Extreme Fear

Unconscious

Death Traps

Jeff Wise on October 11, 2013

An estimated 120,000 Americans die in accidents each year. Here's how to avoid being one of them.

An estimated 120,000 Americans die in accidents each year. Here's how to avoid being one of them.

Happiness

What Is Music For?

Jeff Wise on April 26, 2013

Some argue that music is an evolutionary accident. It seems likely, though, that such a powerfully emotional force must offer a concrete survival advantage

Some argue that music is an evolutionary accident. It seems likely, though, that such a powerfully emotional force must offer a concrete survival advantage

Self-Control

How Real Life Change Happens

Jeff Wise on March 19, 2013

What we believe about ourselves depends less on what we think than what we do. To become a different person, first change your actions, and everything else will fall into place.

What we believe about ourselves depends less on what we think than what we do. To become a different person, first change your actions, and everything else will fall into place.

Spirituality

The Grandeur of Delusion

Jeff Wise on March 8, 2013

Though we’d like to think that we mold our beliefs to fit reality, often we do the reverse: to mold our perception of reality so that it fits with our beliefs, no matter how flimsy they may be.

Though we’d like to think that we mold our beliefs to fit reality, often we do the reverse: to mold our perception of reality so that it fits with our beliefs, no matter how flimsy they may be.

It can take years to unveil a troubling soul.

Addiction

Can You Really Be Addicted to Sunday Football?

Jeff Wise on July 11, 2012

Once, drugs and alcohol were addictive. Now the view is that you can get hooked on things like sex, sports, even rock music. It may sound like we're just making excuses for bad behavior, but there's a powerful urgency behind our beliefs about addiction.

Once, drugs and alcohol were addictive. Now the view is that you can get hooked on things like sex, sports, even rock music. It may sound like we're just making excuses for bad behavior, but there's a powerful urgency behind our beliefs about addiction.

What makes Everest the most dangerous mountain on Earth? Along with extreme cold, low oxygen, high winds, and bad weather, there's another, more elusive factor: the psychologically warping effect of the summit itself.

Anxiety

Breaking Anxiety's Bizarre Death Loop

Jeff Wise on May 21, 2012

A person can be utterly overwhelmed by fear even though there's nothing organically wrong within his or her brain: complex systems can go off the rails despite every component working properly, a phenomenon of which ant colonies offer a vivid example.

A person can be utterly overwhelmed by fear even though there's nothing organically wrong within his or her brain: complex systems can go off the rails despite every component working properly, a phenomenon of which ant colonies offer a vivid example.

Unconscious

Stories Create the World

Jeff Wise on May 9, 2012

Everything we see, touch, hear, or smell is infused with significance thanks to irresistible subconscious processes. We can’t help being immersed in meaning. But we can change what things mean.

Everything we see, touch, hear, or smell is infused with significance thanks to irresistible subconscious processes. We can’t help being immersed in meaning. But we can change what things mean.

Fear

Fear Turns Invisible

Jeff Wise on April 13, 2012

New York City mayor and licensed pilot Michael Bloomberg recently described how he survived an inflight emergency. Could he really have done it without feeling any fear?

New York City mayor and licensed pilot Michael Bloomberg recently described how he survived an inflight emergency. Could he really have done it without feeling any fear?

Anxiety

The Doorway From Impossible

Jeff Wise on March 2, 2012

The Wrights’ “first airplane” was such a poor flyer that it barely qualified to be called an airplane at all. But it achieved something more important than flight.

The Wrights’ “first airplane” was such a poor flyer that it barely qualified to be called an airplane at all. But it achieved something more important than flight.

Memory

What's Your Favorite Mistake?

Jeff Wise on February 15, 2012

I've never felt so flat-out dumb as I did that day. I'll never forget that horrible feeling of shame, seeping over me like hot acid, as I realized that I'd done something that could not easily be undone.

I've never felt so flat-out dumb as I did that day. I'll never forget that horrible feeling of shame, seeping over me like hot acid, as I realized that I'd done something that could not easily be undone.

The company has striven to bind together every aspect of the internet experience, to achieve immortality through intrusiveness. And this, I think, will be their undoing.

Health

Why Your Brain’s Wrong About Danger

Jeff Wise on January 13, 2012

The world is full of potential hazards. Unfortunately, the things that we're afraid of oftentimes aren't the things that are actually mostly likely to hurt us.

The world is full of potential hazards. Unfortunately, the things that we're afraid of oftentimes aren't the things that are actually mostly likely to hurt us.

Fear

What Passengers Experienced During AF447's Final Moments

Jeff Wise on December 9, 2011

We will never know for sure what it was like to experience the last few minutes of this doomed flight, but the retrieved data allows for a pretty good guess.

We will never know for sure what it was like to experience the last few minutes of this doomed flight, but the retrieved data allows for a pretty good guess.

Anxiety

How Panic Doomed an Airliner

Jeff Wise on December 7, 2011

What doomed the 228 men, women and children aboard Air France 447 was neither weather nor technological failure, but simple human error. Under pressure, human beings can lose their ability to think clearly and to properly execute their training—a well-known failing that has proven all too difficult to eliminate.

What doomed the 228 men, women and children aboard Air France 447 was neither weather nor technological failure, but simple human error. Under pressure, human beings can lose their ability to think clearly and to properly execute their training—a well-known failing that has proven all too difficult to eliminate.

The truth about how professional interrogators can unmask liars is even more fascinating than the misconceptions spread by the popular media.

Fear

Surviving Fear under the Ice

Jeff Wise on November 28, 2011

"Here I am, under the ice, struggling upside down, and all but blind."

"Here I am, under the ice, struggling upside down, and all but blind."

Gerry Duffy, a rangy, chiseled 43-year-old from Ireland, ranks one of the most formidible endurance athletes in the world. But perhaps the most remarkable thing about him is that he used to be just like the rest of us.

If one addiction researcher's groundbreaking ideas are correct, then governments' plans tend to fall apart for the very same reason that our individual attempts at self-control do.