2024

All right. So let’s just walk through this with some degree of specificity. You’re always moving from point A to B. You see a pathway and you see tools. That…

All right. So we’re going to intermingle three topics in this lecture: the tradition of Jean Piaget, the tradition of the biologists, neurobiologists, neuropsychologists, and behaviorists, and psychometric approaches to…

“Emotions are subjective, but you have brain systems devoted to them.” Humans are biologically attuned to two emotional systems: the positive emotional system, which moves us toward our goals, and…

The humanist tradition in psychology, exemplified by Carl Rogers, emphasizes dialogue as a transformative process. This approach is closely aligned with existentialism and phenomenology, creating a framework that bridges the…

Sigmund Freud famously called dreams “the royal road to the unconscious.” Carl Jung expanded on this idea, emphasizing that dreams are not merely symbolic but compensatory—they provide the conscious mind…

The psychoanalytic tradition, spearheaded by Sigmund Freud and later expanded by his brilliant colleague Carl Jung, delves into the depths of the unconscious mind. While Freud is often criticized in…

The quest motif—a recurring theme in literature and life—has two fundamental variants: This dual structure is evident in stories like The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Bilbo and…

This lecture explores personality and its transformations, emphasizing that understanding personality requires seeing it as both a state and a transformative process. The transformative process is central because it aligns…

Virgil’s The Aeneid, composed between 29 and 19 BCE, is Rome’s great national epic. It chronicles the journey of Aeneas, a Trojan hero, as he fulfills his divine destiny to…

A wolf, both in its literal sense and as a metaphor, navigates an interesting balance between independence and community. Wolves are social animals that typically thrive in packs, which function…

Just look at the media, advertisements, etc. It’s all mediocre, degenerate, and crushes the human spirit. Isn’t this all so obviously decadent, life-denying, and anti-flourishing?

Calypso is a figure from Greek mythology, most famously known from Homer’s Odyssey. She is a nymph, often described as the daughter of the Titan Atlas, though her parentage varies…

What’s popping people—it’s Dante, getting my morning started here in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. Check it out—I got a sword! Sword or shield, which one? Hopped off the bus, and as…

The simplest and most powerful workflow I’ve found combines video, audio, and writing seamlessly. It’s about capturing thoughts in the moment and turning them into meaningful content. Just use a…

The word purpose comes from the Old French porpos, which itself is derived from the Latin root proponere, meaning “to put forward” or “to set forth.” This Latin root is…

Helen Levitt’s One Two Three More is a poetic exploration of street life, revealing her mastery in capturing the spontaneous choreography of the everyday. Through her lens, Levitt documented the…

The phrase Inshallah (Arabic: إن شاء الله) means “if God wills” or “God willing” in English. It is derived from three Arabic words: It is commonly used by Muslims and…

Tod Papageorge’s Passing Through Eden is a profound photographic journey that captures the beauty and chaos of life in Central Park. Published in 2007, this collection of black-and-white images draws…

Dante Sisofo, a street and documentary photographer from Philadelphia, emphasizes the importance of immersing oneself in the “frontlines of life” to create meaningful art. He believes that impactful photography arises…

The word amateur comes from the French term amateur, which itself originates from the Latin word amator, meaning “lover,” which is derived from amare, meaning “to love.” At its core,…

What does it mean to wander? Why does it matter? As a street photographer, I love wandering. I love exploring. I love looking at homes, the architecture, the details, the…

Henri Cartier-Bresson, often referred to as the “father of modern photojournalism,” revolutionized the art of photography with his innovative approach to capturing candid moments. The book Henri Cartier-Bresson: Photographer by…