NazRead article →
26 Psychology5 min read

The Museum of Failure Holds Things the World’s Biggest Companies Hoped You Would Forget

There is a bottle of Harley-Davidson cologne behind glass in a museum. The bikers hated it. The brand had spent decades building a mythology around leather and…

Navneet ShuklaRead article →
27 Purusharth7 min read

What the Mahabharata Knew About Generational Trauma That Science Is Only Now Confirming

Karna and trauma arrive together in the Mahabharata before the first word of his story is spoken. Karna is sitting at the river's edge, performing his morning…

Navneet ShuklaRead article →
28 Psychology5 min read

Your Brain Doesn’t Start Blank. It Starts Full. Then It Cuts.

Synaptic pruning begins with a question philosophers have argued about for centuries. Are we born as blank slates? John Locke said yes. The mind begins empty. Experience…

Navneet ShuklaRead article →
29 Psychology5 min read

Michael Ventris Decoded a 3,000 Year Old Script. Then He Was Gone.

Michael Ventris was fourteen years old when he decided to solve the puzzle. On a school trip to an exhibition in London, he asked the archaeologist standing…

Navneet ShuklaRead article →
30 Psychology5 min read

The Man Who Owns the Moon. He Has Been Selling It Since 1980.

In 1980, Dennis Hope was unemployed, going through a divorce, and living in San Francisco. He was not doing well. So he did what any reasonable person…

Navneet ShuklaRead article →
31 The Margin7 min read

What I Learnt from a Grab Driver in Bangkok

Bangkok night does not ease you in gently. It arrives all at once. The expressway from the airport is elevated, so you see the city before you…

Navneet ShuklaRead article →
32 Psychology4 min read

Every Other Country Tried to Scare Teenagers Off Drugs. Iceland Tried Something Else.

Iceland teen drug prevention was not built around warnings, bans, or awareness campaigns. It was built around a completely different question. In 1998, Iceland had one of…

Navneet ShuklaRead article →
33 Psychology7 min read

Social Facilitation Psychology: Why Being Watched Changes Everything

Social facilitation psychology begins with a cyclist and a stopwatch. In 1898, Norman Triplett noticed something while reviewing official cycling records. Cyclists racing against other riders consistently…

Navneet ShuklaRead article →
34 Psychology6 min read

Gamsutl Village: The Last Man Who Refused to Leave

Gamsutl village has no road. There used to be one. It collapsed decades ago and nobody rebuilt it. Now the only way in is a two-hour hike…

Navneet ShuklaRead article →
35 Psychology6 min read

The Morphine Addict Who Accidentally Invented the World’s Most Consumed Drug

John Pemberton Coca Cola was never meant to be a drink. It was meant to be a cure. He set out to stop being in pain. In…

Navneet ShuklaRead article →
36 Purusharth7 min read

Dronacharya and Arjuna: Why He Chose a Student over His Own Son

Drona had one son and one student. He loved both completely. He could not serve both equally. The Mahabharata does not pretend otherwise. This is not a…

Navneet ShuklaRead article →
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